Short history


Zac Poonen and Ian Robson in front of 16 DaCosta Square
Zac Poonen and Ian Robson in front of
16 DaCosta Square

The church of believers that meets at Christian Fellowship Centre (CFC) today commenced with a few families that first met together in Bangalore, India in August 1975. Led by Zac Poonen and Ian Robson, they decided to first be disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ themselves, and then to make disciples in obedience to the Lord's commission in Matthew 28:18-20. They emphasized new birth, holiness of inner life, mutual love, moral purity, financial integrity and sharing God's truth with others - founding every aspect of their lives on God's Word alone.

Starting as a small House Church, this body of Christ has grown steadily in the understanding and experience of the New Covenant Life in the Spirit. Right from the start, and through its growth over four decades the same set of distinctives has become the DNA of this Church. We soon felt a burden to share these wonderful truths that had transformed our own lives with others, starting with a monthly paper on the overcoming life and a tape ministry, and conferences for like minded disciples. In 1981 the growing Church moved into a meeting hall constructed at 40, DaCosta Square, in Bangalore. 1982-1989 marked the beginnings of the work of planting churches in other cities and states in India.

1989-1995 was a very productive period in Zac Poonen's book writing ministry, and in the coming years he published more than twenty books. By 1997 the audio tape outreach had reached many lands. In 1999 at the age of 60, Zac Poonen gave up Eldership of CFC, Bangalore in order to travel with the Word. Our Internet outreach started in 2003 and this period also saw planting of churches in other continents. In 2014, the Church at Bangalore, having completed forty years as a Church, and also having outgrown our old hall, moved into our current meeting hall at Paradise Enclave, Bellahalli, Bangalore

Eldership at CFC Bangalore:

Christian Fellowship Church has always sought to follow New Testament teaching with respect to leadership of a local church (Tit.1:5; Acts 14:23). The word Elders indicated as "Plural" shows the necessity of having multiple elders in a local church to maintain balance in the leadership. At Bangalore, our leadership consists of four Elders- Ian Robson, Charles Banna, John Pereira, Danish Thomas and Suresh Abraham. As per biblical teaching, the expectation on every individual member of the church is to be subject to the authority of these elders in all matters concerning the local church (Heb.13:17; 1 Thess.5:12-13).

Here is a brief profile of each of these men of God: Ian Robson, Charles Banna, John Pereira, Danish Thomas and Suresh Abraham