Our Story
The families of The Ridge Church - past, present and future.
To those families who were with us in the past, thank you for being a part of God's plan for us; to those families who are still with us, thank you for being part of the journey; and to those families who have just joined us or may join us in the future, we eagerly anticipate God's role for you in His Church.
Our story began on February 15, 1982 when the Denton Baptist Association and Woodlake Baptist Church entered into an agreement to sponsor a new work in the North Carrollton area. The Woodlake Missions Committee was assigned the task of securing a pastor. Rev. Carl Elder was called as pastor and began serving on September 14, 1982. The church purchased a 5 acre site on Rosemeade Parkway. The first services were held in Good Elementary School in Carrollton, Texas with 67 people present. Ten new members were added to the congregation.
The first services at the new site were held on January 29, 1984. Rosemeade Baptist Church was constituted on May 20, 1984 and formally received into the Denton Baptist Association on October 15, 1984. Total membership was 101.
In August of 1984, Carl Elder moved on as pastor and Dr. Bill Tinsley became the interim pastor. January 6, 1985, the church called Randy Marsh as pastor. The next milestone in the church's history was accomplished in April 1986; the church no longer needed outside support and was a now a self-supporting, autonomous Southern Baptist Church.
In December 1995 we bought 20+ acres of land at 3601 Huffines at the intersection of the new SH 121 Bypass and Huffines Blvd. Construction began in May 2001, in July the church was renamed Vista Ridge Baptist Church to reflect the new location and the building was completed in April 2002.
August 8, 2003, Randy Marsh resigned as pastor. A pastor search committee was formed and the church was led by existing staff and lay members. During this interim, the church voted to make a change in leadership structure and move to an elder board. In November 2004, Jerry Witham was called as the lead pastor. Jerry began his ministry with Vista Ridge, January 2, 2005. The first elder board was installed in April 2005.
In the Fall of 2005 the church moved into partnerships with Nahnum Church (Korean) and International Christian Church (Japanese). Both churches began meeting onsite at Vista Ridge.
One of the first issues the elders addressed was the church's debt and monthly cash flow short fall. It became clear that there were 3 options; sell everything, sell part, or merge with another congregation. We no longer wanted to be the lender's slave (Proverbs 22.7). As we prayed for our financial state, we trusted the Lord to show us His way. There were options to merge with different ministries along the way. The Branch (Farmers Branch Church of Christ) was one that we had engaged with in talks over merging our congregations. At the end of 2005 we began talks of merging with The Art of Family Living. The Art of Family Living desired to help us financially and potentially purchase our property and to continue in ministry together. In January 2007, they started The Chapel. The desire was to allow the Lord to direct what a merge would look like and when. As things moved forward it became clear that financially The Chapel would not be able to continue toward their goal of purchasing the property. This came to light on March 13 of 2007. We have great gratitude for The Art of Family Living, their leaders, and The Chapel. We praise God for them.
Our financial needs still great; the Elders and church body continued to pray that the Lord would reveal what way we should go. We prayed for God's will and direction, studies were conducted regarding our options and we searched and networked seeking God's best. The building might be saved but the options presented seemed to point to eventual death of the body and their impact on the community and the ministry would be in great jeopardy. Only one option seemed wise, sell the property. So we set our direction on selling and relocating - and we continued forward in prayer.
Wednesday, March 14 we were reminded of a church that was moving and merging with another (Woodlake Baptist Church, the church that started and planted our church in 1982). We called a church member the next morning and left a message concerning this church as a possibility for a new site for our church. As we left the message this member was talking to someone about that very church. He called back in amazement over the timing and gave us contact info. That same day we contacted Chris Seidman of The Branch and scheduled a meeting for the morning of March 19. Our next step was to contact Castle Hills Baptist Church, who was planning to talk to realtors that next week. We asked that they hold off and allow us to look at the property and facility. They agreed and we set a date to look at the site. Sunday, March 18 the Elders shared with the congregation that The Chapel was exercising their right to terminate their option to purchase our property. We asked the body to continue praying.
Jerry Witham met with Chris Seidman on March 19 and enquired about The Branch's interest in buying our property. They were definitely interested. They had a meeting the day before concerning the desire to move on getting a second location. God's timing is perfect! Later that day Ysavel Medina and Jerry Witham met with Chris Seidman and an Elder from The Branch to discuss the possibilities. That afternoon Chris Seidman called and asked if they could meet them for breakfast that next morning. That same day Castle Hills called to confirm a viewing of their property on March 20. We continued to pray.
On March 20, Ysavel Medina and Jerry Witham met with The Branch and they offered us a letter of intent to purchase the property and facility. Later that day the staff went to look at the Castle Hills site. During that time we felt the Lord say, Yes. March 21 the Elders met and put in place these three pillars as we move forward; 1) where ever we relocate must be close in proximity to our current congregation, 2) we must be debt free, and 3) we must be able to have six months worth of income in the bank.
We continued to pray.
Sunday, March 25, the congregation was told of the exciting work the Lord was doing. On March 26 we gave a letter of intent to Castle Hills to purchase their property based on the selling of ours. On Sunday, April 1, the Elders brought before the church 2 motions, 1) sell the property and facility, and 2) relocate based on the three pillars mentioned above. The church voted unanimously to move forward with both motions. The body continued praying for the Lord's leading.
On May 10, 2007, the sale of our current property and the purchase of our new site officially closed. Our debt has been paid, the noose is gone.
Remodeling began in June of 2007 and we held our first service on August 26. Nahnum Church made the move with us.
Praise God that He allows us to be a part of the greatest story of all...His story.
And we continue to pray.
