North River Church in Parrish, Florida — an unincorporated community in northwestern Manatee County — is going “above and beyond” to reach its community with the gospel.
North River Church began as a church plant from West Bradenton Baptist Church in October 2010. Within three years, the church became an autonomous Florida Baptist church, and in 2015 the church purchased 10 acres of land for its future church home. After meeting at Williams Elementary for enarly 10 years and growing to just under 300, the church moved into its new facility in October 2020.
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What launched as a church plant of 10 core people is now a multigenerational church experiencing unprecedented growth in southwest Florida. Within just six months of moving into its new church home, North River knew it would only be a temporary space.
“We saw a little bit of an increase, but within six months it was very apparent that we were going to be going into two services,” said Scott Kerlin, worship and media pastor at the church. “I don’t think anyone expected that. It really was just a God moment in our church’s history.”
What most churches interpret as a problem, North River Church is seeing as an “opportunity.”
In Manatee County, 67% of people are unchurched — that’s more than 200,000 people. With thousands of young families moving into the community each year, North River Church is strategically located to reach the newcomers.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Jessica Pigg and originally published by the Florida Baptist Convention.
