 |
 |
| Sunday Morning "Worship Celebration" 10:30am Wednesday Night “The Gathering” 7pm - 8:30pm *Available During Each Service: Little Lambs Nursery (4 & under) Explorers Children's Church (ages 5 to 3rd grade) Bridgekidz (4th & 5th grade) Submerged Youth Ministries (Sr. & Jr. High) |
 |
 |
|
 |
A group of believers built a small simple structure in Huntington Park on the corner of Passaic Street and Florence Avenue in 1923. A year later the church became apart of the Free Methodist Conference of Southern California. Fifteen years later in 1939 the group enlarged and remodeled the building. Since there wasn't enough room for the growing congregation to assemble for Sunday School, a new parsonage was purchased on another street. Over the next 12 years the church continued to grow and they used the original parsonage next door to the church Sunday School space.
It was 1963 when the members envisioned relocating the entire church property to Downey, since there was absolutely no room for expansion at the Huntington Park location. The church was sold to a wedding chapel, and, as construction started on the Downey property, for one year the church met at the Utter-McKinley Mortuary on Lakewood Boulevard, suspending Sunday School and evening worship for the interim. Ribbon-cutting for the new church (where it is presently) took place on September 18, 1965. The Whittier Free Methodist Church closed its doors to merge with the Downey church in 1966. One Downey area pastor had called the Free Methodist Church a "bunch of fanatics." Surprise! Many members of his congregation wanted to see what such a church offered and became a part of our fellowship. When the adjacent property next door became available for sale, the church was able to purchase it. The house was used for Sunday School classes for a while, but then it was dismantled and our current office building was erected in its place. The year was 1968. When the NEXT property was up for sale, again the purchase allowed expansion, this time making way for the youth building in 1973. The house and pool already on the property became a secondary parsonage for the assistant pastor. (The pastor's parsonage was already on the original lot and the church was designed in an L-shape around it. Over the years these two houses traded functions a few times.) Over the next the thirty years the church continued to have growing and declining times. The church had about nine different pastors over those years and hit an all-time low in 2003 of about 60 attendees the church continued to pray while the conference thought about selling the property. But God’s timing is perfect. In 2006 with help from a sister church, the church got a new pastor and 60 new brothers and sister that were ready to help the church turn around. With God’s help and new vision and energy the church began to grow. The church is still growing today, and has about 300 people who now call Light & Life Christian Fellowship Downey their home church. Many dedicated servants of God did the work over these years, planning, building, praying, and supporting each endeavor. God's hand was so evident in each phase, with miracles involved in acquiring loans and financing for the first construction and each time the connecting properties came onto the market. We believe that God has always had plans for this church and we look forward to see what He will do in us and through us as we continue to seek His guidance. |