Sylvanus Akintope Paul Tiwo

Claimants of the pastoral seat believe they have been mandated by God to fill the position of the spiritual head of the church. The founder of the church, Samuel Bilewu Oshoffa has been the only pastor who did not have anyone contend the position with him. Currently the church has more than a score claimants to the pastoral seat.


On of such claimant is the charismatic Sylvanus Akintope Paul Tiwo. In an interview we had with him, he spoke with confidence on how he is the one God has chosen as the leader of the Church.

Reverend Tiwo revealed that since he was of the age of three years, the Lord Jesus him Christ physically appeared to him and showed him a white car which the Lord told him that he was going to give to him. In the year 1989, so many years after the first encounter, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him again, this time to unveil the mystery behind the white car to him.






He said that at this time, the Lord told him that the white car is the Celestial Church of Christ Worldwide and that he (Tiwo) is the pastor and head of the Celestial Church of Christ Worldwide after Rev S.B.J. Oshoffa. He also noted that this revelation have also been established from the mouths of other people from across the world.

Although God doesn’t work with numbers, but it is believed in some quarters that the number of followers a pastor has determines his true intent. So we asked, “Are you not bothered that members of the church don’t accept you (know you) as their pastor?”

The Reverend replied that, “That isn't true. You will not believe the population of Celestians who are knowledgeable about who God has made me and are in terms with me as the chosen anointed by God, pastor and head of the CCC Worldwide. That's the way of God. King David was already accepted as king by people who knew in Hebron before he stood before all Israel in Jerusalem. There's absolutely nothing to worry of, about those that are in dissent. The will of Jehovah will spread over all Celestians eventually.”






On a unified Celestial Church he acknowledged that the Holy Spirit is in control of the Church and when it is time for the Church to be unified, every other “pastor” will be put in their place. We probed further by asking, “have you met (or planning to meet) with Reverend EMF or Reverend Beni Omoge to discuss about issues related to the Church?” We were met with the reply that “a king (he) does not go to his subjects to enquire about the administration of his country. When the time comes, all the subjects will gather around the king”.

Reverend Tiwo who is possibly the youngest of all the claimant of the pastoral seat, also discussed his plan for the church with us. He disclosed that, “loads and loads of work to be done. I have been receiving specific instructions from God on the task ahead and how to approach them since over twenty five (years) now which I keep to my chest.”


He revealed that he has first hand information about the current state of the Church as the Lord instructed him to go around parishes, including worshiping at the International Headquarters, Ketu for about two years on every Lord's Day, over ten years ago.

Furthermore we asked questions about how resources are managed in the church, one of which is the current sharing formula of money in the church which is not beneficial to parishes. He said that, “when we get to that river, we shall definitely cross it”. He said that things may have to continue at the current pace until Jehovah put all things in perfect shape.