The early leaders of CAC laid the foundation of the Church on the twin pillars of faith and holiness. Their kind of faith was uncompromising. It was called in Yoruba language: “Igbagbo tiku tiye.” That is, faith whether in the face of death or life; unconditional faith. And in accordance with His word in Mark 16 verse 20, God honored their faith and confirmed it with signs and wonders. As the years progressed, CAC became renowned for answered prayers. Prevailing and efficacious prayers became characteristics that made the CAC denomination stand out among other denominations. People who had tried other means of obtaining healing for their sick and oppressed ones without success for instance, carried them, as a last resort, to a CAC assembly. And in a matter of time, after hot and relentless prayers by the minister or prayer group (for example, the Light of the World Society), the sick always received their healing from God. Nowadays, a lot of CAC assemblies still try to keep the prayer tradition, but it appears that things are no longer as they used to be. Yes, God still answers prayers in CAC, but the answers seem to be scanty and rare in coming. Many people nowadays would rather rush their sick folks either to a hospital or to some prophet in some other denomination, than take them to a CAC assembly. Where then is the God of Apostle Babalola, and of the founding fathers of CAC, who used to answer prayers speedily?

Over the years, it seems the early leaders became so engrossed in the task of spreading the Gospel, that they failed to notice the gradual infiltration of their ranks by ministers with a different spirit. They failed to observe that “wolves” were surreptitiously entering into the “sheepfold” and mixing with the “sheep.” The kind of loose administrative structure which the leaders put in place (so as to allow freedom to spread the gospel) also opened the door for these compromising ministers to rise gradually to positions of authority. 

The revolution of 1990 by Pastor E.H.L. Olusheye and his group, was not the first crack in the spiritual walls of CAC. It was actually the very last crack that exposed CAC to shame and ridicule. There had been little cracks here and there in the Church’s walls, all of which paved the way for the unfortunate revolution.

For example, unlike in the past when holiness was the distinguishing characteristic of CAC ministers, nowadays there are recurring allegations that some CAC ministers now visit Occult shrines or babalawos to obtain demonic powers to perform healings and miracles, so as to increase the number of their congregation. The disturbing angle to these allegations is that some are made by co-ministers, who accuse their colleagues of taking them to such shrines. There is a particular large CAC assembly somewhere in the South-West, whose elders rose up recently against the pastor posted there, insisting that he must pack his baggage and leave. The crisis became so serious that many members of the congregation started abandoning the Church. One of the major complaints against that pastor was that, he took the junior pastor to a river sometimes late in the night, where he tried to perform some rituals together with him. The same pastor was also accused of digging the ground around the Church premises very late in the night, to plant strange objects!  

Another commonly reported vice that has caused serious cracks in the walls of the Church, is that of adultery. Some CAC pastors are reported to engage in adultery with their members without any fear. It is now no longer shocking news in CAC to hear that in addition to his wife with him at the Mission house, the pastor has another wife or concubine kept somewhere. The concubine and her children by the pastor are secretly catered for by the pastor. And this type of unholy relationship goes on also without fear! Sometimes, some of these secret, abominable atrocities become exposed to Church members. When this happens, the members may rise up in arms against such pastors and report them to the Authorities. But instead of seriously sanctioning such erring pastors, what usually happens is that such pastors are transferred out of that station to another station. Thus, such pastor invariably repeats the same cycle of adultery at his new station. And the “sheep” continue to suffer and become prey to the devouring activities of their pastor who is supposed to protect them. The irony is that, with time, such a pastor may even rise up the administrative ladder and become entrusted with a higher position of leadership in the Church. This happens at times where the pastor has a god-father somewhere or is good at “eye-service.” But when such pastors find themselves in higher positions of leadership, they usually become heady and insubordinate, and become a constant source of problems to the Church leaders who did not discipline them earlier.

Yet another crack in the walls of CAC is caused by dwindling respect for integrity and honesty. Nowadays, it is no longer a “big deal” for a pastor to stand up with a microphone and tell a bare-faced lie to his congregation. This is done at times, for instance, when the pastor is trying to raise funds for one project or another. Even in interpersonal relationships, pastors lie to one another and to their members without any scruples. You cannot hand over Christian materials like books to some pastors to help sell in their assembly, and expect them to ever remit to you the proceeds of the sale. Many pastors can simply not be entrusted to keep money meant for their assembly. It is disheartening to discover that some of these pastors do not see anything wrong in what they are doing; they interpret it as simply being smart. Before he died, even the late president of the Church, Pastor N.E. Udofia, made it clear that he had an axe to grind with these kind of pastors, as he seized every opportunity he had to show that he was angry with pastors whose words could not be trusted.