With 1,155 chapels dedicated here and abroad in the last five years and several more lined up in the next few months, Iglesia ni Cristo spokesman Edwil Zabala said on Wednesday that the church’s unprecedented growth under the leadership of Executive Minister Ka Eduardo V. Manalo would continue in 2016 with the support of its membership worldwide.
“Our members have embraced the vision of our leadership and their faith has been reinforced after seeing how the church has grown in leaps and bounds in the past five years,” said Zabala.
Of the 1,155 chapels dedicated since Ka Eduardo V. Manalo took over the reins of the INC in September 2009, 64 are located outside the Philippines, covering 12 countries in four continents.
In the United States alone, 37 chapels have been dedicated. Six more chapels in the US will be dedicated in early 2016, as well as one in Canada and Japan.
In Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, 1,091 chapels have been built and renovated in the past five years, with several more in the pipeline in 2016.
According to the minister, “by the grace of God and the faith of our members, past and present, the church has not just survived all the challenges it has faced in its first century of existence—it has thrived.”
Zabala said that the baseless, concerted attacks leveled against the church in recent months have not achieved their objectives.
“Our detractors have attempted in vain to sow disunity and erode our reputation; they have done neither. On the contrary, these empty charges have galvanized our membership, who see through the veiled attempts to undermine the church.”