Victory Christian Fellowship
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Victory Christian Fellowship is a church based in the Philippines and part of the Every Nation group of churches. Their mission statement [1] is "to honor God and advance His kingdom through church planting, campus ministry, and world missions."
Victory Christian Fellowship claims to have more than forty churches in the Philippines, with ten in Metro Manila [2] and thirty in various cities and provinces outside Manila, including Baguio City, Cebu City, Davao City, and Los Baños, Laguna. They state they are a member of Every Nation Churches and Ministries, the Philippine Missions Association [3], and the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches [4].
Steve Murrell is the senior pastor of Victory Christian Fellowship,as well as being overall president of the Every Nation group of ministries.
According to their website, as of 2006, more than 20,000 [5] attend the services in Victory in Metro Manila.
[edit] History
In 1984, under Maranatha Campus Ministries, Rice Broocks, Steve Murrell, and their team of sixty-five students went to Manila for one month of outreach and evangelism. This birthed Victory Christian Fellowship. The initial outreach led to a congregation of 150 primarily college students, with expansion to more sites in Manila, and around the country.[6]
Maranatha Campus Ministries was then dissolved in 1989 following controversy over the group's tactics, including allegations of cultlike tactics.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13] After this, Victory Christian Fellowship became an independent ministry.
In 1994 former Maranatha Campus Ministries leaders Rice Broocks, Steve Murrell, and Phil Bonasso formed Morning Star International as an umbrella organization for their ministries, which is now known as Every Nation. At its July 2004 conference, Morning Star announced that it was changing its name to Every Nation. At this conference, the organization's chief "prophet", Jim Laffoon, said the new name had been revealed to him in a message from God.[14][15][16]
What am I saying tonight? The nations, the earth, are up for grabs. Up for grabs. God has bestowed a new name on us. Every Nation Churches and Ministries.
– Jim Laffoon , “To Reach and To Rule” MSI/EN World Conference
[edit] References
- ^ Why We Exist
- ^ Directory of Victory Christian Fellowship in the Philippines
- ^ Philippine Missions Association Member Ministries
- ^ Article on Victory Christian Fellowship site on the Philippine Council for Evangelical Churches
- ^ State of the Church Report Video
- ^ Victory Christian Fellowship History based on Victory website
- ^ Gadzik, Tanya. "Some Colleges warn Students that Cult-like Methods are Being Used by Christian Fundamentalist Groups." Chronicle of Higher Education. Nov. 15, 1989.
- ^ Maranatha Christians, Backing Rightist Ideas, Draw Fire Over Tactics. Wall Street Journal, August 16, 1985 [1]
- ^ Maranatha Christians, Backing Rightist Ideas, Draw Fire Over Tactics. Wall Street Journal, August 16, 1985 Web Archive [2]
- ^ Cult banned from K-State sues Minnesota. Kansas State Collegian, April 26, 2004 [3]
- ^ Cult banned from K-State sues Minnesota. Kansas State Collegian, April 26, 2004 Web Archive [4]
- ^ Cults on Campus - Maranatha in the news
- ^ VCM: Storming the Campus for Jesus, Craccum magazine. 2005
- ^ Jim Laffoon (with Rice Broocks). “To Reach and To Rule.” July 15, 2004. Video is available on DVD at http://www.everynationstore.com/Detail.bok?no=29
- ^ Sound Clip - Laffon Sermon, MSI/EN World Conference July 15, 2004 : [5]
- ^ Sound Clip - Laffon Sermon, MSI/EN World Conference July 15, 2004: [6]
