Inside Nigeria’s First Gay Church: P.M.News Undercover Report

By Lois Okereke &   Ejiro Ejekukor

Not many residents of Jakande Estate, Oke Afa, Isolo in Lagos know that they live close to a new form of ‘Christianity’.  The new strain of the religion is practised in a flat in Block 45 of the estate. Named House of Rainbow, the flat is a church for homosexuals, transgenders, bi-sexuals and lesbians. It is the first of its kind in Nigeria.

Unlike conventional churches, House of Rainbow does not evangelise openly, making it difficult for people to pick out. It has no signpost bearing its name or any information about the church. Its entrance advertises the secrecy with which members practise their faith. First, there is a metal protector, followed by a door and another metal protector. These are always locked.

Members and first-timers have to knock and one of the two ushers, who usually stand sentry, would peep to ask for the prospective attendees’ mission.

The entrance leads straight to the sitting room of the Suite 1, the proper description of the flat, which serves as the worship arena. The area has about 50 chairs arranged in rows of five. The seats have their backs to the door.

Directly opposite the sitting area is the altar which has a beautiful colourful backdrop, reflecting the name of the church. At a corner is a wooden pulpit. Beside it is a small table covered with a navy blue cloth. The table is the place of a giant-sized Bible that is permanetly opened to show Psalm 106. The table also bears two tiny wooden crucifixes and a cup of water for the pastor.

At another corner is yet another table bearing the communion bowl that is covered with a piece of cloth.

In front of the altar, is a big cross wrapped in a navy blue sash and two baskets for offering.

The service holds at 9 a.m. on Sundays with the choir rendering praise songs. This is followed by the worship session, which could last two hours. Members dance suggestively to the praise songs.

In some of these songs, the lyrics are changed to suit the church’s doctrine. An example is a song that says “God will give Christians everything in double folds” is replaced with “God will give them (men) husbands in double folds.”

A Bible reading by a member of the congregation follows, after which the  head of the church, Reverend Jide Macaulay takes over to give the day’s sermon. With his rough curls and bling studs, he looks more of a pimp than a winner of souls. But he has won souls–those of fellow faggots.

During ministration, he quotes copiously from the Bible, putting a spin on the passages to justify bi-sexuality and homosexuality, which the Bible condemns.

He maintains that being gay is totally acceptable in God’s sight. In most of his ministrations, all he does is quote Bible verses to justify such sexual deviances.

Members of the congregation comprise of fashion designers, students, models, media personnel and members of the civil society.

…THE MAN JIDE MACAULAY

•His Personality; His Sermons; His Congregation; His Aim

His Personality:
Rev. Rowland Jide Macaulay  was born in London 42 years ago. He holds a Law degree from Thomas Valley University, London, and a Master’s in Theology from United Bible University in Nigeria, which was founded by his father Professor Augustus Olakunle Macaulay.

He also founded the evangelical ministry that ordained his son as a minister in 1998. Professor Macaulay is the president of Nigeria’s Association of Christian Theologians, of which Jide is also a member.

However, his father is against Jide’s sexual preference and actually desires a legislation that would criminalise his activity and that of his church.

Jide, who was once married and has a 16-year old son, found out he was gay when he was 14 but didn’t confess to it.

House of Rainbow, with a branch in London, is under the Metropolitan Community Churches.

His Sermons:
Time for sermon is usually an interesting session. Rev. Macaulay carefully sets his laptop on the pulpit as he reads aloud his message to his members and in turn they jeer, whistle and utter raunchy statements.

In one of his sermons, he claimed that David and Jonathan were the first gay people in the world and declared that Ruth and Naomi were lovers.

In another sermon, he encouraged his members to be open with their sexual preferences. He went on to say that it is perfect to have sexual relationship with people they find attractive. This drew a huge applause from his members.

Claiming to provide succour for gays, Rev. Macaulay obviously from most of his sermons is tailored toward the personal development and acceptance of their sexuality than their spiritual development.

His Congregation:

His congregation is made of a couple of teenagers and young men. Interestingly most of them see themselves as females. A couple of them have changed their names into feminine names like Sharon, Adriana, Emmanuela, Stephanie and Alexis.

His Aim:
According to Rev. Macaulay, Nigeria has 14 million population of transgenders, homosexuals and bi-sexual and he hopes to reach out to all of them and to create a safe place for fellowship, education, enlightenment and worship in Nigeria.

He also plans to expand on the vision of the Universal Fellowship Metropolitan Community Churches

…THE PRAISE NIGHT
Recently, the church held a praise night at the United Bible University, Ojodu Lagos, to mark its second anniversary, amidst heavy security. Despite the fact that most attendees were known church members, they were still thoroughly searched before being allowed entry into the venue.

Specifically, the church refused entry to Nigerian journalists who came to cover the event except one from the BBC and the press crew the church invited from the UK.

An interesting feature of the praise night was the head-tie competition, which feature members trying to outdo one another by tying scarves on mannequins.

Another remarkable part was when the discussion on the topic: “Would Jesus Discriminate?” started, Kayode Taiwo, a ‘reverend’, and a Christian TV talk show host, as well as two other gay members made a case for the gay practice.

Taiwo told his audience that there was nothing wrong in being who they are (gays) since they decided to accept their sexuality and are responsible for their actions. He counselled that all they need is to repackage themselves, and the world would accept them as they are.

Taiwo’s preaching gave way to that of Brother Stephanie who said he got ‘converted’ at the Ikoyi Prison.

Stephanie claimed that God had a purpose for him as “a transgender born- again Christian” to preach the gospel. She supported her belief with a portion of the Bible (John 2:7), where Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana of Galilee.

He also gave the illustration of the “potter and the clay” (Jerimaiah18 v1-4), alluding that gays are like clay in God’s hand, adding that He moulded them into what they are now: gays; just as He created ‘straight’ people (heterosexuals).

Justification Of Sodomy:
Justifying sodomy, Victor, a guest speaker at the praise night organised as part of its activities to mark the church’s 2nd  anniversary, explained to the congregation that God did not destroy the city of Sodom and Gommorrah for indulging in homosexuality but because they were no righteous person in the city.

Speaking further, Victor used the encounter between Abraham and God from the Bible passage that Abraham should provide 10 righteous persons from the city, so the city would be spared. But because nobody was found, God destroyed the city and not because of homosexuality, he argued.