A Brief History

The church in Riverside began breaking the bread of the Lord’s table (1Corinthians 10:21) in 1990, after two years of home meetings and prayer.

In those first years, the believers experienced the Lord in a simple and fresh way through their enjoyment of the ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. Yet in 1998, they experienced a further turn. They progressed from merely appreciating of this New Testament ministry, and were brought on to align themselves with the ministry in their practice. That was when the Lord began to really bless the church. New ones were added from many directions, and the church grew in life as well.

Over the years, they have continued meeting in homes according to the healthy principle presented by this ministry of meeting in small, “vital” groups.

Because Riverside is geographically dense, the brothers and sisters generally live within ten minutes of one another and experience a rich church life during the week, often seeing one another throughout the day. They commonly have fellowship by phone or in person for the purpose of a morning time with the Lord, prayer, Bible-reading, or the enjoyment of ministry books.

The church in Riverside has also had the privilege of playing a major role in the development of the UCR Campus Work. The goal of this of this work is to build up the Body of Christ by preaching the gospel, nourishing and teaching new ones with the truth in love and in the homes of the saints. This work has brought out a strong desire among the believers for the perfecting of a serving spirit and has thus enriched the church here.

Riverside is culturally diverse, and the church has a number of Chinese and Spanish-speaking members. Chinese, Spanish and English speakers meet both separately and together, and there is no distinction between the members.

The church in Riverside is the Lord’s living testimony and is being built up as a shining golden lampstand to end this age, defeat His enemy and bring in His eternal kingdom for His glory.