History
The story of Riverbend Community Church begins in Clemson, SC in the late 1970s with the vision of a small group of men. Challenged by Acts 1:8, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth, these men set out to reach the world starting in their own Jerusalem (Clemson) with the vision to expand to Judea (South Carolina) and Samaria (the USA) and then to the remotest parts of the earth. These men were part of what would eventually become the Great Commission Association.
By 1983 the church in Clemson had grown to about 300 excited college kids and young families. The time for Judea and Samaria had come. After much prayer, Van Crawford, Robbie McAlister, and Frank Sindler moved to Columbia, SC to begin a ministry on the University of South Carolina campus.
The church began to grow through their campus ministry work at USC and Columbia Bible College, but even more so through the relationships they were forming at their day jobs. As they grew, their Sunday service locations continued to change, meeting 
in a variety of places downtown. The church was officially incorporated as Columbia Fellowship Church on May 1, 1984. While the church and its members did not possess much materially, they did possess a deep and abiding passion for the Lord, each other, and getting the gospel message of salvation out to as many people as possible, while intertwining their lives on a daily basis.
By 1987, 30-35 people met regularly on Sundays. Clemson pastor Dan Willis and his family moved to Columbia and became the first full-time pastor of Columbia Fellowship Church. About 30 other members of the Clemson church came with the Willis family. Once in Columbia, Dan worked to lay the foundation of what this church needed to become. No longer would it be just a Bible Study Outreach centered around a college campus, but rather it would become a full-service community church. The name of the church changed as well, becoming the Great Commission Church of Columbia on December 1, 1987.
It was now time to establish a more permanent facility. In 1988, second floor office space near Dutch Square was secured, and with the help of members, was metamorphosed into a family oriented church with Sunday School for children and a nursery. The members held a contest to give the church a new and final name, one that would identify them more closely with the community. Jay Croft won the contest with the name Riverbend Community Church, which he derived from three rivers bending and converging in Columbia.
In the same year, Riverbend installed Robbie McAlister as a second pastor while he was attending seminary. The church continued to grow, and by 1990, the need for more space became a priority, thus prompting Riverbend to move into larger facilities located in the back of a strip shopping center on Bush River Road. This became Riverbend's home for the next seven years.
During that time, Robbie and Dan worked with an Advisory Board defining the church's identity for the community, putting together a Constitution and By-Laws as well as a Mission Statement, and began developing their vision for building a permanent location in the Lexington area. The Constitution and By-Laws were instituted on January 30, 1994. At that time, the need for an Elder Board was introduced. This board would consist of pastors and elected lay leaders possessing a variety of gifts who would advise and serve the needs of the church family.
In 1995 Dan Rummel completed his seminary training and joined the Riverbend pastoral staff, while Dan Willis stepped down to assume other duties and to spend more time with his family. On September 21, 1995, Robbie and his family answered the call to the mission field (departing for Ukraine), thus becoming Riverbend's first missionaries sponsored by Great Commission Ministries.
On June 16, 1996, Riverbend installed its first Elders: Weyland Burns, Alex Campbell, Weng Ng, and Randy Wilson. Under the leadership of Pastor Dan Rummel and this new Elder Board, the church began to bring to fruition the vision God had given them of purchasing a piece of property and building a truly permanent home in the Lexington area. In April of 1997, Riverbend's family of barely 100 adults pledged $452,000 in a 3-year stewardship campaign. On May 18, 1997, Riverbend collected its First Fruits offering toward the campaign, receiving $57,288-the largest single offering in Riverbend's history.
On August 26, 1998 God answered Riverbend's prayers and the church signed a contract for a beautiful 11-acre tract of land at the corner of Corley Mill Road and Hope Ferry Road. In order to establish themselves in the community of their future permanent home, Riverbend had already begun meeting at Midway Elementary School since August 3, 1997. Riverbend's future home ended up being located only a couple of miles from the school. A short six months after closing its loan, Riverbend paid it off in full on April 15, 1999 with much celebration. In the fall of 1999, Riverbend formed a Building Committee to guide the process of design and construction of its first permanent home. The original members of this committee were Deborah Brickle, Drew Fredrick, Scott Garvin, Lee Miller, Julia Parlor, Mike Ripley, John Stephenson, Alan Thomas and Jean Wilund.
On February 6, 2000 Riverbend called Mike Austin as Senior Pastor, and installed him on April 16, 2000. The congregation immediately embraced Mike, his wife Suzanne and their four children: Josh, Brie, Christine and Michelle. Mike saw Riverbend as a puppy with huge paws. He felt Riverbend was a church on the verge of becoming something monumental for God through His power and to His glory.
In the spring of 2000, the three-year financial campaign concluded successfully and a second three-year campaign began. This time $535,000 was pledged. The Building Committee worked steadily to form the overall Master Plan and to design Phase One of that plan, which was to consist of a sanctuary and an education wing.
In September of 2000, the church approved the building plans and hired the firm Architects BC, giving them the go-ahead to finalize the plans. Larry Wilund, an architect with Architects BC and a fellow Riverbend member, acted as the Project Manager. Ground was broken in November 2000 and construction of the building began in February 2001. The official Ground Breaking ceremony was held on May 6, 2001. The vision was being fulfilled just as God's Word speaks in Habakkuk 2:3, But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.
As the church grew, so did the need for more Elders. So, in November of 2001, Riverbend increased the number of Elders from five to seven men and established the Elder Shepherding Ministry. In order to devote more attention to the spiritual well-being of the Riverbend family, the Elders named five men to serve as Deacons to be responsible to the Elders for the Financial, Facilities and Mercy Ministries of the church. Artie Brickle, Wendell Furtick, Jim Marshall, John Stephenson, and Larry Wilund were installed as Deacons in November 2001.
As Christmas approaches, people around the world gather to give thanks for the day when God opened a new chapter in the history of man by sending His Son into our presence in the form of a newborn baby. So, too, a new chapter in the life of Riverbend opened on Sunday, December 23, 2001, as the doors on the corner of Hope Ferry and Corley Mill opened wide for the first time for those who wish to enter and worship. The carpet was new, the smell of fresh paint lingered in the air, and there were not yet any little fingerprints on the walls or windows. While the building was new, the family of believers was not. While Riverbend's home was new, the spirit of Riverbend was not. The building is beautiful but the true beauty is the Spirit of God manifesting Himself in the lives of those who enter. It is the hope of the family of Riverbend that their new building will draw people to meet God there. It is the committed and heartfelt ministry of the family of Riverbend to connect these people with the God they are seeking and with a church family to whom they can belong.
In February, 2004, Mike Austin resigned from his role as Senior Pastor. God graciously and faithfully opened the door for Robbie McAlister to return from Ukraine to serve first as interim pastor and then full time as of the summer of 2005.
The history of Riverbend Community Church has been a history of men and women bonding together and following God's call. It has been, continues to be, and prayerfully always will be, a witness to the power of God in the lives of His people-a people whose hearts are wholly committed to God and to allowing Him to have His perfect will in their lives.