Our Story

Who we are

A Church Plant In Beverly

In 2007 a dream was placed in the hearts of a group of friends from Antioch Community Church in Brighton MA. They loved their church family, but dreamed of having that same passion and fellowship in their own community of Beverly MA. Initially called “The Harbor,” they met at the Beverly YMCA and prayed for this church to be a haven for the broken and a launch to the nations. This culture of prayer and evangelism set the foundation for the testimonies to come. Our church continues to experience the transforming power of God and we are living to love God, share life, and proclaim Jesus in Beverly and the world!

The Antioch Movement Is Born

This story ultimately began in 1987 with another group of friends, some of those being Jimmy and Laura Seibert and Mark and Susan Buckner, who began asking God to “dream His dreams through them.” As God did this, they began dreaming about what life could be like if the local church had a vision that was both local and global. This was the beginning of Antioch Ministries International (AMI), which is a group of churches connected through the power and work of the Holy Spirit and by a desire to love God, love one another, and love those who do not know Jesus.

Antioch Plants A Church In Boston

By the early 1990’s, AMI was established as an international missions organization based on the church in Antioch in Acts 11 and 13. By 1995, AMI had started churches in Russia, Mongolia, and Uzbekistan, but none in the United States. Sean and Laura Richmond felt called by God to plant a church in Boston, MA. With its rich diversity and a uniquely large percentage of college students and young adults, Boston proved to be just the right location for AMI to send out its first domestic church plant.

Antioch New England Is Formed

The original team moved to the Boston area in 1998 to be a diverse people, full of faith in God, compassionately reaching the world around them. They not only wanted to plant a church, but to establish a New England chapter of the Antioch church-planting movement. While we still believe God has more for us in New England, that early vision has started to become a reality. ANE currently has missionaries in North Africa, India, and Asia.

There are now churches (listed in order of start date) in Brighton, MA, Beverly, MA (that's us!), Waltham, MA, Phoenix, AZRoxbury, MA (a “house church” movement), and Quincy, MA.

The First Decade

In fall 2007, The Harbor celebrated its first time gathering as a church community. Over the years we have met in various locations, but regardless of location throughout the last 10+ years, we've experienced God moving in powerful ways as we radically give our lives to see Beverly and the North Shore experience the love of Jesus.

From the very beginning, we've stood on the hope found in Isaiah 42:1-4, which says, “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. He will bring justice to the nations…he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on the earth." This hope and love for Jesus drives everything we do! From hosting volleyball games on the beach, prayer walking every street, or praying for revival of the foster care system, we believe this is only the beginning of all that God wants to do through our church community.

One Church With Multiple Locations

In recent years, we, along with CFCF and The River, officially changed our names to Antioch Community Church in order to clarify purpose, strengthen unity and establish a stronger connection to our sending movement of churches, Antioch Ministries International. Our name change serves to affirm our belonging in this greater community of churches and that the picture of Antioch as seen in Acts 11 and Acts 13 is part of our DNA and the foundation of how we want to live as followers of Jesus.