The church quickly began to grow through the conversion of the disparaged and rejected among the community, who would later on go to pastor their own churches. Since many of the new converts came from gangs and street-life, other denominations and fellowships refused to open doors for them to assimilate and pastor. Michael Neville then began to send these men and women out to pioneer churches under the umbrella of the Praise Chapel Christian Fellowship. The movement reached a zenith in 1980, after the first church was established in Ontario, California. Since that time, over 300 churches have been planted across the United States and a total of 4300 churches worldwide have been established.