About Riverside
Making Christ known to people who are hopeless without him.
We are a small, imperfect community of people who have found hope in Jesus. We gather to worship, learn, struggle honestly with doubt and pain, and serve our neighbors. Whether you are exploring, skeptical, or returning we believe Jesus meets people right where they are.
Nestled in Madison's Marquette neighborhood, Riverside Church unites English, Lao, and Mandarin congregations in a community. Explore Jesus' transformative power: His death and resurrection offer forgiveness, purpose, and eternity with God.
We create communities of believers in Jesus Christ who try to reach people with the good news of Jesus' death for our sins and resurrection. The goal is for those people to join communities who reach new people to form new communities.
Our Story
Founded in 1906
Riverside began in 1906 as “Betania” and met in Norwegian.
“Betania” became Bethany and determined to minister in English and Norwegian to reach the community. The main service has been in English since 1926, but ministry was available in Norwegian for many years.
Bridging languages has been part of Riverside’s history from the start. We have tried to make a place to worship, study, and serve in a person's heart language, while maintaining a real family connection across languages.
1997
The Lao Ministry began in 1997 when a Laotian couple approached us about attending. We soon developed a partnership with Lao EFC in Rockford, IL, who supplies lay speakers on most Sundays. The Lao Fellowship is a vital part of Riverside Church and its' members are members of Riverside.
2010
Around 2010 we were approached by a small group of Chinese believers who wanted to minister in Madison to the significant community here. In 2025, this group became our Riverside Chinese Fellowship, and its members are members of Riverside Church.
2025
In 2025 we refocused and changed our name from Bethany Evangelical church to Riverside Church.
Church Plants
Throughout the years we have helped many church plants including what have become Blackhawk Church, Door Creek Church and the Vine. We currently host the Orchard Church and Every Nation Madison Church.
We are part of the
Evangelical Free Church of America
www.efca.org
About EFCA
Riverside is part of the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA). The EFCA is a family of churches united around the gospel, committed to biblical truth, and passionate about local church autonomy and global mission.
We are “free” to cooperate in the essentials of the faith while allowing charity in non-essentials. Our desire is simple: know Christ and make Him known.