Victoria Presbyterian Church, Riverside CA
Serving our community for over 100 years
Victoria Presbyterian Church (VPC) has a rich and storied history that traces its beginning to December of 1904. That month, there was a meeting of the founding members of what is now VPC. The pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles, WW Logan, announced there would be a new Presbyterian Church forming in Riverside. This was monumental because Riverside was still viewed as a country town in the shadow of its cosmopolitan neighbor to the West. The Presbytery recognized a need for the additional Presbyterian Church in Riverside because they knew the town would eventually become a large city.
Originally named the First United Presbyterian Church, the people began by worshiping in the Swedish Lutheran Church located on the corner of 11th and Orange streets in downtown Riverside.
In 1906 the Presbytery purchased a land parcel across the street from the Lutheran Church, and the First United Presbyterian Church of Riverside was built. The dedication ceremony was held on October 7th, 1906. By 1911 there were approximately 99 members, and the population of Riverside was a booming 17,000.
In 1915, the Rev. Howard Jamieson became pastor of the church and the congregation thrived. In 1926 the church was enlarged, and an $8000 addition was made to the “Little Brown Church” as it was known. This was a significant amount of money in the early 20th century and demonstrated a solid capital investment.
Victoria Presbyterian Church as we know it today began in January of 1957. Under the leadership of Rev. Robert Bingham, the church sold the land on which the Little Brown Church stood to Riverside County. The money was used to purchase land at the corner of Victoria Avenue and Lincoln Street. A new church was constructed and dedicated May 31, 1959. Since the church was located in the neighborhood of Victoria, it was named Victoria United Presbyterian Church. The word “United” was later omitted when the denomination merged with the Presbyterian Church USA, thereby becoming Victoria Presbyterian Church USA.
Riverside grew in the ‘60s and ‘70s, in large part because of people working and serving at March Airforce Base. As the city grew so did VPC. Under the leadership of Rev. Bingham the church flourished. There were two worship services to serve the large congregation. The church also constructed an education building to gain extra space as Gordon Hall, the fellowship room, became too small. Numerous programs for children, youth and families expanded.
During this time of prosperity, Rev. Bingham left the church and in 1969 Rev. William Ditter became the next pastor. Under Rev. Ditter’s leadership, the church grew to 325 members with a choir of 20 people. In 1974 the church established a Board of Deacons. When Rev. Ditter was promoted to Executive Presbyter, VPC welcomed the Rev. Wayne Knight. After Rev Knight left VPC, the Presbytery supplied a series of short-term ministers.
In the 1980s and 1990s Victoria Presbyterian Church followed the national trend of mainline churches becoming smaller. In Riverside that was exacerbated by the closing of March Air Force Base. The closure of the base had a major impact on VPC and was the beginning of a significant decline in membership.
In 2021, VPC celebrated its 115th anniversary with Rev. Nancy Pat Richardson as the pastor. Following Rev. Richardson’s retirement the following year, the Presbytery supplied transitional co-pastors Rev. Sally Willis-Watkins and Rev. Dr. Jon L. Berquist.
VPC’s current membership is small, but church attendance is regularly higher than its membership numbers, as there are many regular attenders who have not joined.
VPC has a core group of dedicated members who believe God can and will provide for the future of the church. United in prayer, VPC’s members are ready to work hard to reach out to the community and show more people the warm and welcoming community that exemplifies God’s love and defines Victoria Presbyterian Church.
Victoria Presbyterian Church
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