River City Community Church is "a church for real life"! We exist to help people find the real life they were created for! Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10) Real Life is found in an active daily relationship with God. Jesus Christ came to make that relationship possible. It's all about Him!
We believe that the most important thing in life is how we respond to our Creator. Helping people come to know, worship, and follow Him is what River City Community Church is all about.
We hope this information will help you see where we've come from, where we're going, and some of the things that we feel are important.
Our Mission
"To be a community of worshippers who are calling people to follow Jesus and equipping them to serve Him."
This statement reminds us of what we are called to be and what we are called to do. It is designed to help us keep our focus on the most important things.
Biblical Purposes for the Church
We believe that there are 5 primary purposes of the Church taught in the scriptures. We strive to be a healthy church by maintaining a balance of these purposes in all we do. We use the word ABIDE as an acronym to remind us that the most important thing in our faith is to "Abide in Christ" (John 15).
A – Apply God's Word through Discipleship
B – Be with believers in Fellowship
I – Intimacy with Jesus in Worship
D – Discover gifts for Ministry
E – Encourage others to know Jesus through Evangelism
A balanced pursuit of these 5 purposes will create a healthy believer as well as a healthy Church!
RCCC Statement of Faith
We believe that there is one God, a loving creator eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return to glory.
We believe that God created man for a meaningful relationship with Him, but man's willful sin has created a wall of separation between him and God. Salvation is the result of genuine repentance of sin and faith in the atoning work of Christ. It brings forgiveness to the penitent, makes him a partaker of God's divine nature, and gives peace with God. We call this new birth.
We believe the Bible to be the inspired, and only infallible authoritative Word of God.
We believe that, for the salvation of lost and sinful man, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is empowered and gifted to live a Godly life.
We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life, and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in Christ.
RCCC Values
Loving the Lord. We value our love relationship with the Lord, because it is what we were created for and what Christ died for.
Listening To Him. We value regular and ongoing communion with our Lord through prayer and the study of His Word, because in it we grow in our relationship with Him, discover purpose and direction, and receive the spiritual resources we need to lead an effective life.
Living His Word. We value obedience to God's Word and to His Spirit regardless of the cost, because His ways are best and He always blesses obedience.
Love For One Another. We value committed relationships with each other, because we are designed to walk in a community where we love each other and encourage each other in our faith.
Love For Our World. We value making a difference in the world around us by sharing the love of Christ in a culturally relevant manner with as many people as possible, because people matter a great deal to God.
Longing For Excellence. We value doing everything we do to the best of our ability, because it honors God and motivates people.
Letting Go Of Resources. We value giving of our resources individually and corporately to advance God's kingdom, because there is no greater investment and God always blesses those who give.
History of RCCC
River City Community Church began as a group of believers meeting in Pastor Sean Azzaro’s home. This small group of people was involved in a musical worship band and an inner city outreach. They didn't really set out to begin a church, but as they met together they discovered they were becoming a church. This group, with a core of 5 families and a couple of singles, began to meet together on December 3 rd , 1995 . They met for almost 2 years before beginning the process of "going public."
In the fall of 1997, the group’s leaders connected with the Missionary Church , an evangelical, Christian denomination committed to fulfilling the great commission through the planting of culturally relevant churches. They began the process of launching the church and had the Opening Celebration of River City Community Church on March 15 th , 1998 . The church has grown at a very healthy pace since that date, moving twice to accommodate the rate of growth.
Our current property was acquired through a merger with Christ Redeemer Church in December of 1999. The merger is an incredible story of God’s grace and provision for 2 fellowships. Christ Redeemer was a small church with a big heart and a difficult past in need of an infusion of growth and life. River City at the time had grown considerably and was in desperate need of space. The Lord led the elders of both fellowships to join and grow together. In the process, He met the needs of both fellowships beyond our wildest dreams! River City is a church that has seen God's powerful, miraculous provision!
In 2004, River City acquired the 5 acres adjacent to our property and completed the construction of a new worship and education facility. God has blessed us with a 10 acre campus with multiple buildings having over 35,000 square feet to accommodate this growing church family!
River City Community Church is an excited, grateful church family and we recognize that the best is yet to come! We serve an awesome God!