How a church member corrected me, Pastor Sam Adeyemi reflects on leadership

The Senior Pastor of Daystar Christian Centre, Sam Adeyemi, has highlighted the importance of authenticity and transparency in leadership—particularly within the church—by sharing a personal experience where he publicly admitted to making a factual error during a sermon.

Speaking in a podcast that has been circulating on social media as of Tuesday, Adeyemi recalled an incident from a few years before the COVID-19 pandemic. During a church teaching session, he stated that the eagle is the highest flying bird in the world—an idea he had believed for many years.

“The next day, a church member sent a text to Pastor Nick saying, ‘I know I may not have the right to correct Pastor Sam, but he mentioned that the eagle is the highest flying bird in the world. That’s actually incorrect,’” he recounted.

Adeyemi said he immediately verified the information online and discovered the correction was accurate.

“As she was speaking, I checked Google on my phone. She was right—the eagle doesn’t even rank in the top ten,” he admitted.

He later returned to the church and issued a public apology. “I came back and told the congregation, ‘This is what someone pointed out, and I looked it up,’” he said.

Using the moment as a teaching point, Adeyemi stressed the need for more youth involvement in leadership, especially in an age where access to information has transformed how people interact with those in authority.

“People now fact-check what you say in real-time. In the past, no one would have questioned it. Today, people see it as hypocrisy when leaders don’t admit their mistakes. That’s one reason people are leaving the church,” he explained.