A CHILD…

Tayo Adeyemi was born in Leeds, England on 25th September 1964 to Pa Adesegun Adekunle Adeyemi and Mrs Christianah Olubandele Adeyemi. Tayo was the third of four children and the only boy in the family. At an early age, Tayo left England for Nigeria with his parents.

Tayo began his formal education in Nigeria, he attended Ewenla Nursery and Primary School in Surulere, Lagos; for his secondary education, he attended St Gregory’s College, Obalende, Lagos where he obtained his O’ Level Certificates. He furthered his education by attending Ogun State Polytechnic where he attained his A’ Level Certificates and later graduated as a medical doctor from the University of Ibadan.

He received Jesus Christ as his Lord and personal Saviour as a young boy in 6th grade aged 10. In fact, Tayo was led to Christ by his immediate elder sister, Group Captain Deji Shodeinde. At that early age he learnt the value of cultivating an intimate walk with God. He would spend extended hours in studying the word and in prayer, much to the amazement of his schoolmates.

A CALLING…

He received the call of God upon his life while doing a summer vacation job in 1981. Sitting behind an office desk, doing his work, he saw an open vision, in which Jesus Christ walked into the room and told him: “I want you to take my sheep out of the dry places and feed them in green pastures.”

Whilst in medical school, Tayo was instrumental in founding a students’ fellowship, Family of Christ Called Unto Service (FOCCUS), which grew to a movement of more than 3,000 students in well over 30 Nigerian Universities and Colleges in a space of five years. He was also actively involved in starting three chapters of the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship in different parts of the country. Tayo also served as the President of Nigerian Medical Students Association (NiMSA) and was the Editor in Chief of the bi-monthly magazine, DOCKITA.

He returned to England with the intention of pursuing a residency programme in General Surgery and later, Neurosurgery. During his residency programme, Tayo and two of his friends started a fellowship, the Upper Room Fellowship. The fellowship began with a handful of people who met in an apartment in Hackney, but they very quickly outgrew the apartment and had to seek a bigger venue to accommodate the ever growing number of attendees.

It was while he was leading the Upper Room Fellowship that God called him to start a church. On his own account, he did not respond to the call to start and pastor a church, he dialogued with God concerning this matter for three years. Pastor Tayo was keen on becoming a neurosurgeon due to the shortage of neurosurgeons in Nigeria and his desire was to open his own practice as well as become a lecturer in neurosurgery. However, God told him that he would be putting information in people’s head’s while their hearts remained empty. God prevailed on Tayo to start the church without delay, as he did not have much time…

A CHURCH…

Eventually at the age of 27, Tayo yielded to God’s call and wound down the fellowship. On 25th July 1993 he started New Wine Church with 25 people; they had their first service in West Greenwich House in Greenwich London. The church has now grown into a strong congregation of approximately 5,000 members in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Under Pastor Tayo’s leadership, New Wine Church has become a major force in the fabric of its immediate and wider community a significant influence nationally, in Europe and all over world.

Pastor Tayo was recognised as one of the strong leaders of the 21st century church and as a significant prophetic voice in the United Kingdom. He communicated God’s word with such sharp prophetic insight that his ministry has helped shape the destiny of many churches across the earth. His visionary leadership made New Wine Church one of the leading dynamic churches in the United Kingdom. Out of this vision, a sister church was planted in the United States of America in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1997.

Alongside pastoring a church, Tayo’s ministry was highly sought after around the world; and he addressed well over 300 audiences every year. Besides travelling extensively around the United Kingdom, he ministered in nations such as Australia, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Holland, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, South Africa, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates and the United States of America. Tayo travelled from the lowlands to the highlands, from villages to cities, from remote parts of the world to well-known and popular places.

Pastor Tayo’s ministry touches an ever increasing number of lives daily, through his radio broadcast ‘Maximise Life’, as well as his television broadcasts that reach over 120 million homes in Africa, Australasia, Europe and the Middle East. The church is currently impacting lives in over 118 nations and New Wine Church’s flagship magazine Winepress, is circulated in over 80 nations.

A MAN…

Tayo believed that God has deposited something inside everyone; and motivates people to discover, develop and deploy the gifts that God has placed within them for His own glory.

Tayo was a great father, a great husband and an excellent teacher. He communicated with children in a way only a child would understand; and with the same impact communicated with more matured individuals and got the desired effect. His messages throughout his life time whether in the position of a coach, counsellor, father, friend, mentor, pastor or a preacher was that “if a 12 year old does not understand your message, then you have not delivered effectively.” Thus his messages were unfailingly delivered with accuracy, clarity, exactitude and simplicity.

He was a very wise man with wisdom ahead of his years. He was a kind, caring and compassionate man. Pastor Tayo was also humorous and mischievous – he told the best stories, not the best jokes on the planet, but his laughter was unmistakable and infectious.

Pastor Tayo was a man of excellence; his life was a reflection of God’s opulence. He was a generous man and gave everything for God and God’s people. In his own words, where God was concerned Tayo’s tag line was “If it’s for the King of Kings, only the best is good enough!”

He is survived by his wife, ‘his Angel’ Adejoke and his three sons, ‘the three wise men’ Adeoluwa, Oreoluwa and Ifeoluwa.