Why They Have Become Very Popular
Since late last year, when Pastor Idowu Iluyomade and his pretty wife, Pastor Siju were frustrated out of RCCG by the leadership of the church, their image has loomed large.
Pastor ID as he is fondly called was the pastor in-charge of the City of David Parish of RCCG. And for years he and his wife had worked tirelessly to build City Of David Parish into the big church it became. And by the time the parish completed the Trinity Towers in 2023, the parish had assumed the status of a mega church.
The successful completion of that Towers attracted to the couple a lot of envy and jealousy. Many of their contemporaries just couldn’t understand how the super couple had built the City of David into the mega church it has become. And some people began to carry all sorts of remours about them. They not only criticised the husband, they suddenly began to talk about how flamboyant she was bla, bla, bla. And they plotted for the church leadership to remove them from their enviable position.
Suddenly things took a turn for the worst when they were suspended for 3 months for reasons that remains unclear till today. They did not complain.
They served their term and waite for the RCCG leadership to reabsorb them. And they waited for months, with no response. Elders and members of the parish wrote letters of appeal to the leadership of the church, all to no avail. And the couple waited endlessly until they were told to stay away from all the RCCG parishes, including Kings Court, which they founded years back.
That was the last straw. They became devastated. The couple stayed back home for weeks, doing nothing . They waited on the Lord, on what next to do.
Some of their friends prevailed on them not to lose faith. That went on like that for several weeks, until they decided to start a little fellowship, which today is fast growing big in terms of numbers.
The couple now run The Family Fellowship Church which started early this year. Since the Sunday Services began, at The Civic Centre a few months back the church has witnessed phenomenal growth.
Pastor Idowu is ably assisted by Pastor Siju who is very dynamic and spirit-filled. They both share a lot in common. And they are a perfect couple.
Pastor Idowu talks about her a lot. And she in turn talks a lot about her husband. Over the years, those who know them have noticed that both are very close. They have been married for 45 years. And they have been doing things together ever since.
They both went into the Ministry together in 1995 and they have been through thick and thin.
Both have exciting nicknames or pet names they call each other, like my Sweetheart, my Honeypie, my Baby, my Sugar Baby, and my Darling. And they openly show love and affection in church and at events.
They have become an example of a perfect couple who are there for each other, who have bonded over the years. They have been there for each other at critical times, especially when it mattered most. Both of them have been born again for decades and they now pastor a new church called The Family Fellowship, which has been variously described by many as the fastest growing family church in Lagos. Although it started a few months back, the growth in terms of membership has been phenomenal, with new members coming in, on a weekly basis to attend the Sunday service that holds at the Banquet Hall of the Oriental Hotel in Victoria Island.
What attracts members to the church every week is the unique nature of the church, from the deep Teachings to incisive Prayers, Praise Worship, Singing and Dancing. Many members have come out to openly reveal this.
At the various Sunday services, Pastor Idowu Iluyomade who is the Senior Pastor has revealed and celebrated the great bond that exists between him and his adorable wife.
At a recent Sunday service (23rd March, 2025) he revealed to the congregation how he and his wife have weathered a lot of storms together since 1995 when they went into the Ministry. At the service, Pastor ID revealed details of the various storms and how God made them surmount each one. He was talking about Storms and how God usually takes over at stormy times.
He revealed how they first started a church at a popular exquisite restaurant, along Ozumba Mbadiwe in Victoria Island, Lagos. He said they used to hold their Sunday services there. After service, Pastor ID said they will sit down at the terrace overlooking the Lagoon, drink coffee, have breakfast and watch those zooming past in their yatch, as they enjoy the gentle breeze.
It was usually a sight to behold. He said shortly after take off, they were suddenly given Quit Notice. They were told to stop holding their services there anymore. They wondered what could have gone wrong. They didn’t know. They tried to plead for mercy, the owners didn’t budge. They had to leave. It was after they left that they realised that another church had orchestraled their exit to enable them take over the place for their own Sunday service. They had to move to a friends car park somehere in Victorial Island. And from there, they again moved to yet another venue at Kings Court, also in Victoria Island. He said they again moved to another venue, where they were part of the construction of a gigantic church building. Again it did not work out.
At some point, one of their friends in the Ministry, now prevailed on them to join a bigger church, so as to save themselves the stress that comes with running a little church like theirs. They saw wisdom in the advice. The accepted and several years after putting their all into it, another storm broke out and they had to again leave to now set up The Family Fellowship Church which is a different kind of church. The rest is history, he explained.
He said in all of these, his wife was solidy behind him. He said his wife, Pastor Siju stayed faithful. She was cool and calm. She would always tell him, don’t worry all is well”.
“This too shall pass. They have come a long way”.
At yet another Sunday service, weeks back, Pastor Idowu delivered a sermon on True Love and he described the example of the love that exists between him and Pastor Siju as True Love. How? He spoke about how during Covid 19 in 2020, he was down with COVID. He said what went through his mind was how his wife would cope.
He said when he was in the Isolation Centre, his wife would come to see him and she bought Oxygen for not only him but donated a lot of oxygen bottles to other patients to use.
He said he was touched, when after he was discovered to have COVID and was Isolated in his room at home, his wife dtill continued to sleep on the same bed with him. She refused to listen to him, not to come into the room. She not only kept coming into the room, she continued to sleep on the same bed. “For me that was the height of her love. She showed me that she loved me”, Pastor ID said.
He said they have been husband and wife for the past 45 years. “She has stayed with me since then. God has used her to encourage many people, especially women. I appreciate her for standing by me. She didn’t jump ship because of the storms we’ve been through”.
At another Sunday service, he revealed how he and his wife have been doing pastoring for the past 32 years. We worked and worked and we were not paid. We have written about 30 books.
What City People has found out is that many people out there don’t seem to know the couple well. According to a church member, they are only judged from what they hear from those who claim to know them. “It is quite interesting that many outsiders don’t know this couple well”, a church member said. “Many don’t know them well. They have paid their dues. They have been around for years, working in the Lords Vineyard for close to 30 years”.
“Many just assume that they just happend on the scene overnight, just like that. No.”
City People has found out that both of them have a rich history and pedigree.
Many don’t know that Pastor ID is a Law graduate from University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University. His wife is also a Law graduate from the same university. Both set up a thriving and lucrative law firm called Iluyomade & Iluyomade which is a corporate law practice, with speciality in Oil & Gas. In those good old days, the couple played big in the Oil & Gas sector. That was before they went fully into Ministry.
Many also don’t know that Pastor Idowu Iluyomade was actually born into the Ministry. His late dad was the famous Canon Iluyomade of the Anglican Church. He was based in Ibadan. He was the Principal of the famous International School Ibadan (ISI) which was the leading elite school in Ibadan at that time.
At one of the Sunday services, Pastor Idowu revealed how he and his wife went into the Ministry full time in 1995. At that time they were running a lucrative Law practice that consulted for a lot of foreign Oil Companies. Business was good until a friend of theirs told them one day, that going by the commitment he and his wife were showing for God’s work, he saw them leaving business soon to go into the Ministry, full time.
As at that Pastor ID who had not given that idea a thought just replied by saying Never. He just couldn’t imagine having to leave a lucrative Oil & Gas business for the Ministry, full time.
Pastor ID said immediately he said that he heard the voice of the Holy Spirit saying to him, Really? Do you mean you can’t leave your business to go and serve God fully? The Holy Spirit now spoke to him asking if he was serious about his No, answer. It was then he realised that the voice he heard was from God.
To teach Pastor ID and his wife a lesson, from that point their business started suffering a set back.
They were no longer making money like before. At some point, things were not looking good. Pastor ID & Siju got the message.
They decided to go into full time ministry in 1995. They sold all their shares in dollars, an Oil Company where they had shares. They made a lot of money from the sale of shares and pumped it all back into starting a Ministry. That was how their journey started.
Expectedly their phenomenal success in the Ministry brought them envy.
Many couldn’t come to terms with their remarkable growth in the Ministry.
The couple took all of these in their strides. They were never discouraged. Rather they looked up to God.
Many people like their new church, TFF which has as members a lot of elites, drawn from different sectors of society. Their Style is also unique. Its not about the couple alone. Pastor ID and his wife have trained other Pastors who usually play active part in the conduct of the Sunday service. They all play different roles. Some conduct Sunday School Service, some manage the Choir, some run the Media Dept, some make the venue ready for service, some play the role of Ushers. Many of the church members have different roles. All the Pastors at TFF have their roles clearly designed. Every Sunday, they come on stage, one after the other to accomplish their role.
Whilst Pastor ID, who is a great Teacher of the word, delivers his words of exhortation every Sunday, his wife also gives very profound prayers that have touched many lives. And during the week, there are various activities going on and some are effectively done online.
We can tell you authoritatively that Pastor Siju Iluyomade has continued her activities church promoting Women. She has a group she leads called The Handmaiden Fellowship.
They meet every Wednesday. She has also continued to touch lives of many other women. Last Sunday, she blessed many women who she invited to come for the Sunday service.
Don’t forget, Pastor Siju is the Convener of the ARISE Women’s Conference, an international gathering of women from all walks of life with a vision to impact their communities for Christ.
