Our congregation has been in existence since 1981. The very first elder to lead the congregation was Mr. Wa Xeng Her. At the time of its inception, the congregation had only 5-6 families that came together to worship in their homes. When Mr. Her relocated his family to another state, Mr. Stephen T. Xiong and the church elders led the congregation through various phases-sometimes with a pastor and other times on their own.
As the congregation grew, we went through a series of pastors. The first pastor of our congregation was Rev. Soua Lue Lee, who led the congregation on a part-time basis. He was pastor for the Alliance Church of Goleta and Lompoc between 1982 and 1983. Between 1983 and 1988, Rev. Nou Chong Xiong became the pastor of our congregation. By that time, the congreation had grown to 23-53 families. When Rev. Nou Chong Xiong relocated to Northern California, Rev. Thomas T. Her became pastor. He served the congregation between 1989 and 1994. During Re. Her’s service, the congregation grew to 53-59 families. Beginning in 1995, Dr. Nhia Va Vang became pastor and served until 2001 during which time the congregation grew to 59-68 families. Under Dr. Vang’s leadership, our congregation became officially known as Central Pacific Coast Hmong Alliance Church.
Unfortunately, the declining job market in Santa Barbara and the high cost of living in the area forced many congregation members to relocate their families out of state. At the same time, Dr. Vang left the area to help revitalize the congregation in Detroit, MI. By this time, the congregation had about 50 families.
After Dr. Vang’s departure, Dr. Stephen T. Xiong became pastor of the congregation. To this day, Rev. Xiong continues to shepherd the congregation of that is 209 members strong. Our congregation currently shares a place of worship with Peace Lutheran Church so our services are in the afternoon from 1:00PM – 3:30PM every Sunday.