John and Elizabeth Shivers were asked to serve as intern Pastors for the Spanish daughter work of Stockton Christian Life Center Inc. (then known as Centro de Vida Cristiana) in April of 1996. Approximately six months later, the church elected John Shivers as Pastor. During the next 3 years, the congregation grew from an average of 30 in attendance to over 175 in attendance. During this time, the
church worked diligently to remodel and restore its aging facilities, create and maintain children and youth ministries, develop and implement missions programs, and create an effective outreach tool. Because of these efforts, it soon became apparent that the existing facilities would no longer be adequate to continue with the growth of the church. In August of 2000, the congregation purchased a 27,000 square foot facility from the Methodist church. Christian Life Center (the mother church) borrowed the funds necessary for the purchase from ECCU, but the responsibility of payment always came from Centro Vida. The building was in disrepair so for the next 2 years hundreds of thousands of dollars in labor and materials went into updating and restoring the facility. Because of the new facilities and the efforts of the leadership of the church, the congregation grew in numbers to over 300 in attendance. In October of 2002, it became necessary for Centro de Vida Cristiana to separate from Christian Life Center, due to a leadership change at the mother church. The process was complete and La Iglesia Centro Vida Inc. (Centro Vida) began operation on January 1, 2003. Centro Vida began the process of purchasing the facilities from Christian Life Center and completed the purchase with a loan from Bank of Stockton in 2003. After continued efforts with evangelism, multiple ministry creations, and leadership development, the congregation grew to over 300 in attendance. Presently, Centro Vida averages over 750 in weekly attendance. The church operates ministries for children, students, singles, young adults, and married couples. Centro Vida operates a music ministry, english congregation, and Spanish campuses in Lodi, Tracy, Manteca, and Clovis. Currently we have over 15 active ministries in operation. Centro Vida began another church in January of 2007 called Life Center Community Church. This congregation works with the English speaking in our community. The average attendance is around 175 at this time. The majority of the facilities have been remodeled and restored with the exception of the current projects for which we are seeking additional funding. We firmly believe our growth will continue as we endeavor to reach our communities with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
