The Bible Tabernacle was founded March 8, 1959 by Pastor Fred H. Hilst and Patricia Hilst. Our ministry was founded to "seek and to save that which was lost" and to minister to the needs of the poor and needy. The early days of our ministry saw our founders ministering along the boardwalk of Venice Beach. They even operated a coffee shop in this area to give comfort and the Word of God to all who came in.

The ministry used the Old City Hall on 17th Avenue by the beach for three years and then the American Legion hall along Venice Way for another three years. The Legionnaires built their new Legion Hall on Main Street and we used this for another three years until empty land was found on Washington Way for the erection of our own church. By faith and much donated material and labor the present church was completed and dedicated in March of 1971.

With the completion of the church on Washington Way: God opened the door for a tremendous ministry of housing homeless women with children, single women and men. Presenting to them the Gospel of Jesus Christ which has the power to transform broken and hopeless lives.

Outreach to the poor and needy of the community, in the way of food, clothing and household items was from the beginning of our ministry. We started serving Christmas dinners in 1962 and Thanksgiving dinners in 1985. The tremendous ministry of housing the needy was never imagined but just grew from a few to a multitude. Our cries for more property was always going up because we were always filled to overflowing.

A businessman who attended our services was greatly moved by men whose lives were being changed by the power of God's Word. So, he along with two of his business partners purchased property in Canyon Country and donated it to the ministry. This property was dedicated to men only, thus, the beginning of the Bible Tabernacle, New Life Institute: dedicated to the Glory of God. Our ministry in Canyon Country allows men to get away from the distractions of urban life; into an environment free of drugs, alcohol and other distractions which so many men struggle to overcome.

The first men were sent to our Canyon Country location on February 15, 1979. Out of this ministry came a work with troubled youth in 1981. Dramatic changes happened and continues in the lives of these young men.