INC set to restore 200-yr-old US town

The religious group Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) has acquired another town in the United States as part of its aggressive drive not just to establish more chapels, but also to bring back to life old and abandoned towns.

INC General Auditor Glicerio B. Santos Jr. said it will work to "restore, rehabilitate, and reinvigorate the town of Johnsonville, Connecticut" after acquiring the almost 200 year-old town left abandoned for 20 years.

The first town that the INC acquired was Scenic Town in South Dakota.

"We already have three congregations in Connecticut, and we believe that restoring Johnsonville to its former glory is just part and parcel of our responsibility as positive contributors in the state," said Santos. Johnsonville is a 62-acre property with a church, meeting house, general store, pond, and covered bridge.

The town is picture perfect," he said, as he pointed out that INC will do its best to restore the town as it looked like when it was established in the mid-1800s.

"Johnsonville looks like it was frozen in time. It's a beautiful, picturesque property, so all our efforts will be focused on restoration. We will also establish our first eco-farming here in the US to create jobs and livelihood in this town," Santos said.

Over a century after the INC was founded in 1914, Santos said the INC has gone global under the leadership of Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo. Since he took over the reins of the INC in September, 2009, 79 new chapels have been dedicated abroad, in countries like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Japan, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In the US alone, 45 new chapels were dedicated during the tenure of the current INC executive minister.