History of LHCC
This congregation came into being as a result of an evangelistic meeting held in July 1923. Clayton C. Root was the evangelist. The meeting was financed by the Clark Fund of Cincinnati, Ohio - a foundation to help start new congregations. The money from this fund were under the oversight of the Christian Restoration Association.
Sunday, October 14, 1923 was the day. After morning services and a basket picnic on the lawn, evangelist John LeGrande called for Charter Members. 36 responded, including Charles and Ruth Davis. The first building, erected at Cypress and First Avenues, was an old tabernacle type of building. In 1934, it was moved to the back of the lot and a chapel was built. It housed the congregation until the move to 1400 Fullerton Road in the spring of 1973. On July 31, 1934, President James G. Hurst of Pacific Bible Seminary (now Pacific Christian College), dedicated this new chapel using an address composed by Isaac Erret. David M. Sayers was the minister. During the ministry of Percy Krewson (1947-1953) a parsonage was added. In March 1957, during the ministry of Dan Burris, a classroom building was dedicated. During his ministry of 1957 - 1963, Hugh Brown helped to initiate the plan to build at a new location. It was during the ministry of Richard C. Wilson (1 963 - 1973) that the present buildings were erected. They were dedicated in the spring of 1973. Carol Elliot was the church secretary. Galen E. Skinner began his ministry in July of that year. Bob Leark was the Associate Pastor taking care of the youth. 
Following Pastor Skinner’s ministry John Rowe served as the interim minister until Bill Wilhite began his ministry in June, 1977 until 1982. In 1982 Ralph Dornette began serving at La Habra Christian. During that time we enlarged the fellowship hall, added parking, and re-carpeted the main building. During his ministry Dan Lanham, Associate Minister/Music Minister, joined La Habra in 1985. Richard Crabtree came aboard in 1988 and served until 1990 (January). During his 18 month ministry at La Habra, the church paid off its mortgage.
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In 1990, Sherman S. Pemberton was called as an interim to re-focus the church on mission and purpose. By 1991 he was asked to stay permanently. He was joined by Dennis Laing (youth), Debra Anderson (secretary), Bob Brown (Associate), Greg Gunderson (Children) and Travis Sheets (Worship). The addition of a Multi-purpose building was made following the destruction by fire of the education building in 1993. An Infant Toddler Learning Center was added in 1998 which was led by Childrens Director Coleen Hartsock. Randy Lee Atanay led from 2004 to 2020, with Tammy Singdale as Assistant Director. Mark Pemberton was Youth Pastor from 2014 to 2017. They were joined by Associate Pastor Ernie Phillips, Youth Pastor John Fouts, and Worship Pastor Curtis Jessup.
After Pastor Sherman retired in June 2017, Tyler Thompson served as senior pastor until the end of 2019. He was joined by Associate Pastor Jason Kim, Children’s Director Alexis West, Worship Pastor Kurtz Ison, and Youth Director Laney Ribota. In 2020, in the middle of a nationwide pandemic, Pastor Jason was chosen to be the senior pastor. Harry Edwards joined as Associate Pastor in 2022. Working together with the congregation in our mission fields, we are striving to further the kingdom of God through the power of the Holy Spirit to raise up new leaders from one generation to the next.
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In Accordance With Our Heritage We Publish This Description Of Who We Are:
We Are A Christian Church.
Our message is "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.” We require no other creed than this one. He alone is Lord and Savior.
We Are A Church Of Christ.
The church belongs to Him. We have no authority to change the teachings, rewrite the rules, offer altered membership requirements or usurp His authority.
We Are A Church Seeking Unity.
We seek to be one in Christ with all others whom He calls His own
We Are A Church Seeking "Restoration."
As much as possible we are trying to imitate the New Testament precedents. That is why our baptism is by immersion, our communion is every Lord's day, our leaders are called Elders, our preaching is about Christ, and our prayers are in Christ's name. Even our church’s name is an attempt to imitate the earliest disciples who were called Christians first at Antioch.
We Are A Thinking Church.
The Christian faith demands the best of our minds, so we are a studying church wanting to know what the Bible teaches and how we can intelligently apply its teachings in today's world.
We Are A Worshiping Church.
Ours is not a dry intellectual approach to God. We rejoice in the Lord; we praise and pray and love and serve from the heart.
We Are A Free Church.
Like the earliest New Testament churches, ours is an independent congregation. We have no denominational bishop or superintendent nor national headquarters to determine the policies here. As a congregation, we elect our own leaders, call and support our ministers, decide where our missions money will go and locally determine the outreach programs of the church.
We Are A Growing Church.
We want to grow numerically because we are under Christ's commission to disciple the whole world. We want to grow spiritually because we know we cannot achieve all Christ wants of us without striving for maturity.
Because we believe we are not the only Christians, but seek to be Christians only, and because we desire to speak where the Bible speaks, and be silent where the Bible is silent, and because we have no book but the Bible, no creed but Christ, and no law but love, we believe La Habra Christian Church should be your church. If this common-sense approach to God's word and His teaching is what you are seeking, we sincerely desire your fellowship.
We Are A Christian Church.
Our message is "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.” We require no other creed than this one. He alone is Lord and Savior.
We Are A Church Of Christ.
The church belongs to Him. We have no authority to change the teachings, rewrite the rules, offer altered membership requirements or usurp His authority.
We Are A Church Seeking Unity.
We seek to be one in Christ with all others whom He calls His own
We Are A Church Seeking "Restoration."
As much as possible we are trying to imitate the New Testament precedents. That is why our baptism is by immersion, our communion is every Lord's day, our leaders are called Elders, our preaching is about Christ, and our prayers are in Christ's name. Even our church’s name is an attempt to imitate the earliest disciples who were called Christians first at Antioch.
We Are A Thinking Church.
The Christian faith demands the best of our minds, so we are a studying church wanting to know what the Bible teaches and how we can intelligently apply its teachings in today's world.
We Are A Worshiping Church.
Ours is not a dry intellectual approach to God. We rejoice in the Lord; we praise and pray and love and serve from the heart.
We Are A Free Church.
Like the earliest New Testament churches, ours is an independent congregation. We have no denominational bishop or superintendent nor national headquarters to determine the policies here. As a congregation, we elect our own leaders, call and support our ministers, decide where our missions money will go and locally determine the outreach programs of the church.
We Are A Growing Church.
We want to grow numerically because we are under Christ's commission to disciple the whole world. We want to grow spiritually because we know we cannot achieve all Christ wants of us without striving for maturity.
Because we believe we are not the only Christians, but seek to be Christians only, and because we desire to speak where the Bible speaks, and be silent where the Bible is silent, and because we have no book but the Bible, no creed but Christ, and no law but love, we believe La Habra Christian Church should be your church. If this common-sense approach to God's word and His teaching is what you are seeking, we sincerely desire your fellowship.
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