Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) LA Local Congregations Recognized for Public Service

Certificate Awarded at Community Cleanup in Historic Filipinotown

LOS ANGELES (May 7, 2019) – Local congregations of the international religious organization Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC or Church Of Christ) were recognized by the City of Los Angeles on April 27, as an acknowledgment of the INC’s public service to the Historic Filipinotown Community.

The award was presented by the City of Los Angeles, alongside officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), during the INC’s Community Cleanup. Hundreds of volunteers from 16 local congregations in the INC’s Ecclesiastical District of Los Angeles County assembled to help with the neighborhood’s beautification and maintenance.

“The City of Los Angeles is so big …The City can’t do it alone… so we rely really on community members to get involved and to get proactive and organize community clean ups like this,” said Sylvan De La Cruz, Community Organizer for the office of Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell 13th District, City of Los Angeles. “Community involvement is a big part of helping maintain the city, keeping it clean and beautiful.”

The cleanup also introduced ways for INC volunteers to continue helping the City even after the event. They learned how to use the MyLA311 App, a mobile platform that encourages the active involvement of community members to identify problem areas they see throughout the City – like graffiti, illegal dumping of furniture and related concerns they would like to report.

The Community Cleanup is just one of many regularly scheduled service events that benefit residents locally, and also globally in connection with congregations around the world. INC’s socio-civic programs aim to strengthen the bond between the congregations of the Church Of Christ and the communities in which they serve.

“There are a lot of bad things going on in the world today, so we put into practice our faith and want the community to feel the love and care, the presence of the Church Of Christ,” said Brother Dennis Dulay, District Supervising Minister overseeing the Los Angeles County INC congregations, upon receiving the certificate. 

Beginning with the INC’s first Los Angeles county local congregation that began in Historic Filipinotown 50 years ago, the INC’s numerous congregations that have been established throughout Los Angeles County since then remain actively involved in extending care to their neighboring communities.

“I’m originally from Central America, El Salvador, [but] I’ve lived in this community for 12 years,” said Ricardo Linares, long-time resident of the neighborhood and new member of the INC. He joined the recent service project and knows it won’t be his last. “It’s my first time doing an activity for this community and I feel good and happy. To be here in the community, doing this work by faith and for others too.”

An upcoming Blood Drive organized by the INC in Los Angeles is scheduled to take place on May 11 in collaboration with the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.

For more about the Church and its activities, please visit www.iglesianicristo.net.