The General Overseer of Mountain of Holy Ghost Intervention and Deliverance Ministry, Chukwuemeka Ohanaemere, popularly known as Odumeje, has said he neither collects tithes nor teaches about tithing in his church, describing his ministry as one focused on demonstrating spiritual power.
The cleric made this known during an appearance on the Honest Bunch Podcast, in an episode uploaded to YouTube on Monday.
Odumeje criticised churches that, according to him, place excessive emphasis on collecting tithes from members without demonstrating practical evidence of the spiritual power they preach.
He said some religious leaders were more concerned about their members’ money than demonstrating the effectiveness of their ministry.
“Those people that collect tithes and teach tithes every day when you come to church, they will be interested in making sure that they clear your pockets. And there is no practical evidence and miracles that you will see. The only thing is stories. That is not the kind of church I run,” he said.
Explaining his approach to ministry, Odumeje said his primary mission was to demonstrate spiritual power rather than focus on teachings about tithing and financial giving.
“My mission on earth is demonstration of power. All the teaching of tithe and teaching of giving, I am not in that area,” he added.
However, the cleric clarified that he did not consider tithing wrong, maintaining that the decision to pay should be a personal choice between an individual and God.
“I don’t collect tithes. Nobody pays me tithes. I am not saying that tithe is bad. It’s a decision between you and God if you want to pay tithe. Tithe is real. But it is something that you must decide. Not something that somebody will be brainwashing you, forcing you,” he said.
Odumeje also faulted the practice of telling church members that they would be denied entry into heaven if they failed to pay tithes, describing such teachings as inconsistent with God’s will.
“Give it to you that if you don’t do it, you will not go to heaven. That is not from God. So that is a decision between you and God,” he said.
The cleric’s comments centre on his position that tithing should be a voluntary personal decision rather than a practice enforced through pressure or fear of spiritual consequences.
