Restoration Fellowship International
Founded in 1997
About RFI
RESTORATION FELLOWSHIP INTERNATIONAL is an association of ministers, ministries, and sister-churches who seek to have meaningful and committed fellowship together. We endeavor to build up the body of the Messiah and His Kingdom in the earth. RFI currently has affiliates in Mexico, Latin America, India, England, Africa, and the United States.
RFI also offers to its associates licensing and ordination for clergy, joint missions endeavors as well as many other services and opportunities which you can discover on our website.
Member churches of Restoration Fellowship International are self-governing local congregations united voluntarily in covenant fellowship. Association and communion with RFI should not be understood to impair the spiritual autonomy of member churches, except as they freely submit to the shared doctrine, discipline, and accountability of the Fellowship.
Our Vision Statement is three-dimensional: We seek to assist the body of Christ in —
Restoring the individual through Christ and to growth in Christ.
Restoring and building godly homes and marriages through the biblical model.
Restoring, practicing and celebrating the New Testament order of the Judeo-Christian faith of Christ, the apostles and the earliest believers, through praise, worship and service.
Our Mission is:
To proclaim the Gospel and Lordship of Jesus Christ to all
mankind.
To provide New Testament ministry and discipleship for all believers.
To assist in networking the body of Christ together for authentic biblical fellowship and mutual cooperation.
Restoration Fellowship International and its offices are officially incorporated in the States of Tennessee and New York. RFI is also a non-profit organization with a 501 ( c) (3) IRS designation.
International Headquarters
The administrative and ecclesiastical home of Restoration Fellowship International
For twenty-eight years, Restoration Fellowship International (RFI) maintained its International Headquarters on the campus of Restoration Fellowship Family Worship Center in Cleveland, Tennessee, under the pastoral leadership of RFI Founder and Presiding Bishop Emeritus, Dr. John A. Looper. During those years, the fellowship experienced significant growth, establishing relationships with churches, ministers, and ministries throughout the United States and internationally.
In October 2025, following the installation of Bishop Justin D. Elwell as Executive Director, the RFI Board of Directors officially relocated the International Headquarters to the campus of Messiah Congregation in the Town of New Hartford, New York. Situated on a beautiful eight-acre campus in the historic hamlet of Washington Mills, Messiah Congregation serves as the administrative and ecclesiastical home of the fellowship. Through the generous support of the Board of Directors of Messiah Congregation, the congregation's renovated parsonage was dedicated to serve as the offices, administrative center, meeting space, and ministry headquarters of Restoration Fellowship International.
The headquarters also serves as the primary meeting location for the Board of Directors and as the central administrative office through which the fellowship coordinates its ministry to affiliated churches, ministers, and ministries.
From the International Headquarters, the fellowship oversees ministerial credentialing, church and ministry affiliation, board administration, educational initiatives, publications, communications, and the ongoing support of affiliated churches and ministers. The campus is also home to the RFI Library, a growing theological collection of more than 3,000 volumes that supports study, leadership development, ministerial formation, and biblical research.
The relocation of the International Headquarters reflects not a new beginning, but the continued growth of a fellowship that has faithfully served the Body of Messiah for nearly three decades. While the headquarters now resides in New York, Restoration Fellowship International remains steadfast in its founding mission of strengthening churches, equipping ministers, fostering biblical fellowship, and advancing the Kingdom of God throughout the United States and around the world.
