What is now River Valley Christian Fellowship began in 1962 with eleven faithful believers. Mostly transplants from Southern Illinois, these eleven believed God impressing upon them to plant a Social Brethren Church of which they attended in Southern Illinois.

The church's humble beginnings found these families meeting in the basement of a home on Station Street in Kankakee, IL. The following year, they purchased a building from Memorial Baptist Church on the corner of Franklin and LaSalle streets in Bradley, IL. The same year they called their first pastor, Rev. Gene Wright. This new location would be home for 42 years.

As the church continued to grow, it became necessary to build a new sanctuary in 1977. At this time, Rev. Tommy Guest was the pastor. Rev. Guest was dearly loved by the congregation for his passionate preaching and humble spirit. Rev. Guest served as pastor on two separate occasions totaling 21 years.

In 1993, Rev. Guest passed away and the church invited Rev. George Miller to be the interim pastor. George had been attending the church since 1987 and accepted the invitation while continuing to serve as the president of the Evangelical Church Alliance.

In 1997, the church was filling one service to near capacity so a second service was created to accommodate the growth. Rev. Derick Miller, who had been serving as a part time Associate since 1993, began leading this new service.

Over the next three years the church reached full capacity in both services. Expansion of the facilities was not an option where the church was located. Therefore, in 2000, 23 acres on Cardinal Drive in Bourbonnais was purchased to become the new home of River Valley Christian Fellowship.

Following a capital campaign in 2001, construction began in 2003 and was completed in May of 2004.

After serving as Senior Pastor for 13 years, Rev. George Miller resigned in June of 2006 to become Pastor of Congregational Care. The church called Rev. Derick Miller to become the Senior Pastor and he accepted. Following a vote on June 25, 2006, Derick officially became our new Senior Pastor.

We look forward to the future of River Valley Christian Fellowship as we continue on mission to take His message to our community and the world.