Click to expand transcript
Iglesia Ni Cristo Chapels Built From The Ground Up in the U.S.
Nan: What makes a house a home? Some may say it’s the people. Others may say it’s the memories. But for me, it’s the purpose. And purpose, when shared by many, becomes something extraordinary, and clearly evident in the Church of Christ chapels that dot the globe. Found in every continent, these houses of worship aren’t just structures, but places of significant purpose built for worship. And for communities to find a place where God dwells.
Nan: The Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church of Christ) today has progressed far beyond its humble beginnings. And as the church continues to spread worldwide, so does the need for places of worship. Let’s take a look at some of those chapels here in the US built from the ground up. Houses of worship built with one purpose–to praise and honor our almighty God.
Nan: Before the grand chapels we see today, along Gabriela Street in Tondo, Manila, the first house of worship was built from bamboo, nipa, sawali and wood. In time, a stronger foundation was used to build a semi concrete house of worship in Punta Santa Ana, Manila. Then in 1948, the local congregation of Washington Sampaloc, Manila was the first fully concrete house of worship, showcasing the beginning of the Iglesia Ni Cristo or Church Of Christ’s distinct architectural style.
Nan: During this time period, many large chapels were constructed across the Philippines using reinforced concrete and more enduring designs.
Nan: Among them are the local congregations of Cubao, Malabon, Tarlac City, and Tondo, Manila. Within this expansion era, July 27th 1968 marked a milestone for the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church of Christ), reaching the United States in Eva Beach, Hawaii, led by the late Brother Erano G. Manalo, the establishment of the first worship service and place of worship outside of the Philippines.
Nan: When you look at the growth of the Church Of Christ in places such as Hawaii, even right here in California, God’s plans continue to unfold. Today, this expansion is clearly seen in the increasing number of chapels being dedicated every year, especially those built from the ground up. From the East Coast, Jacksonville, Florida.
Nan: Temple Hills, Maryland, and Forest Hills, New York to the south in Dallas, Texas, and across the West Coast in the cities of North Hollywood, San Diego, and San Jose, California. An ongoing sign of growth of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church of Christ) in this part of the world here in the United States.
Nan: The process of building houses of worship from the ground up takes careful planning and design. And more than just structure, it’s about purpose. We spoke to Raymond Frank, the lead architect for many of the chapel projects outside of the Philippines, who shared some insight on the design process.
Raymond Frank: When we do a ground up, you know, we can make it look exactly as we wanted it. Some of the challenges there are just basically the initial challenges of course, of working with the city to get all the building permits, making sure, we’re within all the regulations and codes of the city. That gives us kind of a basic structure of how the building will look, how big it is, and how tall it is. From there, we can design a house of worship that has the exact design features that we would like, that we would see in the Philippines. We can really incorporate it into a new house of worship from the ground up.
Raymond Frank: Three things is what gives the house of worship its look. When we have a beautiful molding design, we have the church seal and nameplate, and steeples in the design of the structure. That really gives the look of the Iglesia Ni Cristo houses of worship. On the interior of the main sanctuary, we also have the tribuna, which is really the focal point of the main sanctuary–the choir loft and the molding designs, including the ceiling designs.
Raymond Frank: All of those things come together with [the] tribuna, molding designs throughout and the different lighting effects that we incorporate, including the chandelier, is the crystal chandelier that we always include in the chapels. When we have a ground up, the main thing that we look at is the size of the lot, because parking requirements, they really determine how big of a chapel that we can build on a certain lot.
Raymond Frank: So if we want to have a certain capacity house of worship, we need to have certain capacity or size of a lot so that we can accommodate the required number of parking spaces for the house of worship.
Nan: Among the numerous places of worship across the globe, this one right here in Chula Vista, California, stood out, not just for its scale, but because of the way it has strengthened and inspired the community.
Luther Bobis: We would actually go to Los Angeles for worship service. And I believe one of the other families were going to San Francisco, because those were the only two places that we had worship services at the time. Time had just passed and we were able to have a group worship service down here in the San Diego area.
Luther Bobis: My parents house was one of the places where we held worship services. We never knew that we would be here in this beautiful place. You know, we never knew that back then, it was going to lead to something this big. Something this big here in the San Diego area.
Nan: The local congregation of Chula Vista is located on more than four acres of land adjacent to a regional park, designated as a natural reserve.
Ric Cacho: There is a river there at the back, and there’s a big slope, this goes down hill. And, because it’s down hill, we would need to build, to, to buy dirt to fill it up so that it would be in the right level, like we have now. For some reason, there’s a construction company that built swimming pools.
Ric Cacho: They asked if they could dump the clean dirt here. The Administration approved and it got dumped. And then another company that built a sewage line, this big sewage line on the main street. They could dump the dirt. Not only did they dump it. They even graded it. Make it flat. Land became flat. We gained more land space in the back.
Perlie Poblete: It was a lot of work involved in cleaning this area because it was a huge area. Like I say, it was just like a jungle. We’re in the jungle cleaning it up. All the brethren, while the chapel was being built, they were very helpful bringing food to the constructors they were stopping by looking at the progress of the chapel that’s being built.
Luther Bobis: I mean, this is offered. This place is dedicated to God. This place been built from ground up. This is something that, you know, that our Church Administration is, you know, putting these types of touches and guided by the Holy Spirit. And for Jaime, the house of worship is especially significant for him and his family.
Jaime Jacinto: My mom got baptized into the church in 2021. October 29th, 2021. And last week, Sunday, my dad got baptized inside the church. My mom was 78 when she got baptized. My dad is 85.
Jaime Jacinto: To be part of the baptism, to be able to lead them down into the water, I’m tearing up right now. It’s very special to me. And, to be a deacon, to be able to do that. And, It was, very happy that, God listens to me. He answers my prayers, because I’ve been praying for that since I got baptized in 1992.
Nan: Head north and you’ll pass ocean views, the mountain silhouettes into a county dubbed as the Inland Empire. Here you’ll find another house of worship built from the ground up with a unique architectural feature.
William Fermin: This is one of the larger size baptismal pools, and even the design is kind of unique because you enter through here. And then they walk to the left for the male room all the way leading to dressing.
William Fermin: Also, this is the dressing room. Same thing on the other, same thing on the female side. And even the pews that they’ve added. It’s for the choir members. And then you have the skylights. One that you can see the seal.
Nan: And this is a very nice element too, because of the natural lighting. I think that’s so important because of course we know in the Church of Christ in the main sanctuary, it’s all about orderliness. That’s maintained.
Reggie De Leon: Our children have seen how we take care of that chapel inside and out. And we trained them to take care of the house of worship and maintain the cleanliness worthy to be presented to God from the ground all the way up because everything is new. We promise the Lord that we will continue to be true and faithful in serving him and preserving the beauty of this house of worship.
Nan: 1968 marked a pivotal moment when the local congregation of Los Angeles was established, becoming the first Church Of Christ congregation in Southern California and foundation for those that would follow. Then, under the administration of Brother Eduardo V. Manalo, this became the first house of worship built from the ground up and dedicated outside of the Philippines.
Clarence Megia: During the 80s, new locals were established, which were offshoots or daughters of Los Angeles, you know, like North Hollywood, San Gabriel Valley, even Eagle Rock, and then even in spite of these locals being established, L.A. was still continuing to grow. I remember when I was a deacon and then we would actually have to seat brethren in the stairway that led up to the choir members dressing rooms so brethren can worship.
Marissa Templo: To have seen the growth of this locale, you know, it’s very special to me and my family how much God has blessed us and have seen the growth of this locale and to be a part of it, you know, it’s God’s blessing to us.
Clarence Megia: We were so overjoyed when we were able to dedicate a house of worship in Los Angeles and in the years, you know, subsequent to that, several more houses of worship, were either purchased, or renovated and dedicated. We’re so thankful for the leadership of Ka Eduardo during these last 16 years.
Reggie De Leon: Through the instrumentality of the Church Administration, I could never imagine that we will have our own magnificent house of worship.
Ric Cacho: I really feel thankful to God for giving us a chapel that was built from the ground up. And really thank the Church Administration for approving us to have a church built in this place.
Nan: Through the love and care of the Church Administration, chapels like this stand tall, built to worship and glorify God. And as the church continues to grow, so does the hope for many more to come. Thanks for joining me on this episode of Blueprint, where in the end, everything is part of God’s plan.
