About Redemption Chaplaincy International (RCI)

Redemption Chaplaincy International (RCI) is the chaplaincy corps of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). We train pastors, ministers, and young believers to serve as chaplains — spiritually grounded, physically disciplined, and ready for the altar, the parade ground, and the community.

RCI is not a ceremonial society. We are a working corps of officers who provide spiritual covering at RCCG gatherings, support security and crowd management at large events, respond in medical and emotional emergencies, and carry the Gospel into prisons, clinics, and neighbourhoods that others overlook. Our motto is simple and demanding: Service to Humanity.

At a glance

Founded: 2007
First commissioning: 3 August 2007 — 67 cadet officers
Motto: Service to Humanity
Headquarters: Redemption Fort, Ogun State
Membership: 3,000+ officers on record
Reach: 9 national divisions across Nigeria

Who we are

A corps inside the Mission — not beside it

RCI exists because chaplaincy belongs within RCCG. When the first cadet class was commissioned in 2007, founding officers chose to register a chaplaincy organization under Mission authority rather than align with an outside group. The name The Redemption Chaplaincy International was deliberately broad: every RCCG member who wished to serve — in Nigeria or abroad — could find a place in the Corps.

Today RCI is organized into divisions, brigades, battalions, and wings that mirror RCCG's own regional map. An officer at a province wing and a divisional commander at headquarters share the same identity: Total Priest and Total Soldier — someone who carries the commitment of a true Christian and the discipline of a paramilitary officer.

Spiritual covering flows from the Admiral Marshal at the apex of RCI's ceremonial structure, through the General Commandant and Governing Council, to divisional, brigade, battalion, and wing command. Administrative and operational chains run in parallel so that training, finance, logistics, fellowship, welfare, and legal functions support the battalion life every officer lives month to month.

What we do

Ministry of presence — in five directions at once

Every RCI chaplain is trained around five categories of core duty: spiritual care, religious care, pastoral care, emotional care, and ethical care. Underneath all five is one constant — the ministry of presence. Showing up calm, prepared, and trustworthy when it counts most.

Spiritual & altar covering

Sacred altar protection, spiritual oversight, counselling, and warfare — the work chaplains do when RCCG gathers for Holy Ghost services, conventions, and provincial events.

Security & crowd management

Trained officers plan and monitor large gatherings — knowing capacity, identifying bottlenecks, coordinating ushers and protocol teams, and responding when crowds need direction rather than panic.

Medical & crisis response

From basic and psychological first aid to CPR administration in the community, chaplains bridge the gap between emergency and pastoral care.

Ceremonial & espirit de corps

Commissioning parades, monthly drills, aerobics, and march-past keep officers fit and united — the visible discipline that marks RCI on the road and in society.

Community service (CCSR)

Medical outreaches, correctional facility visits, environmental work, and restoration programmes — Service to Humanity made practical, not theoretical.

Whether at the altar, in a prison yard, or on a parade ground, the standard is the same: excellence, accountability, and compassion under the SACRED values every chaplain is formed to uphold.

How we train

TRADOC — from cadet to commissioned officer

Training runs through TRADOC (Training and Doctrine Command) across three tracks. Cadet Officer is open to pastors called to spiritual leadership and military chaplaincy service. Cadet Yankee serves single ministers and youth aged 18–35 building leadership and intervention skills early. Cadet Junior introduces children aged 7–17 to discipline, service, and faith formation under age-appropriate supervision.

The path is consistent: apply through the registration portal, pass eligibility review with your battalion training officer, pay training fees, complete spiritual and physical training including drills and aerobics, and commission in formal ceremony with rank decoration based on transparent criteria tied to RCCG spiritual seniority.

Pre-commissioning week at the annual Convention is intensive by design — seven days that prepare a set for commissioning at Redemption City. After commissioning, officers join battalion life: monthly Communion in camp, Holy Ghost services on first Thursdays and Fridays, and early-morning drills that keep the corps ready.

Cadet Officer — ₦250,000 training investment
Cadet Yankee — ₦200,000 training investment
Cadet Junior — ₦150,000 training investment

RCI is a non-profit organization. Fees cover uniforms, commissioning materials, and the cost of camp-based training — the same amounts applicants see in the portal and on the Joining page.

Our calling

Vision, mission, and the compass of SACRED

RCI's vision is to build Total Priests and Total Soldiers of Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven. The mission flows from that: train priests within RCCG to reach military formations in a spirit of camaraderie and discipline; further the frontiers of RCCG's own vision; and prepare chaplains fit both physically and spiritually for the work ahead.

Six values — Spirituality, Accountability, Compassion, Religious leadership, Excellence, and Discipline — form the acronym SACRED. They are not abstract ideals. They are the standard every chaplain is trained and evaluated against in the field, at the altar, and in the community.

As an organ of RCCG, RCI is also anchored in the Mission's five core values: Holiness, Accountability, Responsibility, Transparency, and Service. The RCI Anthem captures this identity in song — Soldiers of the Lord, Soldiers of the Cross, committed to caring and sharing, empowered to pull down strongholds until the world is reached for the Lord.

Where we serve

From Redemption Fort to every province

RCI's national footprint spans 4 divisions built directly on RCCG's regional map — from Lagos and Ogun through the South-South and South-East, the North-Central and North-East, and the South-West beyond Lagos and Ogun. Each division is led by a Divisional Commander, with Brigade, Battalion, and Wing Commanders reaching down to individual RCCG provinces.

Headquarters sits at Redemption Fort Defense Headquarters on the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway — the operational heart of the Corps. Beyond Nigeria, RCI maintains a growing international presence as RCCG expands worldwide.

The organization is working toward a chaplaincy academy offering Diploma and Postgraduate Diploma certificates, alongside online training — so the corps that began with sixty-seven officers in the rain continues to raise fit priests for every formation the Mission reaches.

From our founding story

It began with a small gathering at Redemption City — easy to mistake for a youth drill team until you drew closer. What emerged was the first cadet class trained for chaplaincy within RCCG. On 3 August 2007, sixty-seven cadet officers were commissioned in a torrential downpour that has since become part of RCI commissioning tradition.

When the body that facilitated that first training proved unregistered, founding officers faced a choice: align with an outside chaplaincy group, or seek permission to build something inside the Mission. They chose the latter. After months of waiting, approval came — and with it the name The Redemption Chaplaincy International, deliberately broad enough for every RCCG member who wished to serve, in Nigeria and abroad.

Registration, early council work, harmonisation of pastors trained elsewhere, and the first youth cohorts were carried by volunteer sacrifice, transparent record-keeping, and a conviction that chaplaincy belongs inside RCCG — not adjacent to it. That conviction still defines RCI today.

Read the full history →

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