"The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former," says the LORD of hosts, "and in this place I will give peace." (Haggai 2:9)
Across the road from Faith Tabernacle, the 50,000-seat church that Living Faith Church Worldwide built in ten months in 1999, a far larger building has been rising since 2021. The church calls it the Ark. When it opens it will seat 109,000 people in one hall, with a youth church and a children's church under the same roof, and it is expected to be the largest church auditorium in the world.
This article gathers what has been reported about the Ark: where the idea came from, what is being built, how it has been paid for, why the opening date announced for November 2025 was moved, and what the church has said about when it will finally be dedicated.
Photo: the Ark at Canaanland, Ota, in September 2026. Credit: K24 Digital.
Watch: an aerial tour of the Ark
Video: Tikmedia Films on YouTube.
The history: from Faith Tabernacle to the Ark
Living Faith Church Worldwide, known everywhere as Winners' Chapel, began in 1981 under Bishop David Oyedepo and now has congregations in more than 150 countries. In 1999 it moved its headquarters to Canaanland, a 560-acre site at Ota in Ogun State that has since grown to almost 5,000 acres. Canaanland holds Faith Tabernacle, Covenant University, Faith Academy, Dominion Publishing House and housing for thousands of staff and students.
Faith Tabernacle was itself a wonder when it opened: a 50,000-seat church built in ten months, long described as the largest church building in the world. Oyedepo says the Ark fulfils a dream he first shared in the early 2000s, a "city of refuge" for worship, leadership training and global crusades, a place where, in his words, "generations will meet God, a testimony of what faith can build."
The groundbreaking for what the church calls the Ark Legacy Project took place at Canaanland on 25 March 2021. The name carries the Bible's two arks at once: Noah's ark, a refuge from judgment, and the Ark of the Covenant, the presence of God in the midst of his people. Preachers at Canaanland like to recall that Obed-Edom's house prospered while the Ark rested there (2 Samuel 6:11), and that Ota has prospered since Canaanland came.
The project has changed Ota as well as the church. It is the largest private construction project in the town's history, and it drew the largest government one: a six-lane expressway and two overhead bridges at Oju-Ore and Canaanland. Thousands of engineers, artisans, suppliers and drivers have worked on the site, and the church says it has prioritised locally sourced materials.
What is being built
The numbers that follow come from the church's own announcements, repeated by Bishop Oyedepo at the Annual Youth Alive Convention on 22 August 2026, and from reports in Nigerian and Kenyan media.
- 109,000 seats in the main hall. "There are 109,000 seats, not benches," Oyedepo said. Beside it sit a 5,000-seat youth church and a 20,000-capacity children's church, all under one roof.
- A foundation more than 21 metres deep and a roof span of about 318 metres.
- 126 escalators, 29 elevators and travelators, 129 vertical transport systems over four levels, described as a record for a single building.
- 20 industrial chillers for the central air conditioning. "One chiller can power a 5,000-bed hotel," Oyedepo said. "There are 20 of them."
- Its own power. Canaanland's 15-megawatt gas plant, running since 2016, is not enough, so an 80-megawatt plant is being built, 32 high-capacity transformers were unveiled in May 2025, and a megawatt of solar power will supplement the gas. Oyedepo noted that Canaanland has not had a blackout since 1999.
- 1,200 restrooms, flushed with rainwater captured from the roof.
- A 12-floor mission tower, some reports say twin towers, to house the church's international headquarters, prayer rooms and broadcast hub.
The church has not published a cost. Nigerian media estimates have ranged from about 160 billion naira to around 200 million US dollars.
Photo: the Ark during construction, November 2025. Credit: Shore Africa.
How it was paid for: "not one special offering"
What Winners' Chapel says about the money is as striking as the building. The church says the Ark is being built debt-free, with no loans, no foreign aid and no levies on members. In August 2026 Oyedepo put it bluntly from the pulpit of Faith Tabernacle:
"Ask Faith Tabernacle, when was the last offering raised for the Ark? Not even mentioning the Sunday offering. Are there any offerings for the Ark? We take offerings for people in need. What do they call them? Kingdom Care, where we serve at least 2,000 people every week. That's what we do. Yet, nothing to be paid. Nothing on the ground will be paid tomorrow. All paid off. They are just fixing."
He called the project "a global amazement without any stress" and attributed it to "the unlimited breakthrough power of love", teaching that delighted obedience to God, not fundraising drives, had built it.
The opening date that moved
Video: Bishop Oyedepo announcing the dedication date. Church Gist on YouTube.
On 18 August 2024 Bishop Oyedepo announced the date everyone had been waiting for: the Ark would be dedicated on 29 November 2025 at 10 am, four years, eight months and four days after the groundbreaking, with Shiloh 2025, the church's great December gathering, to be held in it during dedication week. Heads of state, church leaders from around the world and hundreds of thousands of worshippers were expected.
As the date approached, the church postponed it. The reason given was not money or materials. Oyedepo said the delay was to make sure the structure met the standards of engineering and architectural excellence the church wanted, and that "everything needed to complete the Ark is already on the ground". Shiloh 2025 went ahead in Faith Tabernacle.
Where the Ark stands now, and when it will open
As of late September 2026, the latest detailed report, the Ark is nearing completion. The structure is finished and fully paid for; the remaining work is final installations, logistics and finishing, from lifting heavy equipment into place to sealing interiors and tuning the systems. The 109,000 seats for the main bowl have been bought.
The church has not announced a new dedication date. Oyedepo has said the church is waiting for the appropriate time and will dedicate the building when it considers the facility ready. Social media posts pointing to late 2026 or early 2027 are guesses, not announcements. The obvious candidate is Shiloh in December, but nothing has been said, and after the 2025 postponement the church is plainly determined to open the doors once and open them right.
We will update this article the day a date is announced.
Watch: the Ark project explained
Video: Tessy Cheers on YouTube.
A building is not the church, but it says something
Solomon knew that "heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built" (1 Kings 8:27), and he built it anyway, because a people who gather to meet God need somewhere to gather. The Ark will not make anyone holier by its escalators. But a hall for 109,000 people, built by an African church without a loan or a special offering, says something to a continent that is told it must always borrow: "Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labour in vain" (Psalm 127:1), and when he does build it, nobody is in debt.
Pray for the finishing teams, for safety on the site, for wisdom in choosing the day, and for the day itself: that the first service in the Ark would be remembered not for the size of the room but for the presence that fills it (2 Chronicles 5:13-14).
For more from Winners' Chapel, their channel is on our YouTube tab, Bishop Oyedepo's podcast is on GAIN Radio, and our Holy Spirit section carries teaching on the Spirit-filled life.
Questions this article answers
What is the Ark at Canaanland?
The Ark is the new auditorium of Living Faith Church Worldwide (Winners' Chapel) at Canaanland, Ota, in Ogun State, Nigeria: a 109,000-seat main hall with a 5,000-seat youth church and a 20,000-capacity children's church under one roof, expected to be the largest church auditorium in the world.
When did construction of the Ark begin?
The groundbreaking was on 25 March 2021. The project is called the Ark Legacy Project, and it stands across from Faith Tabernacle, the 50,000-seat church Winners' Chapel built in 1999.
How many people will the Ark seat?
109,000 in the main hall, a figure Bishop Oyedepo stresses means seats, not benches. Earlier reports said 100,000. With the youth and children's churches the building holds well over 130,000.
What is inside the Ark?
126 escalators and 29 elevators plus travelators, 20 industrial chillers for the air conditioning, 1,200 restrooms flushed with harvested rainwater, a roof spanning about 318 metres on a foundation 21 metres deep, and an 80-megawatt power plant with 32 transformers and a megawatt of solar power. A 12-floor mission tower will hold the church's international headquarters.
How much did the Ark cost, and who paid?
The church has not published a figure; media estimates run from about 160 billion naira to around 200 million dollars. Winners' Chapel says it was built debt-free, with no loans and no special offerings, and Bishop Oyedepo said in August 2026 that everything on the ground was "all paid off".
When will the Ark be dedicated?
No new date has been announced. The dedication set for 29 November 2025 was postponed so the building could meet the standards the church wants. As of September 2026 the Ark was nearing completion with finishing work remaining, and the church says it will dedicate it when it is ready.
Sources: K24 Digital (24 September 2026); Legit.ng and Premium Times via allAfrica (25 August 2026) on Bishop Oyedepo's remarks at the Annual Youth Alive Convention; ThisDay (8 February 2026); Shore Africa (1 November 2025); Ikorodu News Network (5 May 2025); Church Gist's account of the Ark Legacy Project (April 2025); Wikipedia on Canaanland. Photographs are credited to their publishers; videos play from YouTube.