The newly-renovated house of worship of the Local Congregation of Riverside, in the Ecclesiastical District of Orange County, California, was given recognition by the city government of Riverside, California under the program “Keep Riverside Clean & Beautiful,” a community program which aims “to instill a sense of community pride by creating partnerships that work toward the beautification of the City” (krcb.com).

Awards are given out annually to recognize edifices with outstanding architectural design, landscaping, building improvements, general maintenance, screening of utilities, historical preservation and parking lot beautification.

The house of worship of the Riverside Congregation received an award under the exterior reconstruction category. Brother Alfred Alexis Lorido, district Christian Family Organizations (CFO) overseer, received the recognition on behalf of the Church during the Mayor’s State of the City Address on January 25, 2024, at Riverside Convention Center.

“Receiving this award from the city is truly an honor because it allows our local congregation to be well known throughout the community, and hopefully, with the help of our Lord God, this will help more people within the community to know more about the Church,” said Brother Ronald De Mesa, resident ministerial worker of Riverside Congregation. “It also serves as motivation for our congregation to continue to strive for improvement and maintaining the cleanliness of our house of worship.”

“This award is an affirmation of all the hard work the brethren in the Local Congregation of Riverside have put into because of their love of the house of worship. We have all worked together to maintain the beauty of this chapel,” stated Alma Palisoc-Ponce, deaconess and local chronicler from the Riverside Congregation.

The Church acquired the property on March 7, 1977, and was repurposed into a house of worship for the congregation then. Constructed in 1928, the original edifice sports the distinctive Early 20th Century Spanish Colonial Revival architectural style. After undergoing its most recent renovation, it was rededicated to God on October 30, 2022. – With reports from Michelle Doan of INC News Section