About Us
We are so grateful for the rich history of Riverside Church. Looking at the timeline below you can see how far the church has come since it was planted in 1925.
Our history is really "His-Story", the story of God working in the lives of ordinary people over many decades. Our story continues today as we press into all that God has for us and for our community. We would love you to journey with us...
This Is Us
In the autumn of 2024, we did a series called This Is Us where we unpacked some ‘aspirational distinctives’ for Riverside - phrases describing both where we are now as a church, and also where we want to be…
This list below isn’t exhaustive, but we believe it is an initial blueprint for the sort of church God has called us to be. It acts as a framework to evaluate our ministries, and puts language to describe the sort of church community we are trying to become…
In our relationship with God, we try to be intimate, expectant, inspired and led.
In our relationship with ourselves we believe we are loved, accepted, and being transformed by God.
In our relationships with others, we try to be honest, authentic, and interdependent.
In our sharing we try to be relevant, real, and good for everyone.
In our outlook we try to be welcoming, loving, inclusive and safe.
In our actions we try to be kind, generous, helpful, practical, and responsible.
In our thinking we try to be open, always learning, and comfortable with questions.
You can watch our This Is Us series on our YouTube channel here
Since these are more easily ‘caught’ than ‘taught,’ we invite you to come along in person to get a feel for the kind of church we are. We always welcome questions, so do please come and chat to us.
You can also read our Statement of Beliefs here
Our History...
The church began with meetings in this tent in 1925.
The first church building was constructed in 1927 for just £554.
The church grew and a new building was constructed in 1933.
The factory site that is now home to Riverside church was purchased in 2014.
Extensive refurbishment took place with the help of Martello Building Consultancy and construction company Jenner.
We moved into our new facility in May 2016 thanks to the generosity of everyone who gave their finances and time to the project.
Simon & Keely took over the leadership of the church from Chris & Angela Izzard on Sunday 19 June 2016.
On May 13 2018 Riverside was adopted into the Vineyard Church movement and became Riverside Vineyard Church, Whitstable.
In March 2022 Riverside completed its journey to become an affirming church. At this point Riverside left the Vineyard movement and became an independent church once again.
You can watch our journey through our All One series on our YouTube channel here
A generous legacy enabled us to refurbish our lower lounge cafe space in February 2023.
We converted the lower part of our building into a Youth Hub which we opened in September 2024.
A grant enabled us to also include a ‘panna’ football cage in the Youth Hub.
