Our Story

Our story has always been one of joining with the story of God, following where He leads and pursuing His presence. We are a community with a rich history in renewal and with a destiny to bring life to the city. 

We don’t enter our destiny unless we honor our history. All of it. Own the awkward and the awesome. Own the heroes and the heartache, the wonderful times and the painful moments. Our story isn’t perfect but it is beautiful. 

Our church began on Mother’s Day 1977 when sixty burned-out believers gathered for the first time on a Sunday morning in a rented building in Yorba Linda. They weren’t looking to start a movement; they were looking to meet Jesus… and meet Him they did! Soon, others came to meet Him. As they opened their hearts, God opened the heavens. The gospel was preached, the lost were found, the sick were healed, the poor were clothed and fed, and the presence and power of God was tangible.

Under the leadership of our founders, John and Carol Wimber, the church grew rapidly and moved to the city of Anaheim. Soon churches from around the globe came to visit. Conferences were started, churches were planted, and a movement was born. Yet none of it came out of a desire for influence, just people pursuing His presence – just a family trying to keep in step with the Spirit. 

Today we honor our history but we don’t live in it. We want to move beyond our history into our destiny. We want our own story of God moving in our generation and in the nations. Our own story of kingdom advance through our hearts and hands. Our own story of His story among us. Today we are a forward-looking church, seeking to engage beyond a Sunday gathering, and partner with God to lead our city into life. We’re passionate about connecting people and families and businesses and institutions with the life-changing presence of God. And we’re passionate about helping people encounter Jesus.

Our dream is bigger than building a large church or bringing life to the Church. Today we dream of partnering with God to build a better city. We know that renewed lives bring about a renewed city, and we believe that this is God’s dream for Orange County and beyond.

So we lift the lid off our expectations and our limitations because our story isn’t finished yet. We excelled in bringing renewal to the Church in the past. Now is our time to begin learning to bring renewal to our culture… because the next great move of God is not a movement in the Church, it’s a movement of the Church into every corner of the culture, every sector of society.

In the future, we are going to plant churches and we are going to plant businesses. We are going to ordain ministers and we are going to ordain filmmakers. We are going to have schools of ministry and schools of industry. We are going to go where those before us didn’t have time to go or permission to go… because the story of the kingdom continues. It’s the story that brings life to everything everywhere.

Today we are stepping into the story of God… not just for the sake of the Church but for the sake of the world.