It was the early 1970s. Kenneth Churchill went to revitalize a church in Glendora. An article from the time reads, “With the direction of the Holy Spirit, Churchill’s strong Bible teaching reached new community members.” The Glendora church began to thrive. And three years later, in 1977, they organized a small gathering in Alta Loma, California. A brand new church began: Grace Fellowship of Alta Loma.

The new church held its services in the home of Sandy and Phyllis Fairchild. After some time, the church needed more room and the church worked together to buy land in Alta Loma. They had the foresight to purchase a sizable piece of land, even though they only used a small portion

of the plot. By 1980, they had finished a building on the north side of the lot. This is where we meet today.

Have you ever thought of where we would be if those Christians didn’t dream big, pray, and give? What if they didn’t buy the property or build the building? Here’s one thing that’s certain:

if they hadn’t done those things, Grace Rancho, as it is today, would not exist. Our church exists today because those Christians acted on faith and took a risk. We are here today reaching a new generation of people in our community with the gospel of Jesus Christ because of their work.

Here we are, 43 years since the completion of the first building, with a paid-off building and over 5 acres of undeveloped land. Our Sunday gatherings are packed and every Sunday new visitors are coming. Our Membership Matters classes are full. Our children’s classes are bursting and

we seem to be welcoming new babies into our church family every month. It’s been remarkable. Indeed, Jesus is building his church.

We’ve been given a place to steward as a church so that we might faithfully fulfill Christ’s mission of making disciples. As we’ve thought and prayed about what comes next, we believe it’s time to start praying, working, and giving toward developing our property more fully, starting with an expanded meeting space. That’s why in 2023 we are introducing our Making (More) Disciples Building Project to begin expansion of our current facilities.