the little church with a BIG welcome
Westminster Bible Chapel rests in the quiet recesses of a small neighborhood community. Its location, building, and land all speak of humility in this ever‑progressing society. In contrast to many modern churches which are built on main streets and thoroughfares, WBC stands out as a beacon of serenity. Its stained glass windows and moldering brick walls offer visitors seclusion from the chaos of the world beyond its parking lot walls. It was built through the love of God’s people, and when people visit the chapel on a Sunday morning they will not be greeted with the familiar hustle and bustle of society, but instead, they will hear the joyful sounds of laughter and music, conversation and prayer, which for many will trigger the memories of family dinners and home-life.
On Sunday, October 12, 2025, our church voted to renew its commitment to the Biblical principles and tenets of our founding fathers, including a firm commitment to plurality in leadership and shared oversight.
Please pray for God’s blessing, wisdom, and unity as we move forward in the Lord to serve our bilingual congregation and to reach our wider community in both Spanish and English.
7631 13th St. Westminster, CA 92683
We have three local elders (Ariel Corral, Julio Lopez, Martin Martinez) currently from the Spanish services who are also helping the English in a transitioning period as the English service gathering voted to be led by the plurality of all the men in good standing, until a time that three or more willing and qualified men are proven as qualified to be appointed Elders. The believers who gather together at Westminster Bible Chapel are all committed to a plurality in our leadership. The reason for this is twofold: 1) this pattern is evidenced in Scripture (Ac 14:23; 15:2,4,6, 22-23; 16:4; 20:17,28-30; 21:18; 1Ti 4:14; 5:17; Titus 1:5-7; Jas 5:14; 1Pe 5:1); and, 2) it provides for mutual accountability and shared responsibility for those in leadership.
The WBC Board of Directors is committed to guiding Westminster Bible Chapel in faithfully following the Scriptures and Bylaws and work hard to rebuild and return WBC to its original founding principles and goals. The Board’s five members are: Ariel Corral – President, Julio Lopez – Vice President, Martin Martinez – Treasurer, Claudiu Dan – Secretary, and Samuel Membreno – Director of Outreach and Community Engagement.
WBC currently has three local elders from the Spanish services, and two of them (Ariel Corral and Martin Martinez) fluent in English also will be helping to guide the English services in the transitioning period where they will be led by a plurality of all the men in good standing and brothers will take turns speaking at the 11am services and invite guest speakers.
“The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.” 1 Timothy 3:1
WBC has both English language and Spanish language services. Our Spanish language services started after several years of local outreach into the local Spanish community in the late 1980’s after which it became apparent that although we had many Hispanic/Latino youngsters coming to WBC, that in order to be able to get their parents to attend also, we needed to have services in the Spanish language and when brother Richard Yarrall came he helped start our WBC Spanish language services in the early 1990’s and one of the first attending was our brother Martin Martinez and his mother (who passed away and we honored and remembered at her Memorial Service at WBC). The Spanish first started meeting in our back room, at the same time as the English services in the bigger main sanctuary. In time, one by one, more and more Spanish speaking people started coming to WBC, although they usually did not use email or the internet, they sometimes told each other of a “Christian Church”, or “Iglesia Cristiana”, (as opposed to Catholic church etc) in Westminster, and slowly others found WBC and joined the small and growing Spanish language gathering. Today, our WBC Spanish ministry is about 3x as large as our English which has diminished over time. Our two ministries work together closely, sharing Sunday School and Evangelism and even church workdays. We often gather together for potlucks and picnics and our Thanksgiving services where there’s just one service in both languages and we especially enjoy singing together in both English and Spanish. So, for Thanksgiving and other holidays or special outreach Sundays, the English and Spanish worship in one meeting. (Rev 7:9-10; 21:22-26). Some of our WBC Spanish members sometimes attend the WBC English services and English members sometimes attend WBC Spanish services and Spanish and English brothers have helped each other as fellow WBC members in many ways, from major plumbing work to electrical, helping each other. If you have a gift, a skill, and you’d like to help others with it, please let us know. It is always great to see our WBC family help one another!