The River Church is not your typical church

There is a unique church in Tampa, Florida called The River. It all started with Dr. Rodney and Adonica Howard-Browne answering the call of God to move from Africa to the United States in 1987. Today the church is home to 4,000 members and has a set goal to add 6,000 more by 2025. This is certainly not your typical American church.

The Howard-Brownes have a serious passion for soul winning. In 2002 their middle child died on Christmas morning from cystic fibrosis. After her death, they vowed to make the devil pay by winning 100,000,000 souls to Jesus and sowing a billion dollars into world missions and the harvest of souls. They’ve spent the last couple decades growing their church and notoriety. 

During the Toronto Blessing Revival of the 90’s Dr. Rodney was coined and criticized as the laughing pastor for his unusual outbursts of laughter during the Toronto meetings that spread among the crowds. From 2014-2019 the Howard-Brownes hosted Celebrate America D.C. This event consisted of 50 nights of preaching the Gospel of Jesus in and around the United States capital.

Dr. Howard-Browne is probably most famous for his arrest in result of holding a church service in March of 2020. This event initiated a declaration by Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis, that church services be made an essential activity. All the charges against Dr. Howard-Browne were dropped and his criminal record expunged. 

Since the arrest, the Howard Brownes have launched The Stand. Six nights a week they hold services in honor of religious liberty, to stand for churches worldwide. This Friday was the 1,267th service of The Stand.

The River Church celebrated its 27^th anniversary today. The campus is also home to Revival Ministries International, River University and many other developments created by the Howard-Brownes. They have visited 92 nations and are up to 238 cities out of their 300-city tour, which aims to win souls and mobilize Christians to become soul-winners for God’s Kingdom. Their current count is at 46,252,083 decisions for Jesus.