The Celestial Church of Christ popularly called Cele was founded by Samuel Joseph Oshoffa in 1947 in Port Novo, Benin.
The church has since grown from its early days in the Republic of Benin to become quite popular in several part of the world.
The Cele Church has some unique belief systems which you’ll get to know about in the course of this article. More importantly, you’ll learn about the church’s logo and what the colours on this emblem represent.
But before we delve into that, let’s take a quick look at the history of the church.
According to the church’s history, Oshoffa received a divine vision which led to the founding of the Celestial Church of Christ in September 1947. Many healings were linked to Oshoffa and this led to the growth of his ministry. Also, he was reported to have the ability to prophesy
Oshoffa died in 1985 after an accident which he was involved in. He was succeeded by Alexander Abiodun Bada who was the head of the church until 2000.
The faithfuls of the Celestial Church of Christ are called Celestians and the official name of the church was inspired by a vision in which the founder claimed that Jesus told him that the Church members should adore him in a similar way as do the angels in heaven. The name indicates that they see themselves as the representative of the heavenly on Earth.
The church is governed by twelve recommendations which consist of several banned things, including food, common to other monotheistic religions. Some of these are highlighted below:
- Smoking of tobacco, drinking alcohol and eating pork are forbidden.
- Celestial must remove their shoes for prayer and in the places of worship.
- Men and women are expected to sit separately at the church.
- Menstruating women and those who have recently given birth are unclean and cannot attend church events for seven days in the first case after which they would be “sanctified”.
- Members of Celestial Church of Christ are forbidden to engage or participate in any form of idolatory, fetish ceremony or cults, black magic and charms.
- Only men who are “anointed” are allowed access to the altar.
Celestial Church of Christ Logo: Image and Meaning
The logo of the Celestial Church of Christ comprises several colours which are quite significant.
- The Blue colour represents the Spirit in love. It is used by the prophetic office.
- The Sun Yellow colour signifies the health of God, divine radiation and healing
- The White colour represents power, heavenliness and holiness.
- Black signifies mourning in Celestial Church of Christ.
- Red signifies affliction and strife. It’s the color of the dark world.
- Purple signifies royalty, majesty and kingly.
- Gold signifies the glory of God.
- Green signifies Restoration and spiritual growth.
- Silver signifies the redemptive work of Christ.
The Cele churches are usually painted white and blue which signifies the power in the Spirit. Also, the choir cape is composed of two colours, sky blue and sun yellow which signify the health and the spirit of God.