What emerged in 1914 as an impassioned movement to respond to perceived religious discrepancies in existing Christian denominations, the visionary Felix Manalo embarked on a journey to restore the “true” church as described in the Bible and preached the “original” gospel that inspired the world.
Despite persecution and opposition at the outset from other religious groups, the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) gained its foothold through grassroots evangelism, community outreach, and discipline and unity among its steadily growing membership all over the globe.
From a local Filipino church, INC morphed into a global religious movement as the word spread, a testament to how grassroots mobilization and community engagement effectively lead to significant expansion.
Thanks to its active missionary efforts (e.g., large-scale worship events and social services) and international outreach that rode the tide of the Filipino diaspora, INC expanded its congregations from the Philippines to the United States, Canada, and the Middle East — areas with a significant number of Filipino migrants.
Among the US-based congregations is one in Scenic, South Dakota (formerly a “ghost town” that INC bought for about P32.8 million in 2011).
Across 45 states, where there are the largest number of INC congregations at 240, INC actively engages in community service and cultural events, fostering a sense of unity among Filipino-Americans and people who so fervently subscribe to its doctrines, via large-scale evangelistic events and gatherings the church has been hosting.
The rapid growth in Canada saw an outsized fillip when INC established churches in major cities like Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary.
The true global church inched toward Western Europe and Scandinavia; chapters have risen in the UK, Italy, Spain, and Germany.
In Asia and the Pacific, the INC has attracted members in Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand.
The unified church has hurdled all obstacles as it continues its relentless spread in Africa, a globalized church that welcomes all races and persuasions.
The story of INC’s humble beginnings to global prominence continues in Latin America, although its lay population there is still growing.
The church has been leveraging technology to cast a wider net through online services, enabling more members to worship and further expanding its base.
Manalo envisioned the INC as a church that is in perfect harmony of faith and practice, where each member is committed to a life of holiness based on authentic Christian teachings and to fulfilling all of its Christian responsibilities toward spiritual growth.
As such, the church keeps spreading the good news of redemption, as written in the Bible, worldwide — bit by bit, across the seven seas, edifying the faithful and directing them toward redemption through the proper worship accorded to the true God and living a virtuous life.