Welcome to First Christian Church!
Sunday School starts at 9:00am
- We have classes for both children and adults! Come join us!
Our Sunday morning service is at 10:00am
- Fellowship Hour follows
An Abridged History of First Christian Church
In 1868, three years after the end of the Civil War, and one year before the Golden Spike was driven in Utah, linking the first transcontinental railroad, there came from Northern California a pioneer preacher by the name of B. F. Standifer to San Bernardino, California. In a building near the southwest corner of 5th and "D" Streets, this minister began the preaching of the plea of the Christian Church, emphasizing the unity of all Christians on the basis of New Testament teachings. Soon a Church was organized.
San Bernardino in 1868 was little more than an isolated trading post of scattered houses and a few stores. Los Angeles was then but a small settlement of adobe houses. The Mormons coming from Utah were the first people to settle on the present site of our city, coming they said, "As the Lord directed us to a place below an arrowhead on the side of a mountain."
The early days of San Bernardino were 
marked by lawlessness and sharp dealings. At the time of the establishment of our Church four other groups were meeting for religious services: Mormons, Catholics, Baptists and Methodists.
After meeting in the paint shop adjoining a wagon factory on 5th and "D" Streets for about a year we moved to a school house on the northwest corner of 6th and Sterling Streets some 3 1/2 miles east of town.
Early in the 1870s we purchased an acre of land on "E" Street, where the Christian Science Church now stands. Our Church's only musical instrument was a tuning fork and we observed the Lord's Supper weekly and practiced baptism by immersion. One of the outstanding ministries of our Church was the establishment of the Japanese Christian Church as a Home Mission Project.
In 1937 we bought the property on 10th and Arrowhead Ave and built today's sanctuary which was dedicated on August 22, 1937. In 1954 we enlarged our fellowship hall and dedicated it as Jackson Hall, and built the Education Building. In 1956 we remodeled our sanctuary to its current configuration. In 2000 we partnered with Centro Familiar Cristiano Restauracion, and helped foster them through the process of becoming affiliated with the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ.
Since 1868 we have seen all these changes and more. But in a world that is ever changing, one thing that has always remained the same is God's everlasting love, empowering us to be God's witnesses from here to our local communities and to God's world.