roots
Liberty Baptist Church’s beginnings can be traced back to a small meeting of local believers in July of 1976 in a hotel in Costa Mesa. Two years later in 1978, the young and growing church purchased 12 acres of land in the city of Irvine. And on its third anniversary, dedicated its first official building. The quick expansion of facilities came at a cost, however; one that would stay with the church for years to come.
In August of 1990, the Liberty Baptist Church’s current debt was $530,000.00. The same year, Pastor Tomlinson, was called to pastor the church and began to lead Liberty into a program focused on eliminating the debt on the property. God provided in miraculous ways, and on December 31, 1997, the mortgage was paid off in whole, releasing the church from the burden of debt and allowing Liberty family to truly embrace the property as their own.
newport coast
Two miles away in the city of Newport Beach, a much larger and complete church facility that was appraised at several million dollars more than Liberty’s current properly in Irvine was made available. God miraculously opened the door for Liberty to trade properties with the other church on an even swap basis..
On March 1, 1998, Liberty Baptist Church and Newport Christian School finally moved into a beautiful and functional church campus; the same one we call home today.
Since moving to the Newport Beach campus, we have seen the addition of new ministries and the expansion of our missions family. In recent years, God provided for us with which we built two new buildings for our growing school: the Education Center (completed in August of 2014) and the Family Life Center Gymnasium (completed in August of 2015). These facilities have already been greatly used by not only Newport Christian School, but also the rest of the church family.
greater heights
After 25 years of faithful ministry here at Liberty Baptist Church, Pastor and Mrs. Dwight Tomlinson made the decision to follow God’s leading into the missions field once again.
And in September of 2015, Liberty Baptist Church called Ryan Thompson to serve as Senior Pastor. Ryan and his wife, Tiffany, along with their five children, are excited to be a part of all that God has planned for this unique ministry in the years to come.
As we consider the history of Liberty Baptist Church we can only say with the Psalmist when he penned these words, “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” Yet, we believe the greatest days of Liberty Baptist Church are still ahead as we reach into Orange County and the world with the love of Christ.
