The Praise Chapel Christian Fellowship is a group of Nondenominational Christian churches centered in Los Angeles, California, United States of America. Praise Chapel is an international family of churches and ministries. It has over 200 churches in the United States and 700 globally.
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History
In May 1975, pastor Michael Neville and his family came from Oklahoma to southeast Los Angeles to become pastor of a small church in Maywood, California, the then Rosewood Assembly. Maywood had changed from a middle-class white area to a predominantly Hispanic community, and it was Neville's conviction that the church should reflect its neighborhood. Members who were not comfortable with change left, but the church soon took on a much more multicultural profile, recruiting even among young gang members. The church grew through people getting saved, many felt called to preach the Gospel. Since they came from gangs and street life, denominations would not open doors for them to preach. Mike then began to send men out to pioneer churches. The movement spread when in 1980 the first church was established in Ontario, California. Since that time, over 200 churches have been planted across the United States and thousands more worldwide.
After Michael Neville
Michael Neville died in January 1996 at 49 years of age.Thousands of lives have been greatly influenced by Pastor Neville’s leadership. He often embraced those who had never experienced genuine acceptance and convinced them that they could do anything. Those great qualities gave those around him the confidence to "go for it". His widow Donna Neville became the pastor of the church now located in Huntington Park, California. http://www.praisechapelhp.org/
Larry Neville became the senior leader of the movement. Larry pioneered churches in the US, the Philippines and Singapore before returning to pastor in Rancho Cucamonga, California in 1993. Under his leadership the movement has grown around the world. The Fellowship of Churches has multiplied into a network of over 18 Fellowships in the USA and many more Internationally. Larry has written a number on Church Planting and how to structure a Global Movement.
International work
Praise Chapel goes to other nations in the world through their mission, Praise Chapel Missions. Praise Chapel is on a mission to send their people to other nations to harvest souls for Jesus Christ. Praise Chapel is a church planting movement, with churches in Ghana, Africa, Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia, Kurdistan, Spain, England, France, Estonia, the Netherlands, The Philippines, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, and many more nations. London. Praise Chapel is also the first church to establish a location in Iraq. Pastor Jack Harris is the pastor of this church. Praise Chapel has many other churches in Estonia, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Vietnam, the Philippines, American Samoa, Israel, Cuba, Nicaragua, Peru, and many more churches in South America.
Vision
Praise Chapel's vision is summarized as "Evangelize the Lost, Disciple the Believers and Multiply through Church Planting" or more briefly "Win-Build-Send."
Conferences
For years Praise Chapel held a World Bible Conference every year and then every two years. After the 2010 Globality Bible Bible Conference the Fellowship multiplied into 18 Fellowships called a Family of Fellowships. In 2009, PCCF President Larry Neville announced the theme of the 2010 World Conference: "Globality: The Gospel to Everyone, By Anyone, From Anywhere. It was also announced that 2010 marks the last central World Conference for PCCF due to growth in the fellowship. Praise Chapel also holds further Bible Conferences in other parts of the United States and other countries. Yearly, Praise Chapel holds Youth Conferences, Men's Conferences, Women's' Conferences, Pastor's Retreats, and Marriage Retreats. Most of these conferences are held in Palm Springs, California.