As the Superintendent General of The Apostolic Faith, Rev Darrel Lee, who served in that capacity for 24 years bowed out of office on Sunday, July 7, 2024, an Ibadan-Nigerian born Rev Olusola Adesope, a Professor of Educational Psychology has been appointed the new head of the church worldwide.
Adesope’s popular academic quote reads, “I’m an Agent of Change by standing up for every student’s right to get a top-notch education no matter where they come from.”
New Apostolic Faith Suprintendent General, Rev Olusola Adesope and his predecessor, Rev Darrel Lee
Adesope, who assumed duties yesterday after his predecessor, Darrel Lee, who retired announced him at the ongoing annual Camp meeting convention in Portland Oregon, United States of America (USA) becomes the first African from the South West of Nigeria to head the church after 118 years of its establishment.
According to the history, Apostolic Faith Church in West Africa started in Nigeria when late Rev Timothy Gbadebo Oshokoya, Lucas Obakoya, and D. T. Robins accepted the faith and adopted its doctrines in October 14, 1944.
The church officially commenced in Obakoya’s residence at Mushin and on Wednesday, November 8, 1944, the first evangelistic service was held with eight people in attendance and ever since, the church has expanded to what it is in Nigeria and other countries in West and Central Africa.
According to a report from the church world headquarters in Portland Oregon, USA, “On Sunday, July 7, 2024, a new Apostolic Faith Superintendent General was installed during the morning devotional service at our world headquarters church in Portland, Oregon. The service was part of the annual Portland camp meeting convention, which is attended by delegates from around the world.”
Speaking at the occassion, Lee said, ” It has long been my prayer that God would reveal the identity of my successor and the timing for when the next leadership transition should take place. Over the past few years, the identity of that successor has become more and more apparent to me. Furthermore, I believe the mantle of Apostolic Faith global oversight now falls on one to be named shortly.”
Lee announced his successor in a unique style as he stated, “Today it is time to transition to the next leader. My firm conviction, supported by the ministry, is that the mantle of Apostolic Faith worldwide oversight now falls upon Brother Olusola Adesope. He has agreed to pick it up and to carry it forward. Brother Sola meets the Bible criteria for church leadership, which includes the high standard of ethical conduct he has exemplified for decades. The same can be said of Sister Tolu, to whom he has been married for over twenty-three years.”
He added, “Brother Sola will guide this work forward in a manner that honors the sound Bible doctrine we have stood for since Sister Florence Crawford settled in Portland not long after the 1906 Azusa Street outpouring. I believe God brought him to North America and subsequently to Pullman, Washington, many years ago for such a time as this.”
Lee expressed, “From here, I remain willing to serve as he deems best. The entire Adesope family has my whole-hearted support and prayerful backing.”
“The 2018 appointment of a Portland pastor was made in part with this eventuality in mind. Brother Sola intends to continue that approach. He will work closely with Brother Dave Lambert on Portland church matters, the same as I have done. The timing of their move to Portland is yet to be determined, but Brother Sola begins his role as Superintendent General immediately. I am very excited about this appointment. Brother Sola is better equipped to take this work into the next generation as Jesus tarries. He is already widely known and highly regarded in Apostolic Faith circles worldwide. Our work will develop further and grow stronger on his watch”, he declared.
In his acceptance speech, Adesope stated, “I hereby humbly accept this responsibility with a burning desire to continue to live for God, be a lover and a preacher of this old-time faith, and a humble servant to you all.”
Reverend Florence Crawford was General Overseer of the Apostolic Faith Church from the time of the first Portland camp meeting in 1907 until her passing in 1936. At that time, the mantle of leadership passed to her son, Reverend Raymond Crawford, and he filled the role until his passing in 1965. The next General Overseer was Reverend Loyce Carver, who served until 1993. He was followed by Reverend Dwight Baltzell, and at that time the position was re-named as Superintendent General. Reverend Darrel Lee was appointed in 2000, and now in 2024, Reverend Olusola Adesope becomes the sixth person to fill the position since this work began.
Adesope was born and raised in Ibadan, Nigeria. He first left Nigeria for the United States and worked as an IT Coordinator at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He then immigrated to Canada in 2003 with his wife Tolu and enrolled at Simon Fraser University (SFU). At SFU, he earned his Master’s degree in educational technology and his doctorate degree in educational psychology. In 2011, he received the G.M. Dunlop Award for best doctoral thesis in educational psychology completed at a Canadian university.
According to Adesope’s CV sighted, his research interest are engineering education research, research designs and methods
methods for advancing evidence-based practices (e.g., meta-analyses, systematic reviews, etc.), Concept maps for knowledge representation, multimedia learning, STEM teaching and learning, and Learning analytics.
He teaches the following courses: Theoretical Foundations of Learning and Instruction, Principles of Research, Quasi-Experimental Designs, Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis as well as Advanced Educational Psychology with Emphasis on Multimedia Learning Theories, Principles and Research.
Adesope started his tertiary education at Yaba College of Technology-Nigeria, where he bagged Higher National Diploma (HND), and sppecialised in Computer Science. He bagged PGD in Computer Technology from Ladoke Akintola University (LAUTECH), Nigeria, M. Sc. in Educational Technology from Simon Fraser University, Surrey, Canada, and his thesis title is “Dynamic Concept Maps as Knowledge Representation Tools for Learning”, and PhD in Educational Psychology with dissertation’s title, “The Cognitive Effects of Verbal Redundancy and Animated Concept Maps on Learning” from Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada.
Adesope has published widely having to his credit, 84 journal articles, 11 chapters in book, three books, 10 journal articles in preparation, 57 Published Refereed Conference Proceedings, 105 Refereed Conference Presentations, 23 technical reports, and 32 Presentations and Posters.
Apart from supervising many doctoral, master, and bachelor students, he has attracted over $USD18,646,297 grants, with $600,00 worth of grants in preparation for submission, and 22 proposals between 2010 and 2020 with a total of $20 million.
He works with the College of Education, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington.
He has goggle scholar citations of 9743, his h-index and i10 index as of today, stand at 35 and 76 respectively.
He is married to Tolu and their union is blessed with three children Florence, Felicia, and Josiah.
