Phenomenal Growth

During a church history research in 1989, Ranjith De Silva (former principal of Lanka Bible College) stated that the Foursquare Gospel Church was the fastest growing church in Sri Lanka. In fact, in the history of Sri Lanka no church has ever experienced the rapid rate of growth that this church has. Within twenty-five years it has grown to include: 205 pastors and workers; 432 meeting places; 8.861 members; and churches within 24 of the 25 districts of the nation.

By the time Leslie Keegel took over as the National President of the church there were 3 Foursquare Gospel Churches in Sri Lanka. In 1983, in the midst of a tense political atmosphere and rioting, Foursquare grew from 3 to 10 churches. Each year from 1983 to 1990 the number of churches doubled. This growth then stabilized for a few years as attention was focused on expanding the leadership base and solving some internal problems. In 1996, following a time of self-evaluation, fasting and prayer the growth picked up again.

One of the keys to the growth of the church has been the strategy of planting house churches. This strategy enables churches to be planted quickly because they are not dependent on finding or funding a traditional church building.