Kingsway International Christian Centre
| Kingsway International Christian Centre | |
|---|---|
| Location | 468-474 Hoe Street, Walthamstow, London, England, E17 9AH |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Denomination | Pentecostal |
| Website | www |
| History | |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Clergy | |
| Senior pastor(s) | Matthew Ashimolowo |
Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC) is based in London, England and was established in 1992 with 200 adults and 100 children. It currently has up to 12,000 people in attendance at the main church every Sunday. The church is pastored by Matthew Ashimolowo.
The church, whose majority membership is under 50 years of age, is predominantly of West African origin but claims that worshippers come from 46 nations. It was located for nine years on a 9.5-acre (38,000 m2) site in Hackney, London, close to the site of the 2012 Olympics Village.
KICC had to vacate the site by November 2006 in order to make way for proposed developments for the 2012 London Olympics but did so only in late 2007. The last programme held at the old Hackney site was IGOC 2007, with many international guest speakers. The church relocated to Hoe Street, Walthamstow, awaiting planning consent and the development of a large new site in Rainham, near the A13. However, the government was reluctant to give the required development planning consent. Eventually the church purchased and moved into its present larger site, Prayer City in Chatham, Kent, while retaining use of the Walthamstow site. In subsequent press releases, KICC announced plans and programmes scheduled for Prayer City from 2013 onwards.
Irregularities in the operation of the charity behind Kingsway International Christian Centre (The King's Ministries Trust) has led to it being investigated by the Charity Commission on two occasions.
The first investigation started in 2002 and reported in October 2005. This report concluded that there had been serious misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of the charity. At an early stage in the investigation, it was considered that the charity's assets were at risk, and control was removed from the existing trustees and placed in the hands of an independent external company (the accountancy and management consultancy practice KPMG), who regularised the charity's affairs. The Charity Commission reported that senior pastor Matthew Ashimolowo acted as both a trustee and a paid employee of the charity, in contravention of charity law. He had been responsible for approving payments and benefits to himself and his wife, Yemisi, totalling more than £384,000. Benefits received included free accommodation for himself and family, an £80,000 car, purchase of a timeshare in Florida for £13,000 using a charity credit card, and over half a million pounds paid out to Ashimolowo's private companies, which were operated from church property and had unclear business relationships with the charity. £120,000 was spent celebrating Ashimolowo's birthday. He repaid £200,000 to the charity.
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