Anyone who has tried to work with an organization of 600+ people knows that a proposal to do something big is often met with differing opinions and impossible odds for agreement. In the church world, big decisions, like purchasing property, have to be voted on by the membership. This was step one, and the first step can always be the scariest.
On May 20, 2018, at a special business meeting, NRC members discussed and voted on purchasing 17 acres on the south side of Marshfield, formerly operated as the Rear End Bar. It was an unprecedented vote for NRC and the results were overwhelming for the purchase of the property.
Then shortly after that vote, the church was challenged to help make it a reality by raising half the purchase price as a down payment. An offering of this magnitude had never happened at NRC. Could our church raise $165,000 on one Sunday? This would be a monumental moment for North Ridge, a true test to know if God was speaking the same message to purchase the land to the whole church family. This one time offering needed to be more than 12 times what a normal Sunday offering was.This would have to be a large step of faith for many.
When the offering was counted, the amount raised had gone far beyond the need. Celebration and thankfulness for God’s goodness was seen and resonated throughout the church family and the community.
In his book Crazy Love, Francis Chan wrote, “God doesn’t call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn’t come through.” North Ridge Church is dependent on God coming through. We believe that every person who is part of the growing NRC family should be dependent on God coming through in their lives, and so we live for Him. We encourage others and draw others near to us and near to Jesus, through relationship. This is the core of who we are as a church. Buying a strip club is just a step in the journey on which God has launched us.