The term Oshoffist was coined after the demise of the founding pastor of the church, Reverend Samuel Bilewu Joseph Oshoffa. It was first used by a group of members who decided to be neutral when the tussle for the pastoral seat initially began among Supreme Evangelist Abiodun Bada, Superior Evangelist Benoit Agbaossi and Reverend Josiah Owodunni.

However, in a speech delivered in Abidjan by Mother Celestial Edith Oshoffa -Adewusi on April 13th, 2002 the first daughter of Rev SBJ Oshoffa, also made use of the termed Oshoffists.

The term appeared in the third paragraph of the speech transcript, as "the third group decided to be neutral, working to perpetuate the work of Papa Oshoffa and continue the evangelisation. Some members of this last group decided to function under the name Oshoffists."





Many years after the speech, nothing was heard of the term, not until around the last quarter of 2017, when some members of the church began to publicly describe themselves as one. A member who described himself as one, defined an Oshoffist as someone who loves and upholds Oshoffa's teaching.

Another was of the opinion that "after reading the April 13th, 2002 speech of Mummy Edith, I became to understand why the church need members that would stand for the truth Oshoffa stood for. We must be neutral in the face of the pastoral crisis in the church and work on promoting the works of evangelism within and outside Celestial Church of Christ."

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