Our history

 

 

More than one hundred years ago, Riverside, California was a small settlement in the desert beside a large river with a population of 300. These people left the security of eastern homes, midwestern farms and established communities, to accept the challenge of the west.

 

We know, from church records, that our little band of charter members were young people. They were among those who had come west to invest in the silk industry, to raise grapes for raisins and wine, and to plant olives and oranges on hills along the river.

 

This group was full of the zeal for Christ, a zeal that continues to be exhibited by many of our members today. Since they were believers in the doctrine of immersion, they could not be satisfied to continue to worship with the established Congregational and Methodist Churches. So with great hope and ambition for the future of the city and for the progress of Christianity they voted to unite themselves into a new church which was to mark the beginning of a new era in the Baptist history of Southern California.

 

It was on Saturday, February 7, 1874, in the Congregational Chapel (a small building on the corner of Sixth and Vine Streets) that this band of pioneers met for the purpose of organizing the First Baptist Church of Riverside. The church started with nine charter members, and for the next eight years the congregation met in private homes, in other churches and in a local school building.

 

On June 11, 1882, the body of believers dedicated its first church building at the corner of what is now University Avenue and Lemon Street. By 1903, we had outgrown that first little church and a move was made to the corner of Ninth and Lemon Streets. While this facility was being expanded and renovated the congregation met at the Y.M.C.A., and in the local high school. The "new" building was dedicated on April 3, 1904.

 

In 1908 the congregation had grown to 428 members. The handsome structure, which housed the congregation until 1965, was completed and dedicated on May 2, 1909.

 

In 1928 the Sunday school unit was added and the church redecorated. A residence next door on Ninth Street was annexed in the 1950's to add still more room for this growing body of believers.

 

In 1965 the congregation moved from their downtown location and now occupies a large, multipurpose structure situated on twelve acres. The church has one of Riverside's most respected and sought after nursery schools, which has been in operation for 25 years.

 

During the one hundred plus years that First Baptist has been serving the people of Riverside there have been seventeen pastors who provided leadership, direction and guidance to the church and its ministry for Christ. The current Pastor is Dr. Joseph Lutz.