PARRISH — North River Church in Parrish, 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 almost 10 years and growing to just under 300, the church moved into its new facility in October 2020.

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.

“The Lord in His kindness, His goodness and His providence has placed North River Church in a rapidly growing community,” said Michael Kennedy, the church’s lead pastor. “We have thousands of people moving into the community whose only hope is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and so it’s an amazing opportunity that we have before us.”

Recognizing that people are starving for truth, looking to seize the opportunity to meet a desperate need in its community, and seeking to faithfully equip its church family, the church has launched an “Above and Beyond” campaign in order to build a larger facility to reach its neighbors for Christ.

“When we began to build phase one, our desire was to build a home for family–the people who had been a part of North River already,” said Kerlin. “But now, we’re building a home for our neighbors.”

Phase 2, which broke ground in April, will include a new 25,600-square-feet facility, large enough to include a 750-seat sanctuary, large lobby with seating, an expansion of its children’s ministry space, and offices and counseling space. This will allow the church to go from three to two Sunday morning services, still allowing room to grow as the unchurched in the community are reached with the gospel.

“By God’s grace and for God’s glory, we see a multigenerational gathering of over 2,000 people here every weekend to lift the name of Jesus high in worship,” said Kennedy.

For North River Church, the “Above and Beyond” campaign is more than a building expansion project—it’s an opportunity for people to grow in Christlikeness.

“We want to faithfully point people toward a relationship with God that can only come through knowing Christ,” said Kennedy. “We want to diligently come alongside people as they grow in Christlikeness. And we want to passionately propel people into their spheres of influence to be a force of God-glorifying, Christ-exalting, Spirit-filled gospel ministry.”