Filmmaker Olawunmi Ajayi Examines Foundation of C&S Church in New Documentary

Vanessa Obioha

For her film debut, young filmmaker Olawunmi Ajayi embarked on an ambitious project: plumbing the misperceptions about the White Garment Church Cherubim and Seraphim (C&S).

To achieve this, the daughter of the famous founder of the Love of Christ Generation Church (C&S) Esther Ajayi, travelled to Ikare in Ondo State to trace the history of the founding father of the church, St. Moses Orimolade Tunolase.

Her discovery was mind-blowing and this she packaged in over an hour-long documentary set for cinematic release soon. At a recent screening where guests watched the first 20 minutes of the documentary titled ‘The White Garment Church Cherubim and Seraphim (C&S)’, the younger Ajayi revealed that her utmost goal was to correct the misperceptions about the church.

“First, I wanted to show the difference between C&S church and the Celestial church. The latter do not wear footwear at all when going to church but we only remove ours when we are about to enter the church. Also, we don’t do idol worshipping. Everything we practice is in the Bible. The documentary gives you a full biblical backing of the doctrines of the C&S church.

Narrated by the prolific silver screen prince Richard Mofe-Damijo, ‘The White Garment Church’ which doubles as a biopic sheds light on the myths surrounding Tunolase. Legend had it that he started walking the day he was born.

“When I was doing my research, one of the things I found interesting was the belief that he walked on the first day he was born. Jesus Christ didn’t walk the day he was born so I went to Ikare and interviewed different people and they all said the same thing. That story still feels strange to me. I wouldn’t say it’s true because I wasn’t born then but I can only document what I found out.”

Explaining further, Ajayi said that the role of Tunolase in Christendom cannot be overlooked.

“A lot of people don’t know about him. He made Christianity strong in Nigeria. Without him, I don’t think there will be a Redeemed Christian Church of God, Winners Chapel or Christ Apostolic Church.”

Initially, Ajayi revealed, the plan was to do a short documentary but the more people she talked about, the more the vision expanded and with the army of young creatives working with her, the documentary turned out to be more than she bargained for.

One of the key persons she spoke to was her mother, not necessarily because of the familial relationship. Rather, given her mother’s Muslim background, Ajayi was interested in finding out why she stuck with the church. Other subjects interviewed in the documentary include publisher of Ovation International Magazine, Dele Momodu; Bankole Babatunde among others.