Our Vision

Our Vision From the heart of Pastor Anthony Flanigan

​Riverside Church exists to bring people into an encounter with God, to be transformed in His presence, and to reveal Jesus to the world. We live to behold Him, become like Him, and be real representatives of Heaven on Earth.

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We are a living, prophetic, and creative expression of Christ’s heart and Kingdom—formed in intimacy, purified by the fire in Jesus’ eyes, and set free in power to rightly reveal God on Earth. Jesus’ presence is the center of everything; He is the main event. Encountering Him changes everything. Hearts are healed. Identities are restored. Callings are awakened. Chains are broken. Lives are transformed to look just like Jesus.

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Signs, wonders, miracles, prophecy, generosity, and radical devotion flow naturally from a people who live in His presence and respond to His voice. As we behold Him, we are continually transformed, becoming a people who carry His heart, reflect His character, and live as though Jesus has put our skin on. We become like what we behold, until the world sees Christ manifested in a mature and unified Body at Riverside.

We are being formed in intimacy—learning to abide, to listen, and to love Him with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. He directs our motives, aligns our lives, shapes our character, and teaches us to carry His presence with integrity. Then He releases us—set free in power, filled with the Holy Spirit, confident in our identity, and bold in our witness—to express and reveal Him in every place and realm with humility, wisdom, and Kingdom authority.

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We live with holy expectation and eager hope for the return of our King. We believe Jesus is coming again for a Bride who has made herself ready—clothed in purity, burning with love, and faithful in devotion. We live in joyful anticipation, preparing our hearts, our lives, and our community to be found faithful, radiant, and awake when He appears.

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We believe the Church is meant to be a visible and unified expression of Jesus to a watching world. We choose partnership, honor, and humility over division and competition. We carry the heart of one Body, one Bride, and one witness, committed to strengthening the whole family of God in our city and to the ends of the earth. We believe Jesus builds and matures His Church through the full expression of the fivefold ministry—apostolic culture, prophetic voice, sound teaching, pastoral care, and evangelical fire—so that His people may grow into complete Christlikeness.

We are committed to presence first. We pursue holiness, wholeness, and consecration. We steward heart, mind, and body as holy vessels. We honor Spirit-empowered creativity in worship, art, movement, and proclamation. We pursue whole-person discipleship so that Christ may be fully formed in us.

In three words, we live to: Encounter. Transform. Reveal.

We encounter God through worship, prayer, and the Word.
We are transformed through repentance, obedience, spiritual indwelling, and vulnerable community.
We reveal Jesus through lives marked by love, holiness, power, creativity, unity, and humility.

We are a Spirit-formed, presence-centered, creatively strategic, fivefold family—walking in the light, growing in grace, and continuing in truth and love.

We commit ourselves to deep devotion to Christ, to lives of purity and intimacy, to faithful stewardship of every gift and resource, to a healthy spiritual family, to humble partnership with the wider Body of Christ, and to bold advancement of God’s Kingdom. We commit to represent Jesus rightly in word and deed, becoming a people in whom God is pleased to dwell.

Riverside Church is God’s people, called by His name—a royal priesthood marked by righteousness, peace, and joy. We are a people who encounter God, are transformed by His Spirit, and reveal Jesus through lives of devotion, creativity, power, unity, and hope-filled expectation. Together, we exist to be a living expression of Heaven on Earth.

Behold - Living in His Presence

We fix our eyes on Jesus through worship, prayer, and the Word. His presence is our center. As we behold Him, our hearts are healed, our identities are restored, and our lives are aligned with Heaven. In His presence, we see Him as He is.