A local congregation continues its ministry after a long road of faith that eventually led to the inception of its church — River City Christian Center.

Led by Danny and Angie Robertson, native residents of the area, the church has become a place of praise and worship, prayer and studying the Word, said Danny Robertson, who pastors the church. Angie, his wife, splits time with Danny, preaching and conducting Bible studies, but the two and their fellow members treaded a long path to get to where they are now.

The couple met when Danny Robertson was back in college. Already having met Angie, Danny visited her home church where he was asked to serve as a youth minister, and fate would have it the two would marry and trade their time between ministry and psychology, which they both practiced as a profession. However, a time came when the two would dive into ministry head first, and not look back until they came to a point where they prayed for guidance and direction.

In 2002, the two were praying about the direction they were going, Danny Robertson said.

“Angie and I were praying about what we were going to do,” Robertson said. “We were trained as psychologists, yet the Lord had taken us into ministry. We were at a place where we were praying, ‘Lord, do you want us to go back in our professions or do you want us to stay in ministry?’”

Waiting for an answer to their prayers, they would soon get one. The two knew the owners of Care-O-World Enrichment Center, who were gracious enough to let the group use their facilities until they figured out a more permanent arrangement, Robertson said.

“We decided we would meet on Saturday nights with no agenda but praying to see what the Lord wanted us to do,” Robertson said. “The next few months, the Lord made it clear we were supposed to start a church in Washington.”

From there, the group started praying about a name as well as guidance on when to launch the church, Robertson said. At that same time, another ministry was developing called Breath of God, and the two groups came together.

“We figured we would walk together a while and see where it went,” Robertson said. “I just knew I was supposed to build a church in Washington.”

The group would end up renting out the 7^th Street Recreation Center in Washington, and after a year, the group jumped to a place called Arin’s Social Club, which before was a restaurant that took several names during its time. The group would rent the club on Wednesday and Sunday nights, holding services and continuing its ministry, and in 2004, would come up with the church’s present name — River City Christian Center, Robertson said.

When U.S. Hwy 17 Bypass was built, the social club was demolished, and the group went on a serious search for a more permanent arrangement, Robertson said. They were led to a building on River Road, owned by John Brown, and eventually bought the building in 2006, which is now the site of the church, Robertson said.

“We just went on a major search for places and did a lot of praying and the Lord was clear about the building we bought on River Road. We were praying about what the church would be named. Some called us the church in the bar, and some called us Breath of God Church, but we had no idea we would be on River Road at all when we named the church in 2004. The Lord really did name the church.

“We had offers to go other places or to go back in psychology as a profession. There were lots of possibilities, but the Lord was real clear through so many different people. He was saying, as we prayed, that we were supposed to build a church in Washington.”

Currently, the church holds services on Sundays, from 10 a.m. to noon, where it focuses heavily on scripture and praise and worship, and on Wednesdays, starting at 6 p.m., where Bible study for all ages is the topic of focus. The church also participates in various mission projects and trips, as well as Washington’s annual PraiseFest. Recently, the church sent a praise and worship team to participate in David’s Tent, a 50-day, 24-7, praise and worship event held in Washington, D.C.

“We have a core of people who are committed and been here for a long time,” Robertson said. I know we’ve gotten some really sweet people, really good people, and a lot of things have been happening. What our intention has been is to be real streamlined. We’re not trying to do lots and lots of programming. We’re trying to do praise and worship and prayer and the Word. We want a time where we can worship the Lord and seek the Lord, and he just shows up.

“We just have this predisposition that if we can get into the word in a way where we’re really trying to find out what it’s saying and the context that people will see Jesus and we think Jesus is cool and people will like him. I know we’re just interested in getting to know Him better ourselves and communicating in such a way that people will see Him better. It’s always about Jesus and no matter where we are in the Bible there are pictures of Jesus we are trying to uncover, and lives will be transformed.”

River City Christian Center is located at 3806 River Rd. in Washington. For more information, visit www.rivercitychristiancenter.com.