| Revival Christian Fellowship began as a home Bible study in May of 1992 with two families who had a desire to come together in Christ for fellowship, worship, and the study of God’s Word. The model we chose to exemplify is found in Acts 2:42-47.
In God’s Word, He promises to be in the midst when two or more are gathered together in His Name. So, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that this original Bible
study grew rapidly. With faith, through the direction of the Holy Spirit, this handful of people began tithing with the hope that God would establish a church in Menifee. By God’s grace, we began holding Sunday morning services in November of 1992.
These were humble times. With very little money in the bank, the church was meeting in the only place we could afford…the band room of Menifee Valley Middle School. This facility came equipped with mice, stinging bees, and just slightly more assembly space than a Volkswagen…nevertheless, we were grateful and excited!
In May of 1993, God called Pastor Gary Galbraith to lead our fledgling church. Fresh out of Bible College, Pastor Gary had spent six frustrating months after his graduation searching for the place and the people to whom he was called to minister…only to find they were right in his backyard…20 minutes from his Hemet home!
Shortly after his arrival, Pastor Gary discerned the need for a new facility. We were growing…more people, more rodents, more insects, and already at two services…it was time to move! God’s timing couldn’t have been better, as He opened the door for us to move to Callie Kirkpatrick Elementary School in May of 1994. Immediately, we filled the 200-seat room and were back to two services within a year. During this time, we were able to secure 800 square feet of office space in Sun City Shopping Center. At last we were able to conduct ministry throughout the week from a central office. This allowed us another venue in which to hold modest, mid-week studies, to conduct counseling, and to provide Pastor Gary with an alternative to the public library for preparing his weekly messages.
In 1995, as we grew to three services, we were given the opportunity to move again into the largest facility then available in Menifee…Paloma Valley High School. This new auditorium was huge, seating more than twice as many people as were then attending the church. Within weeks the church more than doubled in size! What followed was a time of phenomenal growth which necessitated the addition of two more services. By the end of 1997, we were once again looking for…you guessed it…more space!
At this point in our church growth, we began looking for land on which to build a permanent facility. After more than five years of doing church out of a truck, we were all pretty anxious for a place to settle-in and, as Pastor Gary would tell the congregation, "…to worship until Jesus tells us it’s time to go home, instead of the Janitor telling us when to leave!"
After a long search, we finally located ten acres on Scott Road, but the asking-price was a staggering $120,000! How could we ever afford the land, let alone raise enough money to build a church on it? After much prayer, the Holy Spirit led us by faith to make a purchase offer and to ask the owner if he would carry the paper. To our amazement, he agreed.
At last we had land on which to build, but we still had a problem…we needed a larger meeting place right away, because we were now overflowing the theater and turning people away. Providentially, the school’s gymnasium became available to us and we made our third move into yet another building. Over the next several years, we would more than double in size again. During that time, plans were progressing to develop our new church site. Certainly, we thought, this new facility would accommodate our growth for years to come.
On April 1, 2001, we moved into our new church home. At long last we had a 10 acre facility with a 1,200 seat sanctuary, spacious offices and classrooms, and over three acres of parking. At the time, our weekly attendance was right at 1,000 so we scheduled two Sunday services hoping the congregation would evenly choose between the two. The following week, the sanctuary filled-up for the first service, and we were concerned that everyone had chosen the first service to attend and the second would be empty. But, much to our amazement, it filled-up again. Soon, we added a third service, then a Saturday night service, a Sunday night service, and a fourth Sunday morning service…and, God continues to add to the church such as should be saved!
We now have over 6,000 people in weekly attendance and have completely out-grown our ten acre facility. Once again, God has provided and we have 80-acres of land just minutes from our present location. Lord willing, Revival Christian Fellowship will relocate to our new facilities in December 2009!
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