ZAMBOANGA CATHEDRAL OF PRAISE, INC.

A Short History of Zamboanga Cathedral of Praise, Inc. (ZCOPI) A Brief Background on how ZCOPI Church started. In 1990, a handful of believes have chosen to come together to worship the Lord on a Sunday. With a heart full of love for the Lord Jesus and an overwhelming desire to bless His name served as the motivating force in organize the group into a fellowship which eventually grows into a body of believers. The Zamboanga Cathedral of Praise (ZCOP) first came to existence as a Body on March 07, 1990. It was a humble beginning for her. Since there was no pastor to minister, Bro. Ramon Tan was tasked to minister through preaching every Sunday. The first service was held at Lunch Box Food Court, along Tomas Claudio Street. At that time, the church leaders were looking for permanent place to hold their services. Then they moved to the air-conditioned repair shop of Bro. John Tan at Yu Uy Tong Building, Tomas Claudio Street. The search for a permanent worship center continued. Finally, the church elders found a much comfortable and spacious place. On March 18, 1990 they rented the second floor of Altrude Building at Mayor Jaldon Street. The congregation was faced with another problem. The church had no chair or any equipment. But that didn’t stop the congregation from meeting every Wednesday and Friday for their mid-week services and Sunday for their worship service. Benches were made to accommodate the worshipers, numbering to 30. The church had to borrow some equipment to start with. At the start of the church operation, Pastor Ramon B. Tan created a five-member Interim Board to assist him in the church administration. Likewise, a Steering committee was also formed, composed of appointed leaders of various need-meeting ministries of the church. First to be launched was the Praise and Worship Team – tasked to lead the congregation into God’s presence during Sunday’s Worship Celebration Meetings; the Children’s Church was crated which catered to children between the ages four and thirteen. Other ministries which were created were Young Conquerors for Christ- which ministered to young people and served as venue for youth fellowship; Women of Zamboanga Cathedral of Praise (WOZCOP) and Men of Zamboanga Cathedral of Praise (MOZCOP) – a fellowship for women and men. After two years of ministering to the group, Bro. Tan sought the help of COP-Manila (Manila Bethel Temple, Inc.) for pastoral training as well d Church Affiliation. We were granted Affiliation Status and also pastoral training. For a period of three years, Bro. Tan availed of the pastoral training in Manila which was conducted every quarter for five consecutive days through on the job pastoral ministries exposure and lectures. On September, 1992, the ZCOP Worship Center transferred to a another place. The church occupied the third floor of Micon Building at La Purisima Street. Pastor Ramon B. Tan Created additional ministries to meet he needs of the growing congregation. The Youth Department which was then named Young Conquerors for Christ, was divided into three groups, namely: the teens’ Ministry, Young People, and Christian Professionals’ Fellowship. Two new ministries were created, the Support Ministry and Media Ministry. Sponsors were also appointed to take care of the needs of these different ministries. The Vision and Purpose Statement of the ZCOP is “We exist to bring people to Jesus and membership to His family, develop them to Christ-like maturity, and equipped them for their ministry in the church and life mission in the world, in order to magnify God’s name.” And from that time until today, God has blessed the Church from a handful believer of 30 persons to 487 members as of December 2008. From limited resources to an abundant provision: chairs (from coconut lumber benches to Stocking chair with cushion ), PA system (from improvised sound system to top of the art sound system), Overhead Projector to LCD Projector, etc. God has been so gracious to the Church until today.