The Convener of the Global Mandate Conference and Senior Pastor of Agape Generation International Church, Rev. Toyin Kehinde, has expressed concern over what he described as a growing shift from genuine evangelism to the promotion of individual churches and ministries.
Kehinde made the remarks at a missions conference in Lagos, where he called on churches and Christian leaders to place greater emphasis on spreading the gospel rather than simply expanding the names and influence of their denominations.
According to the cleric, the purpose of the church should be centred on fulfilling the biblical mandate to take the gospel to people who have not heard it.
He observed that although Nigeria has a large number of churches, many people still remain unreached by the Christian message.
Kehinde argued that the presence of numerous churches does not necessarily mean that evangelism is taking place effectively.
He said much of the growth being celebrated by some churches comes from members moving from one congregation to another instead of new people being reached with the gospel.
The pastor noted that this trend could weaken the missionary responsibility of the church because attention becomes focused on church membership figures rather than reaching communities and individuals who have not been exposed to the Christian faith.
He also rejected the argument that Nigeria has too many churches.
According to him, churches are made up of people, and because there are people everywhere, there remains a need for Christian missions in different communities.
Kehinde stressed that missions should not only be associated with remote villages or rural communities.
He explained that there are also people and communities within major cities who have yet to experience the Christian message.
The cleric therefore encouraged churches to identify specific groups and communities within urban areas and develop missionary efforts targeted at reaching them.
He said the church must return to its core responsibility of preaching the gospel and making disciples rather than becoming preoccupied with internal competition.
Kehinde also raised concerns about the amount of time some Christians spend arguing over doctrinal differences, particularly on social media.
He suggested that greater commitment to missionary work would reduce unnecessary arguments and divisions among Christians.
The pastor said the church should devote more attention to evangelism and less to online disagreements.
The Global Mandate Conference, which Kehinde convenes, was established as a platform focused on missions and bringing missionaries together for encouragement, training and renewed commitment to their work.
In subsequent editions of the conference, Kehinde has continued to call on churches to make missions a central part of their activities. In 2026, he said churches should deliberately make missions their primary goal and argued that evangelism remains necessary because many people are still unreached.
Kehinde is the Senior and Founding Pastor of Agape Generation International Church in Maryland, Lagos. The church describes him as the convener and host of the annual Global Mandate Conference, which brings together missionaries, mission organisations and church leaders from Africa and beyond.
The pastor’s comments have continued to form part of his wider call for Nigerian churches to strengthen missionary activities and focus on taking the Christian message beyond their existing congregations.
As churches continue to expand across Nigeria, Kehinde’s message is that numerical growth within existing congregations should not replace the responsibility of reaching people who have not yet heard the gospel.
Source: Church Times Nigeria
Meta Description: Rev. Toyin Kehinde has urged churches to focus on spreading the gospel and reaching unreached people instead of concentrating on promoting their individual names and denominations.
