Israel expresses himself after his baptism

at L.A. Church's 20th anniversary event.

In the past 24 months, the congregation has baptized and restored over 1,200 disciples and now includes over 5,300 baptized, committed disciples of Jesus Christ and a Sunday attendance of 7,700. But beyond this, our fellowship is filled with a renewed spirit of love, joy, peace and hope.

Congregational  Evangelist Bruce Williams credited the overall success of the Los Angeles Church to teamwork among its members and leaders, personal sacrifices made by various churches and individuals over the years and, of course, the Lord's power and grace.

"In the past two decades, God has breathed new life into all of us, giving each of us hope and a future, bringing families back together, helping people find each other and get married, and drawing many of our children to know Him," Bruce said. "He has helped teenagers, college students and single adults develop deep convictions, embrace spiritual dreams for their lives and find meaning, purpose and impact."

Over the years, the Los Angeles Church has also given more than $40 million to fund the Lord's work around the world and has sent numerous mission teams to plant churches in places such as Moscow, Ho Chi Minh City and Jerusalem. 

Carla & Stefanie hug Michelle after her baptism

at the L.A. Church's 20th anniversary event

Despite all the victories, church leaders convinced us that our future is even brighter.

"Together, as a church, we can do even greater things with Christ," Bruce preached.

Evangelist Reese Neyland shared about being on the original mission team of 50 people who left stable jobs and risked losing relationships in order to move to Los Angeles. He remembers that group as being full of faith but also weak, fearful and overwhelmed.

"The most impressive thing about us was how unimpressive we were," Reese said. 

That's just the kind of people God likes to work through, according to 1 Corinthians 1 and 2 Corinthians 12. And he did work, radically, through the mission team and through many others who moved to Los Angeles to help. 

The church grew numerically until it hit some rocky teenage years, but God has truly refreshed and rekindled the Los Angeles Church after its time of pruning and repentance (John 4; Acts 3).

"We have experienced our highs and lows, our ups and downs as a church - much like we have in our physical families," Bruce said. "But we are doing better than we ever have. We are definitely on our way up as a faithful and committed body of believers."

Evangelist John Causey agrees: "We've been through some tough times, but we've made it through," he said. "The L.A. Church is very much alive and well."