Refocus on Ministry Brings

Confidence to Congregation

By Jim Day

Many believe that a spiritual journey affects only an individual, but God has shown that He can move an entire congregation. Literally.

Over two years ago, the topic in most conversations at Ridgecrest Baptist Church in St. Charles centered on the stress of relocation and the sale of their current facility. Around that same time, the congregation decided to refocus their energy on The Great Commission. Since then, the church’s ministry and its people have not been the same.

The Great Commission given by Jesus Christ, is found in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
For Ridgecrest, it means that their focus is not on the nervousness of a real estate transaction, but is now on specific ministries all over the globe. By implementing the text, the church has directly engaged many different missions. Jerusalem focuses on missions in St. Charles County and the surrounding area. Judea targets missions throughout the state of Missouri, while Samaria is the focus on North America. The Ends of the Earth provides direct ministry to missions all over the world.

“Our global focus gave us the faith we needed,” said Rev. David Iannacone, Minister of Missions at Ridgecrest. “Its effect was that people became willing to take the first step of faith which was to build [the new facility] on Zumbehl Road.”

The congregation is now committed to the words of The Great Commission and is letting God take care of the rest by entrusting the sale of the property to their current real estate brokers, Keith Schneider and Mike Statter of Colliers Turley Martin Tucker. They also look with great excitement on the construction of the larger facility on a new campus, just a mile away, which will provide more opportunities for ministry.

“This new focus is bigger than us and that is a great thing,” Iannacone said. “God is in control and obedience to what He wants is the focus of our energy.”