History of The River

In 1995, God moved upon the hearts of a few ministers from the Lancaster, Ohio area to unite and start a church. This would be a place where the freedom of worship and the multiplicity of ministry could be established, free from the hierarchy of man's systems of religion. These men of God met in the home of Paul and Paula Bishop on Tuesday night, October 15, to pray and plan the first meeting. Among these ministers were Paul Bishop - Pastor "The River", Rob Yanok - Senior Pastor Faith Pointe Church, Adamsville, Tennessee, Matt Rice - Pastor and Evangelist, Pastaskala, Ohio, and others. They were also assisted by Brian and Michelle Burd who have since founded The Vineyard, Pataskala, Ohio. The church was named "The River Valley Life Center".

The first Sunday service was held in the Tarhe Elementary School in Lancaster. There were no real efforts to announce or advertise the service. The church had no money or equipment. God moved on someone to bring a keyboard and someone else brought a PA system. By 11:00am that Sunday morning there were eighty-one people worshiping Jesus!

The church began to grow. Very soon the children were too many to fit in the small "teacher's lounge" set aside for their class. To this day, the children are the fastest growing group, and a significant part of all that God is doing in this work.

Six months later, the church moved to Thomas Ewing School to have  more space. One  year to the day of the first service, they were able to move to their own property 2190 Coonpath Road in Lancaster, where they currently reside.

In August of 1996, Pastor Paul and Paula were taking a leisurely drive on their way out of  town for their wedding anniversary. A spontaneous turn led them down Coonpath Road to an "acreage for sale" sign. They pulled in and spoke to the farmer and drove away with tears in their eyes, knowing that God had set them up with another "divine" appointment.

They were able to purchase the property through a real estate agent who had already joined the church and the bank loaned the little group the money they needed. The farmer agreed to let them start having services in the barn. Thus, sitting on bales of hay, and among horse stalls, on a very cool October morning the first service in "The Barn" was held. Following some creative renovation and one miracle after another, the State of Ohio issued a change of use permit and allowed occupancy to the church worship services.

The "barn" is an ongoing project reflective of the ongoing restoration of the "house" that  God is building in us. It has more recently come to be known as "The River", but will forever be in the hearts of so many in Lancaster, "The Barn"!