In 2002 our dream of a new church facility was realized and we moved to our present location. What a blessing our new facilities are with plenty of space, air conditioning, sufficient parking, and a wonderful nursery and play area to will help enable us to minister to our community in new and exciting ways. This is however an established church, with a history going back more than 85 years to the founding of the First Christian Reformed Church in 1918.
From a small beginning of ten families and nine individuals, all Dutch, we have grown to a congregation of several hundred with a variety of ethnic backgrounds. We still have 4th, 5th, 6th, etc. generation members of that small charter group who are active in our church family today. God has been faithful to us through all these years.
In 1924 soon after the dedication of the sanctuary at Second and Orange Streets, a Society for Christian Instruction was organized and four years later, Ripon Christian Schools began to serve the families of churches in the area and continues to this day. A daughter church in Modesto was organized in 1937, Immanuel Christian Reformed Church of Ripon in 1946, and another in Escalon in 1949. Members of these churches were instrumental with us in the founding of Bethany Home for our aged, which also continues to this day. All of these accomplishments are not ours, but evidence of God's grace and blessing in our lives. We have been led in faith to move forward to meet the needs of our community, and as we step forward in faith, God has blessed the work of our hands.
The Lord has led us through many years of support for missions and evangelism in New Mexico, the migrant worker ministry this area, and more recently Wycliffe Translators, Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC), Ethiopia, Honduras, and more. We also support church planting efforts in Tracy and Midtown Sacramento. We reach out to our community with a Coffee Break ministry and other means.
In 1987 a long range planning committee recommended that we relocate to a new site, in the path of development north and east of Ripon. In 1992, land was purchased and the work of planning was begun. In May of 1998, with a near unanimous vote, the church moved forward and a “new church building” committee and a “new church finance” committee were formed. Our old church building on Orange Avenue was sold to the St. Mark Coptic Orthodox congregation to continue to be used for the worship of our Lord. We broke ground in March of 2001 and, though it took us until Palm Sunday 2003 to finish the move, we are so thankful for the results. May 18, 2003 we dedicated the building and rededicated ourselves to the work of the Lord in this place.
We are like a strong tree that the Lord has given deep roots in His grace. Transplanted into a new neighborhood we are reaching out to welcome new families into our fellowship, new branches into Christ our Lord. With our roots deep in the rich soil of God's word, we can stretch out our hands to our community in love and service. Come grow and serve with us!