As Brethren celebrates 99th founding anniversary: INC now marching towards centennial

The Brethrens of the  Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church of Christ) in the Philippines and abroad are celebrating  the Church’s 99^th founding anniversary while marching forward for grand centennial celebration next year.

Today, the membership of the Iglesia ni Cristo comprises at least 113 nationalities. It maintains about more than 104 ecclesiastical districts in the Philippines and in 112 more countries and territories in the world.

The Last Messenger – Bro. Felix Manalo

Sometime  in November, 1913, the late  Brother Felix Y. Manalo secluded himself in one of the rooms of his house at Pasay City.

For two days and three nights he kept himself in the room studying the Bible and fervently praying to God.

This period of reflection led to his enlightenment of knowing the divine mission that God called him, to preach the Church of Christ in this last days.

From then on, Bro. Felix started preaching  the last work for salvation in Punta, Sta. Ana, Manila.

After establishing two locale congregations  in Punta and Tipas,  the Iglesia Ni Cristo was officially registered with the Philippine government on July 27, 1914.

Brother Felix preached in public plazas and participated in religious discussions and debates resulted in the rapid growth of Church membership.

He has succeeded in winning into the Church of Christ a handful of faithful converts, then, he began to form a small group of followers.

For 48 uninterrupted years, Brother Felix bravely continued his mission and work for the spiritual well being of the church members.

He cared and cherished Christ’s beloved Church until his death on April 12, 1963.

First Executive Minister – Bro. Erano G.  Manalo

For more than  46 years, brother Eraño G. Manalo , known to members as “Ka Erdy”  led the Iglesia Ni Criso to the glorious stature.

He dedicated his whole life for the welfare of the Church.

The Church under Ka Erdy remains in God’s merciful hand and keeps on receiving His grace and sovereign guidance and this can be attested by the continued success in its mission and expansion.

The concrete proof of the success of the Church under the supervision of Ka Erdy was the unabated construction of magnificent houses of worship that serve as Phillipines’ distinct landmark.

This includeds the unprecedented expansion of the Church beyond Philippine shore, unhindered by global economic downturn.

The Church has also made its present in the West – believed to be the fulfillment of biblical prophecies – in 1968 with the establishment of the local congregations in Hawaii and California .

Ka Erdy also spearheaded  the establishment of local congregations of the Church of Christ in Rome; in Jerusalem in 1996 and in Greece in 1997.

For the Church, these remarkable accomplishments are works of God through the dynamic and inspired leadership of Ka Erdy.

Present Executive Minister – Bro. Eduardo Manalo

Upon the death of Bro. Erdy, Bro. Eduardo V. Manalo assumed the office as the church's executive minister on September 8, 2009.

Three years later, the Iglesiani Ni Cristo  has added 65 local congregations, 20 congregation-extensions, and 57 GWS or Group Worship Services units that are being groomed to one day becoming extensions and eventually local congregations outside the Philippines.

Seven new ecclesiastical districts or large administrative units were added including Northeast Asia (August 31, 2010), Southeast Asia (July 28,2011), Eastern Canada (June 16, 2011), Western Canada (June 16, 2011), Qatar (July 9,2012), United Arab Emirates (July 9,2012), and United Kingdom (July 9,2012).

In the Philippines alone, where INC Engineering and Construction Department undertakes the church's construction projects, 316 houses of worship, each with offices and housing facilities, were dedicated while 28 more were dedicated outside the Philippines from September 11, 2009 to September 7,2012.

The biggest house of worship outside the Philippines can be found in Barcelona, Spain which can accommodate more than 1,000 worshipers at a time.

On August 17, 2011, the Church  led the groundbreaking of the Philippine Arena- on a 75-hectare field straddling Bocaue and Sta. Maria Bulacan.

The 50,000-seater multi-purpose structure, touted to become the world's biggest indoor domed arena, is expected to be completed in time for the INC's centennial celebration in July 2014.

Other major projects of the church as part of its centennial celebration are the EVM Convention Center and the Iglesia Ni Cristo Museum along Central Avenue, Quezon City, The Legal Department Building and the INC Media Center Building inside the INC Central Office Complex in Quezon City, and the Philippine Stadium and the Philippine Sports Center also in Bulacan.

In that area now called Ciudad de Victoria (City of Victory) will also rise the EGM Medical Hospital and the New Era University- Bocaue Campus. One of the most significant of these "centennial projects" is the new College of Evangelical Ministry being constructed along Central Avenue. Three levels higher and more than double the floor space of its four-story predecessor.

Eduardo Manalo has ordained 1,620 new ministers within the span of his three-year administration.