The Cherubim and Seraphim Church (C&S) is a Pente-Charismatic church. It is probably one of Nigeria’s oldest African Instituted Churches.
The Cherubim and Seraphim society is a distinct section of the Aladura founded by Moses Orimolade Tunolase, a Yoruba prophet; in 1925–26, he formed the society with doctrines of revelation and divine healing.
Orimolade received considerable media attention when he healed a girl, Christina Abiodun Akinsowon, from a long-term trance in which she could neither speak nor hear.
After the healing event, Orimolade Tunolase and Abiodun Akinsowon teamed up as father and adopted daughter and offered their services to heal and pray for people.
The Cherubim and Seraphim groups have dreams and visions that facilitate the connection between God and humanity.
The Church was first named the Seraphim Society on the 9th of September, 1925, and later in May 1927, the Cherubim was added, thereby called the Cherubim and Seraphim.
Several years after the creation of the Cherubim and Seraphim, different denominations following in its traditions broke off and formed new churches.
ALADURA MOVEMENT
The Cherubim and Seraphim movement was the foremost ‘Aladura’ movement (Owners of Prayer). A religious movement among the Yoruba peoples of western Nigeria, embracing some of the independent prophetic healing churches of West Africa.
The movement, which in the early 1970s had several hundred thousand adherents, began about 1918 among the younger elite in the well-established Christian community.
They were dissatisfied with Western religious forms and lack of spiritual power and were influenced by literature from the small U.S. divine-healing Faith Tabernacle Church of Philadelphia.
FOUNDER OF THE CHERUBIM AND SERAPHIM
The founder, Moses Orimolade Tunolase, was born in 1879, into the quarters of the royal family of Omoba Ode Sodi of Okorun quarters, in Ikare, Nigeria. It was recorded that Orimolade’s life began strangely.
His mother, Madam Odijoro, said that when she was pregnant, she went to the farm to cut some firewood on a particular day. She realized she could not lift the missed firewood when she was ready to leave.
Suddenly, she heard a voice telling her the easiest way to raise all of the firewood. She looked around but could not find anyone.
Then, the voice said, “Do not be frightened; I am the child in your womb. Follow my advice and be on your way.” She claimed to have been able to lift the firewood with the help of the unknown voice.
When he was born, his parents had mixed feelings. They were excited about the new addition to their family but were embarrassed because of the strange circumstances surrounding his birth.
According to records, “The new child stood up right after birth and walked around the delivery place. The midwife that helped with his delivery held him down forcefully to stop him from walking.
Members of the Cherubim and Seraphim believe that the force of the midwife, in addition to some incantations made by his herbalist father to calm him down on the day he was born, led to Orimolade’s “prolonged paralysis.”
Because his father could no longer bear the embarrassment surrounding his son’s birth, he asked Orimolade and his mother to leave his house for good.
Moses Orimolade would later travel the length of Nigeria, where despite segregation, rejection and ridicule preached the Word with power, healed the sick, and performed miracles, which sparked significant revivals.
These revivals were prime newsworthy, with different miracles being performed. These attracted people from all around the world.
Consequently, the coverage these revivals and miracles received gave close attention to the movement and helped fuel its growth.
He died in 1933. Before his death, he prophesied that the Cherubim and Seraphim would spread worldwide; this prophecy has come to pass because the Church is now known worldwide and has different branches under it.
DOCTRINES OF THE CHERUBIM AND SERAPHIM
This movement within Christianity emphasizes the direct personal experience of God through the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, as shown in the Biblical account of the Day of Pentecost.
The Cherubim and Seraphim groups have dreams and visions that facilitate the connection between God and humanity. The Cherubim and Seraphim are garment-wearing Church as they wear white garments to the Church of worship.
The C&S have strong rooted beliefs in healing, deliverance, and miracles. Also famous among the spiritual activities among the C&S is trance.
Members of the Church often fall into a spell that could last for days, weeks, or months. It is during this trance that visions and prophecies are usually delivered.
PRESENT LEADER OF THE CHERUBIM AND SERAPHIM
Reverend Samuel Abidoye is the fifth spiritual father, of Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church Worldwide, with headquarters in Kaduna, Kaduna State.
Born into a royal family over 80 years ago in Omu Aran, Kwara State, Eni Owo, Baba Aladura, who spent over the years in London, had been a member of the British Council of Churches since 1976 before he was invited home for anointment as the spiritual father in 2006.
