After almost two years of closure to the public with no services at The Synagogue Church Of All Nations (SCOAN), life will return again as from Sunday, December 5, 2021, at its sprawling Ikotun-Egbe headquarters in Lagos, as its gate would be open for its global members who have all been yearning to begin live programmes.
The church announced that its gate will be open for its members to experience live service in the church. The late founder of the church, T. B. Joshua, had in March 2020 suspended the regular Sunday service in the church due to the Coronavirus outbreak across the world. Joshua died on June 5, 2021. Following his passing, the church had its own fair share of the leadership and succession tussles until his wife, Mrs. Evelyn Joshua, emerged the new leader of the Synagogue.
And as the church opens its gates, all eyes will be on Mrs. Joshua, with many waiting eagerly to see how she will steer the ship of the church. Her emergence as the new head of the church shoved her into limelight as little was known about her before then. Though she now enjoys the support of the majority of the church’s stakeholders, many people, within and outside the church, still have doubts about her preparedness for the task of pasturing a church as huge and diverse as the Synagogue.
A native of Okala Okpuno in Delta State, Evelyn was born in 1968. She relocated to Lagos in 1977 where she had her primary and secondary education in the Oshodi area of the state. At the time she met her late husband, she was a staff of the Nigerian Distilleries at Ota, Ogun State and attending Assemblies of God Church. After she got married to the influential Prophet Joshua, she attended some management courses in Ghana and was actively involved in her husband’s ministry till his death.
Addressing members, partners and followers of the church across the world in her first speech as leader of the church last September, Mrs. Joshua noted that the journey had not been easy since the demise of her late husband. She called for support and prayers from members and followers of the ministry to ensure that the church continues from where TB Joshua stopped.
“Emmanuel! God is with us. My name is Evelyn Joshua, I am pleased to address you at this moment upon my appointment as the lease of the Synagogue Church Of All Nations (SCOAN). These past three months have surely been challenging but we thank you all for being strong and for keeping the faith as we have been trained and instructed by the servant of God that trials are the soil upon which faith flourishes.
“We have now commenced the journey from where our father left. He had already prepared us all for this new phase and we must rise up to the occasion as a team under the command of God and the direction of the Holy Spirit. This journey is for us all, SCOAN cannot be without you – all the members, partners and friends of the ministry,” she had said. Today, many are waiting to see how she will lead the flock left behind by her husband, the late charismatic Prophet Temitope Joshua.
