A CHURCH that emerged in the Philippines in 1914 that now has a worldwide reach.
This was how Iglesia ni Cristo spokesperson Edwil Zabala characterized the INC today as he revealed on Tuesday that 64 chapels abroad were dedicated under the leadership of INC Executive Minister Ka Eduardo V. Manalo with the support of INC members from over 100 countries.
“Since Ka Eduardo took over the helm of the Church in September 2009, outside the Philippines, the INC has established 64 chapels in a dozen countries in four continents; that’s approximately one chapel for each month he has served as our Executive Minister,” Zabala said.
“In the United States alone, 37 chapels were established. For the Church, this is only the beginning,” added the minister.
Since September 2009, chapels have been dedicated in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Japan, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Eight more chapels in Canada, Japan, and the United States will be dedicated in the next few months, in areas such as Bakersfield, California; Lubbock, Texas; Jersey City, New Jersey; Orange Park, Florida; Corona, Southern California; High Point, North Carolina; Regina, Canada; and Ibaraki, Japan.
Zabala said that the INC was now one of the fastest-growing religious denominations in the world, fueled by the support of Church districts in the United States and other countries, “whose members have enthusiastically supported the Church’s thrust to spread the faith.”
“We are happy and humbled, not just as INC members, but as citizens of the different countries where we respectively come from. You see people of various nationalities and disparate backgrounds not just embracing the Christian faith but celebrating it in one language: that of Christian love.”
According to Zabala, services in other countries are conducted the same way they are done in the Philippines, but in the language of the listeners.
“Non-Filipino ministers have to learn our language, and as a result become very proficient Filipino speakers, while Filipino ministers have to learn the language of the country to which they are assigned. This contributes to the worldwide reach of the INC.”