our history
Riverview Church was originally founded by pastors Brian and Valerie Baker in December of 1979, and was initially known as Inner City Faith Fellowship. Its first meeting was held in a hall in Belmont. Early in May 1980, the church moved to leased premises in Brisbane Street, Perth. By early 1982 the congregation had grown to 400 and it was necessary to move once again, this time to the Stirling Street premises in Perth, with an auditorium seating up to 1000. It was during this time that the church’s name was changed to Rhema Family Church. By 1984, the church had again outgrown its premises. This need was fulfilled when we moved into our current home in Burswood in June 1985. At that time the building was an electrical parts warehouse needing extensive modifications to become the facility it is today.
Philip and Heather Baker have pastored the church since May 1989. In March 1998 the church changed its name from Rhema Family Church to Riverview Church.
During its history, Riverview has grown steadily and diversified to become the largest charismatic non-denominational church in Western Australia and one of Australia‚s largest churches. Today over 4,000 people attend each weekend. The Church has gradually increased adding different services before starting campuses in Joondalup and Cockburn Central (2006 & 2007 respectively).
Outside the church context, Riverview has launched a number of initiatives to “reach more people”. In 2004 The Riverview Trust was launched as the umbrella organisation that covers outreach activities in one tax deductible giving entity. These activities include but are not limited to Riverview Community Services, Riverview Children‚s Foundation and Riverview Media. Riverview Media involves our weekly television programme, RiverviewLive, which is now aired all over the world. Each year the Trust is reviewed to assess the progress and entities that are to be the focus for the upcoming twelve months.
As one of the ‘new wave’ churches springing up across Australia and around the world, Riverview combines a strong theological base, passionate worship and creativity with relevant teaching.
Some of our key initiatives are:
