Families battle to stop church which preaches abhorrent views including that being gay is a trap of the devil from being set up in the heart of their community

Residents of a historic market town are battling to stop a church with abhorrent views on homosexuality taking over a centre in the heart of their community. 

Kingsnorth Recreation Centre in Ashford, Kent, which was once the home of Little Acorns Nursery, is set to be occupied by Living Faith Church Worldwide — also known as Winners Chapel.

The Church bought the centre from Ashford Borough Council for £600,000 in May and informed pre-school bosses they would need to vacate immediately. 

Now the Church has come under fire after homophobic remarks made by leaders and pastors of the organisation - which has its headquarters in Nigeria - have come to light.

Among them is Pastor Faith Abiola Oyedepo, a senior preacher at the church and the wife of its founder Bishop David Oyedepo, who has been dubbed by Forbes as the wealthiest preacher in the world with a net worth of more than $150million (£115m).

Ms Oyedepo has previously posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, about homosexuality to her followers, referring to it as a trap of the devil.

In February this year, she wrote: God loves you and wants to deliver you from every trap of the devil. Homosexuality is a trap, and its reward is fatal. Do not toy with it; come to Jesus today, and He will free you from its hold.

A second post read: The penalty for dabbling into homosexuality is a corrupted mind. 

If an individual has had previous homosexual experiences, even after giving his/her life to Christ, another battle has to be fought and won in the mind. Continue to purify your mind by praying in the Spirit. 

To be free from homosexuality, continue to wash your thoughts on your knees in prayers, another post said. 

A planning application for the nursery to be turned into a place of worship has received 94 objections as locals fight to stop Living Faith Church Worldwide setting up in their community.  

Groups including the National Secular Society (NSS) have also raised concerns, amid claims the church links child disobedience to witchcraft - citing the David Oyedepo Ministries website, which states disobedience is as terrible as witchcraft.

In 2012, the Mail reported how Mr Oyedepo, The Pastorpreneur, was accused of slapping the face of a young woman he said was a witch.  

His son David Oyedepo Junior is the pastor at Living Faith Church Worldwides European headquarters in Dartford.

Pastor Faith Abiola Oyedepo is a senior preacher at the church and the wife of its founder Bishop David Oyedepo, dubbed by Forbes as the wealthiest preacher in the world with a net worth of more than £115m

Pictured: Kingsnorth Recreation Centre once the home of Little Acorns Nursery

Ms Oyedepo previously posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, comments referring to homosexuality as a trap of the devil.

Tenterden-based Steve Bowen, a humanist and a member of Kent County Councils committee on religious education, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): I take the view that "I might not agree with what you say, but Id defend to the death your right to say it".

If its going to be used as a base of operations for things like conversion therapy or whatever, I think thats a legal issue. I think thats something that as a society we ought to have legal controls on.

But as long as they operate within the law and they keep their religion within their church and their frankly quite abhorrent views on other things between themselves, I cant really say that I would object to them having the building.    

Human rights activist and Nigerian Humanist Movement founder Leo Igwe told the BBC the church obtained money from its members using what it called a prosperity-in-gospel narrative.

He said: They make this money using this narrative and then they use it to establish business, universities, schools.

In 2018, an undercover ITV news reporter attended the Dartford site where they appeared to offer complete mind reorientation for gay people, and attempted to cure the reporter of homosexuality.

The new government has committed to outlawing gay conversion therapy and any attempts to change peoples sexual orientation through religious, medical or psychological means.

In response to the issues which came to light in the ITV report, the National Secular Society said: The pastor stated that messages about gay acceptance in society were carefully scripted by Satan, and compared it with Nazi propaganda.

MailOnline has contacted The Winners Chapel for comment.