Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International

Church of God
Ministry of Jesus Christ International
Orientation Neopentecostal – restorationist
Leader María Luisa Piraquive
Region 47 countries/territories
Headquarters

Bogota, Colombia,
Weston, Florida, United States,

Madrid, Spain
Founder Luis Eduardo Moreno, María Luisa Piraquive and María Jesús Moreno
Origin 1972[1]
Bogota, Colombia
Congregations Over 850[2]
Aid organization María Luisa de Moreno International Foundation
Official website www.idmji.org

The Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International is a Christian, neo-Pentecostal[3] and restorationist congregation. It was created in 1972 by the evangelical preacher Luis Eduardo Moreno, his mother María Jesús Moreno and his wife María Luisa Piraquive.[4] The Church has prayer rooms on more than forty countries and territories worldwide.[2]

The leader of the Church is the Colombian Christian female leader María Luisa Piraquive, while the current General Preacher is Carlos Alberto Baena.

History

Background

Church of God Ministerial of Jesus Christ, Logo.

The origins of the Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International go back to the wandering of Luis Eduardo Moreno and his mother María Jesús Moreno through various christian denominations, where he served as preacher. After his marriage in 1966, his wife María Luisa Piraquive joined them.

Luis Eduardo had disagreements with the leaders of the various evangelical denominations in which he worked, due to the fact that he was pressed to give results in terms of growth of the churches at his charge.[5]

Beginning

Luis Eduardo Moreno during a baptism

Disappointed by the permanent disagreements with the leaders of the denominations in which they congregated, the Moreno Piraquive family decided not to assist to any church anymore and instead, they decided to pray at their house.

In 1972, during the prayers of a small group of four people congregated at the Moreno Piraquive family house, they experienced the first prophecy from God in the Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ.[6] In such prophecy, God gave them the instructions about how to direct the church.

As time passed by the church expanded to other departments of Colombia. Currently it has prayer rooms in more than 300 Colombian municipalities.[2]

In 1997 is added the word International to the Church's name.[7][8]

Geographic distribution

Map of countries and territories in which there are prayer rooms
Se muestra el logo de la iglesia en islandés "Alþjóðleg kirkja Guðs og Embætti Jesú Krists"
Logo of the Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International in Icelandic

Besides the 47 countries and territories in which the church has prayer rooms, there are informal meetings held in Cuba and Equatorial Guinea.

Continent Region Country or territory[9]
America Central America Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama
North America Canada, United States, Mexico
South America Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador,
Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela
Antilles Aruba, Curaçao, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic
Africa Central Africa Cameroon
Macaronesia Canary Islands
Asia South Asia India
West Asia United Arab Emirates, Israel
East Asia Japan
South-east Asia Philippines
Europe Central Europe Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Switzerland
Northern Europe Denmark, Iceland, Norway, United Kingdom, Sweden
Southern Europe Spain, Italy, Portugal
Eastern Europe Romania, Russia
Oceania Australasia Australia, New Zealand

Spiritual gifts and prophecy

The Church's most important feature is its reliance on the gift of prophecy, in which a human instrument is said to be used by the Holy Spirit to speak. This practice reminds of the early Christian Church's gift of prophecy, mentioned by Paul in the Epistle to the Corinthians,[10] by John in his Gospel[11] and other New Testament books.

Unlike other Pentecostal denominations, prophecies are seldom general (i. e., given to the public attending the service), but individual, and refer to the past, present and future of the person receiving the message. Its form is of specific promises (of healing, happiness, economic prosperity, spiritual experiencies, marriage, and so on) expected to be fulfilled by God through his power, as well as commandments on the individual's life, as a "guidance for life". Those to whom the promises have been fulfilled often give testimony of them in public in the religious services.[12]

The gift of prophecy is not the only spiritual gift said to appear in the Church.[13] Of a central importance is the gift of tongues, which is the sign of being baptised by the Holy Spirit, resembling the New Testament's Pentecost day. There are also gifts of healing, spiritual visions, dream interpretation, casting away demons and discernment, among others. Believers are encouraged to ask for these gifts in prayer, so that all the congregation may have a personal experience with God. In a typical prayer room there could be one prophesier for each thirty believers.

Architectural style of the congregations

Facade of the prayer room at Las Ferias in Bogota
Teaching imparted in the prayer room at Las Ferias

Initially, believers began to gather in living rooms of houses, with the Moreno Piraquive's house being the first prayer room in the La Estrada neighbourhood, Bogota. Later, the gatherings were held in the locality called Engativa. After some time it was necessary to rent warehouses, which were adequated for the religious services. By 1994 the church started to purchase properties in order to build prayer rooms for the congregation.[14] The church has also purchased former Jewish synagogues and evangelical temples.[3]

The first countries in which the church established prayer rooms, besides Colombia, were Panama and the United States of America. In some places of Florida and other countries, believers congregate in conference halls of hotels.

Baptisteries

Facade of the Baptistery of Cota in Cundinamarca.

Besides using rivers, the sea or pools to perform baptisms, the church uses elementary baptisteries built in some of the prayer rooms.

The Baptistery of Cota was inaugurated on 29 May 2010 in the municipality of Cota in the Cundinamarca department of Colombia.[15] Its construction required an investment of more than 3 millions of american dollars. The baptistery of Cota was built on a 2 hectares property and has capacity for 800 people.[16][17] This building is used for the baptisms of new believers from the prayer rooms in Cundinamarca and Bogota.

Maria Luisa de Moreno International Foundation

In addition to its religious activities, the church offers social assistance (e.g. via educational programs and health services) in the countries in which it has presence, mainly in Colombia. One of the means through which the church performs this activities is the Maria Luisa de Moreno International Foundation,[18] a philanthropic institution founded in 2000 under the mottos "Help at all levels", "Architects of hearts" and currently "Helping is our work". This NGO is responsible for the distribution of food and the activities related to educational and social services.

The foundation operates in a dozen of countries, especially in Hispanic countries.[19]

Publications

The Zion International magazine is the official magazine of the Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International. It covers biblical topics and activities of the church. This magazine is published quarterly, written both in English and Spanish.

References

  1. ↑ CESNUR. "Le religioni in Italia" (in Italian). Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 Numbers based on the locations page
  3. 1 2 "El Legado Histórico de la IDMJI". Revista Zion Internacional (6). 2011. ISSN 2216-0566.
  4. ↑ "History of the Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International". Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  5. ↑ Piraquive, María Luisa (2008). Experiences (1st ed.). Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International. ISBN 978-958-442472-3.
  6. ↑ (Piraquive 2007, p. 47)
  7. ↑ (Piraquive 2007, pp. 164–165)
  8. ↑ "Una mirada interna a la polémica iglesia de los Moreno Piraquive" (in Spanish). Retrieved January 16, 2014.
  9. ↑ The territories which are part of the countries in other continents are treated separately in the table.
  10. ↑ I Corinthians chapter 14.
  11. ↑ John, chapter 16, verses 7 to 15.
  12. ↑ Testimonies
  13. ↑ (Piraquive 2007, p. 177)
  14. ↑ (Piraquive 2007, pp. 89–91)
  15. ↑ Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International. "Baptisms in Bogota 29th of May 2010". Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  16. ↑ "Zion Internacional Magazine". January (1). 2011.
  17. ↑ "Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International – Baptistery Inauguration". Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  18. ↑ "El Congreso Magazine" (151). 2012.
  19. ↑ Maria Luisa de Moreno International Foundation. "Locations". Retrieved 28 March 2013.

Bibliography

External links

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