Jesus Is Lord Church Worldwide
Jesus Is Lord Church Worldwide belongs to the Latin American and Filipino-initiated churches family of churches.
Governance: hierarchical.
The Philippine full-gospel church founded by Eddie Villanueva (1978), with US congregations across the Filipino diaspora.
Congregation count not yet source-verified against RCMS 2020; NULL rather than estimated.
The Philippine full-gospel church Eddie Villanueva founded in 1978 from a campus Bible study — now worshiping wherever Filipinos have settled, including across the US.
Heritage
Jesus Is Lord Church Worldwide began in 1978 as a Bible study among students at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, led by Eduardo "Eddie" Villanueva, an economics professor and former activist whose conversion reoriented his life. It grew into one of the largest Philippine-founded full-gospel bodies, marked by mass rallies, media ministry and Villanueva's prominent public voice in Philippine life. As Filipinos emigrated, JIL congregations formed across the diaspora; US chapters gather in major cities under the worldwide church's leadership.
Theological family
Evangelical and Pentecostal ("full gospel"): salvation through Jesus Christ, the lordship of Christ over every sphere of life — the church's name is its confession — Spirit empowerment, healing and expectant prayer.
Who decides what
Hierarchical under its founding leadership: Villanueva as founder and spiritual head, with pastors over national and local works following the church's common vision.
What a first-time visitor would find
A lively Filipino evangelical service: contemporary praise in English and Tagalog, fervent corporate prayer, testimony and direct gospel preaching, with strong lay involvement and family culture.
What it has always cared about
The lordship of Christ over public as well as private life; campus and workplace evangelism; the diaspora congregation as home base for scattered families.
Its gift to the wider church
JIL carries a distinctly Filipino witness into American cities — evangelical faith with the warmth and mutual care of the barangay — and models the diaspora church as mission rather than merely refuge.
Commonly confused with
With the Iglesia ni Cristo — an entirely different, non-trinitarian Philippine body; JIL is trinitarian and evangelical; and with other Filipino evangelical fellowships serving the same communities.
Range of views inside it
Chapters vary in size and language blend; doctrine and culture are held in common.
A note from the mapmakers: Nothing here may be asserted of a specific chapter. No verified US congregation count is available from RCMS 2020, so this record carries none. Sentences drawn from this record hedge as "JIL chapters typically…" and yield to the chapter's own materials.
Sources: Jesus Is Lord Church Worldwide — about (JIL Church Worldwide) · An Introduction to Pentecostalism (Allan Anderson, Cambridge University Press)
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