This fellowship began as a home bible study in the residence of Alvin & Cathy Alcantara in the year of 1994. Groups of people would come every week to learn about God’s Word and how to apply it to their lives. Each week, all the furniture was removed from their living room and dining room, and then placed in the backyard to make room for rows of chairs. As the fellowship continued to grow, more chairs were placed in the kitchen and entry way. Their son’s room was transformed into a nursery for the babies and toddlers and the garage and neighborhood park became the site for the children’s ministry.

As this fellowship began to outgrow their home, in the middle of 1995, the church was able to move into a building in an industrial park in the city of Whittier. This home fellowship, now a fledgling ministry, under the oversight of Pastor Raul Ries, became what is now Calvary Chapel Whittier.

In the new location, the church began to expand its vision, from ministering to a few families to trying to make an impact in the community by providing a full fledged Youth Ministry, offering biblical teaching on their level, camps, activities, etc., a robust children’s ministry program featuring solid bible teaching, verse memorization, various kid’s clubs, VBS’s and the like, Men’s and Women’s fellowships and a host of other studies and activities designed to edify the church, evangelize the lost, and glorify God.

Some of the highlights of our time in the building were: our yearly New Years Eve celebration, where we ushered in the New Year with food, games, skits and songs, Our Harvest Night Carnival, with homemade booths, games, and dunk tanks, Youth Ministry Lock-Ins, Christian concerts and many other fun and exciting events. We were always pleasantly surprised how God used a little church like us to do so much and impact so many!

In 2005, we took a step of faith and left our building that we were outgrowing to move into a local high school, which is our current meeting place. God used the move to expand our reach even more by using our fellowship to send out a missionary family to Guam, to start a vibrant Hula ministry, to make outreach trips to Mexico, to get involved with a prison mentorship program, aid a Women’s Crisis Shelter and so much more! As we wait upon the Lord to provide the right building for us, we continue to share the love of Christ and extend the reach of the Gospel wherever we’re at.