The backbone of our church was formed by a few families who immigrated to the United States in the early ‘90s from the former Soviet Union. The senior pastor of these 89 members was Sergey Yelchaninov. The elders desired not just to survive in the US, but to build a church capable of spiritually developing future generations. However, church traditions that were natural to parents started becoming less understood by their children who were being raised in America. At this point, church leadership prioritized the authority of the Bible over cultural preferences and invited Aleksey Kolomiytsev, a bilingual Master's Seminary graduate, to pastor the local congregation.

The resuscitation of the church was much more difficult than the brothers had first envisioned. But many people were drawn to biblical preaching and the call to spiritual reformation. The development of leaders soon expanded the scope of ministries to include counseling, Bible study groups, evangelism, disability ministry, rehabilitation ministry, and other important spheres to meet the needs of the church. In a short time, the blessings of the local body of Christ were shared with millions of Russian-speaking people around the world hungry for biblical preaching. The Word of Grace International Ministry, along with the Bible Institute, became effective tools, changing the spiritual landscape of many Russian-speaking churches. When the congregation grew, the English Ministry was formed, expanding our worship services and ministries to native speakers.

Although we are currently blessed with more than 1200 members, we still face our shortcomings and share one another’s burdens. But we hold fast to God who proved to be faithful to His word in the history of our church and each personal life. So, we invite you to our journey of discovering Him in the Bible and displaying Him in our lives!