[Ed Dantes]

Thomas Road Baptist Church has been listed among the largest and fastest growing churches in the nation in a special edition of Outreach Magazine.

According to a listing released Tuesday, TRBC is the eighth largest and seventh fastest growing church in the United States. It also experienced the largest increase of any church on the magazine's fastest-growing list.

Hundreds of people have joined the church since the Rev. Jonathan Falwell took the reigns of leadership that his father, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, held from the time of the church’s 1956 founding until his death on May 15.

Over the summer and early fall more than 1,000 new members have joined the church. More than 700 people have made salvation decisions and more than 450 have been baptized.

Since TRBC moved into its new worship center on the Liberty University campus in July 2006, a total of 4,750 new members have joined the church, an increase of about 37 percent.

“Dad started this church years ago to reach out to this world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” the Rev. Jonathan Falwell said. “He remained faithful to that mission. That continues to be our primary mission. We have seen God do incredible things over the past two years. The period of growth that we’ve had has just been stunning.”