About Us
OUR PURPOSE:
To glorify God in all things, at all costs, and among all peoples.
OUR MISSION:
To partner with Jesus in offering our community and the world a better story and a better family modeled on Christ’s redeeming love.
OUR CORE VALUES:
Centered in God
- Centered in intimacy with Jesus, and with worship that anchors us
Formed by His Word
- Understanding and following the scriptures to shape our lives and our community
Part of His Family
- To live as God’s family in authenticity, generosity, and practical love as we help each other follow Jesus
About His Mission
- To reach more people and raise more leaders through proclaiming the Kingdom Gospel
Partnered with His Spirit
- Partnering in His presence, power, and guidance as we devote ourselves to prayer
Our Ministry Commitments:
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Develop people and leaders by focusing on coaching and equipping
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Care for the vulnerable
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Prioritize mission at home and abroad
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Lead with integrity, transparency and collaboration
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Serve with humility, kindness and love
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Evaluate regularly our effectiveness and impact
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CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR "NORTH STAR" DOCUMENT
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OUR HISTORY
In the late 1950s, the Lord laid it on the hearts of Phil and Viletta McClintock to establish a bible-teaching church in East Whittier. The McClintocks contacted members of the First Baptist Church of Montebello. God’s leading continued as seven families of the Montebello church who resided in the Whittier area agreed to pioneer the new church on the McClintocks’ property. In 1959, "Whittier Hills Baptist Church" was established, and is affiliated with the Conservative Baptist Association of America and with the Pacific Church Network.
The McClintocks gave an acre of their land to the church and made two more acres available. The services began in the McClintocks’ home, and soon their chicken coop and the barn were used for classes. In 1959 they began holding worship services at the Happy Hour Play School in La Habra. By 1960, plans were being made for a single-story, all-purpose building to be built at Bogardus and Russell. This required the McClintock home to be dismantled. At the insistence of Viletta McClintock, the boards were carefully labeled, and the dismantled home was sent to Mexico to be rebuilt for further use in His kingdom work. A “Service of Dedication” of the initial property was held on January 20, 1963.
In January 1966, ground was broken for the construction of a chapel, and a second story was added to what is now affectionately called "McClintock's". A bus ministry was started, a second service and Sunday School were added. The congregation continued to grow, and an 11,000 square foot classroom and office facility were built. Significant ministries during this time included a visitation ministry, “Evangelism Explosion,” Women’s Missionary Fellowship, youth groups, Men’s Fellowship, and children’s choir.
During the late '70s additional ministries included “Men in Training,” AWANA, Sunday School classes adopting missionaries, a Men’s Saturday prayer group, small group studies, and the church library.
In 1987 the chapel was severely damaged by an arsonist. Our sorrow turned to joy as the people united, prayed, planned, reconstructed and expanded the chapel to become our present Worship Center. More programs were added, including Christmas Shines, Summer Festival and Harvest Festival. Our youth expanded their short-term mission trips to Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
Over the years, God has blessed us with many gifted pastors who have ministered faithfully. Pastor Robert Bishop has been on staff since November of 1992, serving as Associate Pastor. In September of 2002, Pastor Robert was confirmed as Senior Pastor (now "Lead Pastor"). His passion is to lead a healthy congregation into our church's purpose statement: "To glorify God in all things, at all costs, and among all peoples." Robert's leadership has been marked by passionately engaging our culture with the Word of God, moving us forward into current ministries of contemporary worship, life groups, multiple short term missions trips to strategic areas of the world, plurality of elders (overseers), and a relational pursuit of walking with Christ and seeking to become more like Jesus.
Running out of space with 3-5 services and every room at capacity usage, the church Overseers pursued options for expansion. With a heart to more effectively reach more people in our community with the gospel, we pursued a multisite approach for an extended season. We sent a group of leaders and 50 people to open a campus in Uptown Whittier in 2011. Then we sent multiple overseers and hundreds of people to establish another campus in La Habra in 2014. This included a name change to "Redemption Hill Church" -- a united church meeting in multiple locations. Eventually, both growing campuses were planted and established as independent churches. The Uptown campus became Disciple Church in March 2018, and the La Habra campus became Church Project Orange County in September 2018. Meanwhile, the home base location has continued on as "RHC".
The Spring of 2020 brought the Covid-19 era to churches across the world. For weeks we filmed from homes, then established recording and streaming capabilities from the church facilities, and then met outdoors on the lawn for nearly a year while streaming indoor services. We re-entered the Worship Center (with accompanying Live Streaming services) in mid-2021, so grateful to be back together as an embodied congregation of worshipers.
We strive to serve the Lord as we continue to develop people who are shaped by the Gospel and thank God for his continual blessings. We seek to live as disciples of Christ as we become more like Jesus and help others become more like Him.
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STATEMENT OF FAITH
1. The Doctrine of the Bible
We believe that every word of the sixty-six books of the Bible is inspired by God, through the supervision of the Holy Spirit. The Scripture is without error in the original manuscripts and is our final authority for all belief and behavior (Ps. 19:7; II Tim. 3:16,17; II Peter 1:20,21).
2. The Doctrine of God
a. The Trinity - We believe in the one living and true God, eternally existent in three distinct persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All share the same nature, attributes and perfections and are equally worthy of our worship and obedience (Deut. 6:4; Ps. 90:2; Mt. 3:16-17; 28:19; Jn. 1:1-2; Heb. 1:1-3).
b. God the Father - We believe God the Father orders and works all things according to His sovereign and gracious will and for His own glory. He is graciously involved with men and is the giver of every good gift. He has so designed it that He eternally saves from sin all who come to Him through faith in Jesus Christ (Ps. 145:8-9; Jn. 3:36; 5:24; Eph. 1:3-12; Jas. 1:17).
c. God the Son, Jesus Christ - We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God and virgin-born Son of Man. Being fully God and fully man, His sacrificial death on the cross paid the penalty for man's sin. His bodily resurrection declares that the Father accepted His sacrifice and is a guarantee of the future resurrection to life of all believers. Jesus is the sole mediator between God and man, and through Him each believer approaches God directly. He is now at the Father's right hand as the Head of the church and the advocate and intercessor of believers. Before the millennium, He will return to catch away (rapture) His bride, the church. Subsequently, He will establish His earthly kingdom (Lk. 1:31, 35; Jn. 1:1-2,14; Rom. 4:25; Rom. 6:5-10; II Cor. 5:21; Eph. 1:20-23; I Thes. 4:13-18; 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 7:25; I Pt. 2:9,24; I Jn. 2:1-2).
d. God the Holy Spirit - We believe that the Holy Spirit works to carry out the Divine will in this world. He was active in creation, the writing of Scripture, and Jesus' earthly ministry. Since Pentecost, the focus of His ministry is to complete the building of the Church. This ministry includes convicting the world; regenerating, sealing, and uniting into the body of Christ all who trust Christ for salvation; indwelling and empowering believers for growth and service. All He does glorifies Christ (Gen. 1:2; Mt. 1:18; Jn. 3:5-8; 14:16-17; Acts 1:8; Rom. 8:9-11; Gal. 5:16-17; Eph. 1:13-14; II Pt. 1:20-21).
3. The Doctrine of Man
We believe that God created man in His own image to glorify Him, enjoy His fellowship, and carry out His will and purpose on the earth. Man disobeyed God's revealed will and thereby incurred physical and spiritual death. All men are sinners by nature and practice. They are hopelessly and eternally lost in sin, apart from salvation through faith in Christ (Gen. 1:26; 2:7; 3:1-24; Rom. 1:18-32; 3:10-23; 5:12-21; Eph. 2:1-3).
4. The Doctrine of Salvation
We believe that salvation is completely the work of God apart from any human merit. Jesus Christ paid the penalty for sin by His substitutionary death and resurrection. By faith in Him alone, a lost sinner is forgiven of his sins, made a child of God forever, and given all that he needs for spiritual life, including direct access to God through Christ (Jn. 1:12; 3:16; 10:27; Rom. 8:29-30; Eph. 1:3-13; 2:8-9; II Cor. 5:17-21; II Tim. 2:15; I Pt. 2:9, 10; II Pt. 1:3).
5. The Doctrine of the Church
We believe that all true Christians since Pentecost have been united by the Holy Spirit into one spiritual body, the Church, of which Christ is the Head. Believers are directed by Scripture to be baptized in water as a visible testimony of their faith and to identify with a local community of believers. This local church functions under Christ and in conjunction with its leaders to worship God, to build up one another for growth and ministry, and to carry out the Great Commission. The building up of one another should include the practice of two symbolic ordinances, believer’s baptism by immersion and the Lord's supper, as well as the exercise of spiritual gifts. While we acknowledge a diversity of views on spiritual gifts, it is our conviction that the miraculous sign gifts fulfilled their purpose, and the practice of this church shall reflect this conviction. The hallmark of believers is to be their love for one another expressed in tangible ways. We believe in the autonomy of the local church, but we also cooperate with other churches of like faith to accomplish common ends. We believe that the church should be ordered, maintained, and directed apart from the state, and that there should not be a state church (Mt. 22:37; 28:19-20; Jn. 13:34-35; Acts 2:41-47; Rom. 6:3-5; I Cor. 12-14; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:11-16; I Tim. 3:1-13; Tit. 1:5-9; Heb. 10:24-25).
6. The Doctrine of Satan
We believe that Satan is a spirit being who rebelled against God and has continued to be the arch-enemy of God and His purposes. He authored sin and provoked the fall of man. Though he is presently the prince of this world, he is under a curse and is destined to eternal punishment in the lake of fire. While Satan clearly opposes the spiritual life and growth of believers, they are secure in Christ and need not fear internal domination of demonic forces (Gen. 3:1-16; Isa. 14:12-15; Ezek. 28:14-15; Mt. 4:1-11; II Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; I Pt. 5:8; Rev. 20:2-3,10).
7. The Doctrine of Last Things
We believe in the imminent, pre-millennial return of Christ to establish His kingdom upon earth. We also believe that every human being will experience bodily resurrection, believers to eternal life with God, and unbelievers to eternal judgment and separation from God in the lake of fire (Mt. 25:31-46; Jn. 5:21-29; I Thes. 4:13-18; Rev. 20:11-15).
Historic Distinctives
of Baptists
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The Bible is the final authority for faith and practice.
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The priesthood of all believers.
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Two symbolic ordinances: believer’s baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper.
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Local church autonomy.
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Separation of church and state.
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Separation from theological liberalism.