How Dag Heward-Mills Built a Global Denomination from One Church
The global ministry now known as the United Denominations Originating from the Lighthouse Group of Churches (UD-OLGC) didn’t begin with a cathedral or a crusade. It began in a small classroom at the University of Ghana, where a young medical student with a passion for God obeyed the call to start preaching. That student was Dag Heward-Mills.
From that humble beginning — a handful of people meeting with borrowed equipment and a heart full of vision — God has built a ministry that now spans over 90 countries, with thousands of churches, lay pastors, missionaries, and full-time ministers.
What has happened is nothing short of supernatural. But it is also the result of diligence, obedience, and a long-term vision anchored in Scripture.
The Foundation: Souls, Discipleship, and Loyalty
At the heart of the denomination is a three-fold focus: evangelism, discipleship, and loyalty. Bishop Dag has never deviated from the mandate to win the lost. From the early days of handing out tracts to today’s large-scale Healing Jesus Campaigns, the call to reach souls has remained central.
But evangelism alone doesn’t build churches. Discipleship is what turns converts into ministers. Through Bible schools, lay ministry training, and relentless teaching, Bishop Dag has raised thousands of people who not only serve in ministry — they build ministry. He believes in training people from within. Many of the senior pastors and bishops today started as ordinary church members who caught the vision and were discipled into their calling.
The third pillar, loyalty, is what has held everything together. Without loyalty, multiplication becomes fragmentation. Through his well-known teachings on loyalty and disloyalty, Bishop Dag has built a culture of honor and unity that has preserved the vision across nations.
Multiplying Without Losing the Message
One of the miracles of this denomination is how it has expanded so widely without losing its voice. Whether in a large city or a rural village, you’ll find churches preaching the same messages, following the same structures, and holding to the same spiritual values. That’s because Bishop Dag has built not just a church, but a movement.
He writes prolifically, teaches constantly, and leads faithfully — creating resources that allow the message to be replicated faithfully by others. His camps and conferences are spiritual engines, pouring fuel into the lives of pastors and leaders who go out to reproduce what they’ve received.
Raising Builders, Not Just Believers
What makes the UD-OLGC denomination so effective is its focus on raising builders. Everyone is encouraged to do something for God. Whether full-time or lay, young or old, rich or poor — there is room for every willing vessel to serve.
That’s how the denomination has grown. Not by importing celebrities, but by raising sons. Not by seeking applause, but by seeking fruit. Bishop Dag has given his life to this process — raising ministers who love the church, live for Christ, and labor with joy.
A Denomination That Still Plants
Many denominations plateau over time. But the UD-OLGC continues to plant. New churches are being established constantly — in homes, halls, schools, auditoriums, and cathedrals. The passion to reach more people is still alive. The church is not waiting for the lost to come in — it is going out.
This is the heart of the founder. A man who never settled. A leader who still believes that the fields are white unto harvest, and the laborers must keep increasing.
One Church, Now Many
From one local church in Accra to thousands around the world — the journey of Dag Heward-Mills and the UD-OLGC is proof that with God, nothing is impossible. When a man is faithful to the vision God gives, and willing to sacrifice everything to see it fulfilled, nations can be discipled, and lives can be changed forever.
It started with one church. But today, it’s a denomination — one that still grows, still plants, and still carries the fire of its original vision.