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MODERN-DAY ISRAEL is home to three congregations and six group worship services (GWS) of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ). The first one to be established, the Local Congregation of Jerusalem, had the distinct privilege of having their inaugural worship service officiated by no less than the Executive Minister of the Church Of Christ then, Brother Eraño G. Manalo. The historic event, witnessed by around 250 congregants, took place on March 31, 1996.
Accompanied primarily by Brother Eduardo V. Manalo, then the Deputy Executive Minister, Ka Erdy led the historic and sacred occasion held in the function hall of what was then known as La Romme Jerusalem Hotel (now Inbal Jerusalem Hotel). During the homily, he announced to the congregation that the true Church was finally back where it started—it has finally returned to its original home.
The presence of Church Of Christ members in Jerusalem can be traced back to the early 1980s when some brethren, then in the employ of the United Nations (UN), requested that they be allowed to hold worship services as a Committee Prayer Group (precursor of the present-day GWS). By the late 1980s, more Church members found their way to Jerusalem. By this time, the brethren had to travel to Tel-Aviv, about 66 kilometers west of Jerusalem, in order to attend worship services.
When the Gulf War erupted in August of 1990, curfews were raised and travel within Israel was restricted to ensure the safety of its citizens. Despite all of the accompanying hardships imposed by the armed conflict, the brethren in Jerusalem did not cease in their services to God.
In the last quarter of 1990, they received the good news that the Church Administration approved the establishment of the Jerusalem Committee Prayer group. Under the leadership of Brother Donato Manuel, their first head deacon, the brethren remained devoted to their services to God. Not only were they active in attending worship services, but they also labored to share their faith.
During this period, like other committee prayer groups, the brethren regularly listened to recorded sermons sent to them by the Church Administration. During special occasions, such as the Year-end Thanksgiving and the Holy Supper, ministers of the gospel were sent to personally lead the brethren in the holy gathering.
Under instruction from the Church Administration, in early February 1996, a minister of the gospel met with Sherman Goldman, the Israeli lawyer tapped to facilitate the registration of the Church with the Israeli Government. On February 20, the Church was granted recognition by the Israeli government as an amutah, a nongovernment organization. This paved the way for the pastoral visit of the Executive Minister, a little over a month after.
Two days after his arrival in Israel, Brother Eraño Manalo officiated at the Special Worship Service marking the formal establishment of the Local Congregation of Jerusalem. The Executive Minister expounded in his Bible-based homily that the event signified the return to Jerusalem of the Lord Jesus Christ’s one true Church as had been preordained by God.
From its establishment onwards, the Local Congregation of Jerusalem had never lacked in zeal in all Church endeavors. From sharing the true gospel with others to the edifying of the faith of the brethren and actively participating in various Church activities, the brethren never backed down. Before Brother Eduardo V. Manalo took on the mantle of leadership, the congregation in Jerusalem had grown tremendously that it necessitated a move to a bigger place of worship that could accommodate a bigger number of attendees.
In 2019, due to the reorganization of ecclesiastical districts the world over, the Local Congregation of Jerusalem was placed under the jurisdiction of the new ecclesiastical district named after the sea that forms the western boundary of Israel: Mediterranean. Heeding the call of the Executive Minister, the brethren in Jerusalem continue to unite in all the Church’s endeavors.
