History of our Church
Last updated on January 24, 2023
Roosevelt Community Church History
 
From the first day that 25 gathered for Sunday School at Roosevelt School in 1932, to the present day when approximately 200 active members and regular attenders gather together at our present facility, Roosevelt Community Church has been blessed with a passion to glorify God.  It is this passion that led the very first group of believers to sacrifice during the days of the Great Depression in 1933 so they could call their first pastor and pay him the salary of $10 per month.   Those believers understood that if a man of God could dedicate his time to the study of God’s word and would simply present the fruit of that study to other believers, they, in turn, would be motivated out of thanksgiving to live a life that would glorify God.  This has been the constant theme of this ministry for the past 80 years.

That first body of believers who gathered in 1932 eventually grew into a vibrant church that needed room to grow.  This led one of the families to donate land for construction of a new facility in the middle of a thriving agricultural community on the edge of Lancaster, which was finished in 1945 (pictured above), completely built by volunteer labor at the cost of $12,900.  On the day the church building was finished, a family from Roosevelt received a telegram stating that they had been accepted as missionaries to Africa.  Within two years the church sent the second family to Africa as missionaries also.  This was a church from the very beginning that wanted to glorify God, not only in the local community, but also in the remotest parts of the earth.  Over the years, Roosevelt has sent many of its church members to the mission field.

By 1956, the beginnings of what would later become Valley Bible Church was started with a small group of believers from Roosevelt.  The first meeting was held at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds.  This church plant was done out of the belief that a church focused on God’s glory was needed on the west side of Lancaster.  Over the years, Roosevelt has been involved in a number of church plants to varying degrees.  The latest church plant, Grace Valley Church in Quispamsis, New Brunswick, was begun with a family sent out from Roosevelt in 2004 and is now a thriving church faithfully teaching Canadians the deep truths of God.  In 2013, we sent our associate pastor, Moses Estrada, to be the senior pastor of Grace Bible Church in Hillrose Colorado where he continues to serve today. In 2016 we sent out David Fall to be the interim pastor at Living Hope Bible Church in Cape Town in order to enable their current pastor (Denver Solomon) to come to The Masters Seminary for training.

Roosevelt Community Church has always been a church dedicated to God’s glory.