About Us

Our purpose and process are to equip people to become disciples with transformed lives by engaging with God through worship, community connection, and serving the world through ministry. Through a commitment to living a Christ-like walk in our community, they grow their faith and love for others. Studying the Bible and worship leads people to knowing and loving God in new ways. Using their knowledge and understanding of God’s plan for their lives, they’ll seek out opportunities to use their gifts to change the world.

Restoration

God created us for abundant, real life, which is found in relationship with Him! The scriptures teach us that our sin has separated us from our Father and the amazing destiny that He intended. The mission of Jesus Christ and His Church is the restoration of that relationship, which is the secret to real life!

Restoration of…

• Our Love relationship with God – 2 Corinthians 5:20, Matthew 22:37-38, John 15:5-6
• Spiritual listening – Prayer and the word, Psalm 85:8, John 10:27
• A surrendered Life of purpose. James 1:22, Proverbs 19: 21, Philippians 2:13

Community

In the beginning God said, “It is not good for man to be alone.” God designed real life to be a life lived in community with other believers. This spiritual family is called the church and is God’s gift to a hurting world!

A Community which…

• Loves one another-John 13:34-35, 1 John 4:11-12
• Cares for one another-Acts 2:44, Galatians 6:2
• Pursues our common purpose & mission together – Matthew 16:18, Acts 2:46-47

Compassion

The core of God’s heart expressed throughout scripture is love and compassion for mankind. Even though we rejected Him, He still responds with love and calls His Church to carry out His heart of compassion to a world in need.

We express compassion by…

• Sharing the good news of God’s love, locally and globally, which is our great commission:
• Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8
• Serving the poor – Leviticus 23:22, Luke 12:33, Galatians 2:10
• Maintaining cultural relevance – 1 Corinthians 14:24-25, Luke 15:1-7

Stewardship

The scriptures teach that God’s presence dwells in the believer and consequently our life is not simply our own (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Stewardship deserves…

• Excellence – Colossians 3:23, Psalms 33:3
• Generosity – Proverbs 11:25, 2 Corinthians 9:11
• Multiplication…investing in the development of people – 2 Timothy 2:2
  
  

• That there is one God, a loving creator eternally existing, and revealing Himself in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
• In the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was fully God and fully man. We believe in His virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles, His substitutionary death on our behalf, His physical resurrection, His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His ultimate, victorious return.
• That God created man for a meaningful relationship with Him, but man’s willful sin has created a wall of separation between him and God. God sent His son, Jesus, to pay the just death penalty for our sin with His death on the cross. God’s gift of salvation brings forgiveness and eternal life to all who repent and put their faith in Jesus Christ. It removes the separation that sin created and allows us to be reborn into God’s divine nature through the presence of His Holy Spirit.
• In the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling in the Christian is empowered and Gifted to live a Godly life.
• The Bible to be the unique, Spirit-inspired, word of God. It is infallible and authoritative in all that it addresses.
• In the eternal resurrection of all people; those who are saved to the resurrection of eternal life, and those who are lost to the resurrection of separation and judgment.
•  In the spiritual unity of believers in Christ.

Small Beginnings

River City Community Church began as a group of believers meeting in Pastor Sean and Lauri Azzaro’s home. This small group of people was involved in a musical worship band and an inner city outreach. They didn’t really set out to begin a church, but as they met together they discovered they were becoming a church. This group, with a core of 5 families and a couple of singles, began to meet together on December 3rd, 1995. They met for almost 2 years before
beginning the process of “going public”.

In the fall of 1997, the group’s leaders connected with the Missionary Church, an evangelical Christian denomination committed to fulfilling the great commission through the planting of culturally relevant churches. They began the process of launching the church and had the Opening Celebration of River City Community Church on March 15th, 1998. The church has grown at a very healthy pace since that date, moving three times to accommodate the rate of 
growth.

A God-Inspired Merger

River City’s previous home, on Redland Road, was acquired through a merger with Christ Redeemer Church in December of 1999. The merger is an incredible story of God’s grace and provision for 2 fellowships. Christ Redeemer was a small church with a big heart and a difficult past, in need of an infusion of growth and life. At the time, River City had grown considerably and was in desperate need of space. The Lord led the elders of both fellowships to join and grow together. In the process, He met the needs of both fellowships beyond our wildest dreams! River City is a church that has seen God’s powerful, miraculous provision!

Then, in 2004, River City acquired the 5 acres adjacent to the Redland Road property and completed the construction of a new worship and education facility. God had blessed River City with a 10-acre campus with multiple buildings to accommodate this growing church family. Within a few years, the 10-acre Redland campus could no longer accommodate the church’s growth. River City added more services and launched 2 multi-site campuses in New Braunfels and Northwest San Antonio to make room for growth.

A Big Vision and New Home

However, in 2008, the pressing need for more parking spaces, more seats in the auditorium, and more kids’ classrooms led the Elders of River City to start looking for a new location that would allow them the space to continue reaching out to the broader community. A friend of the congregation, who was a commercial realtor, told Pastor Sean that the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater was available and asked if he’d like to arrange a site visit. Pastor Sean invited the Elders to join them for a tour, and what began as an unlikely exploration became an unexpected and powerful encounter with God’s vision for River City Community Church.

The leaders who prayed on the hill of the amphitheater that day were surprised by an overwhelming sense that God was showing them their future home! With its 110 acres and numerous buildings—including the amphitheater—there would be more than enough space for the church and its school, River City Believers Academy, to grow and be a blessing to the community.

The Vision Tested

In early 2009, after some serious prayer and consultation, River City made an offer on 100 acres of the site. They quickly found a buyer for the Redland campus, had several interested lenders, and rallied the congregation around a vision campaign to raise funds for the acquisition. All seemed to be going well; but, as 2009 unfolded, the rapidly deteriorating financial climate caused lenders who had previously expressed interest to back out, and no new lenders could be found. What seemed simple just months before, was now virtually impossible. River City’s contract expired in November of 2009, forfeiting hundreds of thousands of dollars in earnest money and due diligence fees.

It seemed like the Verizon opportunity was history…but there was one complication: the leaders couldn’t shake their belief that God had spoken. So, in 2010, they just prayed and waited. At the end of 2010, Pastor Sean got a call from the owners of the Verizon complex, informing him they had been unable to sell the property. They offered the entire 110 acres to the church for $1.5 million less than the price contracted in 2009. What had been a good opportunity in 2009 became a God opportunity in 2011! River City closed on the property in May 2011, built a multipurpose Auditorium and Children’s Center, and moved in on Easter Sunday 2012. It has been a truly miraculous journey!

River City has plenty of room to continue its amazing story. Home to a large, growing church family and a Christ-centered Christian school, River City has also connected with multiple youth sports organizations that now call our sports fields home. Most weekends, thousands of people gather for kids’ sports. We have even put in a disc-golf course near our Evans Road entrance. God has given us an amazing gift and we intend to share it with our community in as many ways as possible!

New Church Plants

In 2013, River City planted the 2 multi-site campuses as new church plants under the leadership of 2 of our staff pastors. Where there was 1 church, there are now 3. The Real Life Network was formed as an association of the 3 churches with hopes of adding more in the future. River City Community Church is an excited, grateful church family, and we recognize that the best is yet to come! We serve an awesome God!