DALLAS, TX, October 23, 2012
/EIN Presswire/ -- The little country town of Granbury, Texas knows StoneWater Church by their effectiveness in connecting meaningfully with 1500 worshipers every week, but not many know how they got their name. Some might think it came from a nearby subdivision, but it is actually inspired by a well-known biblical event - when Joshua and the children of Israel left their wilderness wanderings behind and crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land. To celebrate the occasion, they took 12 stones out of the river bed and built a memorial. Recently, when StoneWater's Lead Pastor Jeremy White stood at the ancient Gilgal camp where the Israelites first observed Passover In the Land, a new awareness was born in him. He said, "I used to know this story as black and white words on a page, but now it's in living color!"
Jeremy and wife, Misti, along with two children, Jenna and Hudson, live on a 160-year-old family farm, just a few miles west of Glen Rose, Texas. It was in this rural setting that Jeremy and Joey, his younger brother by twenty months and Executive Pastor of StoneWater Church, grew up together, hunting, playing football, and riding motorcycles.
In 2003, the brothers decided to take a road trip to Victoria, Texas to retrieve the newly purchased bike that Jeremy had found on eBay. However, as it turned out, this trip was about more than two brothers chasing after a hobby; it was the birth of a dream and a church. The road to Victoria and home again provided the opportunity for Jeremy, a youth leader in Dallas, Texas, and Joey, pastor of a small congregation in San Saba, Texas, to brainstorm the beginnings of a church that would reach the unreachable, minister to young families, and help men to become leaders in their own homes. "I had two heart desires: to be on the ranch, and to be in ministry. I never saw how the two could go together," said Pastor Jeremy.
By the winter of 2004 the dream was becoming a reality, and the soon-to-be Granbury, Texas church needed a name. Because of his love for Joshua 3 and 4 where the Israelites were commanded to take stones from the dry river bed of the Jordan River to build a memorial to the Lord's faithfulness, Pastor Jeremy requested that friends and family study the passage, looking for a name for the church. "Misti suggested StoneWater. I thought it was a bad idea at first, but then another couple who are friends of ours independently suggested the same exact name. It grew on me. Like the ancient memorial at Gilgal, StoneWater could become a living testament to generations of God's faithfulness."
Today, fifteen hundred worshipers gather each Sunday at StoneWater Church (
www.stonewaterchurch.com) to fulfill the God-given mandate and church mission to "reach and equip people for Christ". Since its inception on October 16, 2005, StoneWater has launched a new satellite church start in Glen Rose, a model they hope to replicate throughout rural Texas wherever a life-giving church is needed. They have also sponsored four additional independent church plants in nearby Texas towns.
Even today, the ancient Gilgal camp is a place of covenant and new beginnings. Moshav Argaman has contracted with the MHF Israel to develop the site for mass public access. Tax deductible contributions to help with the project can be made in the United States to the Gilgal Fund of the Father's House Educational Foundation (
www.fathershousefoundation.com), a registered 501c3 non-profit organization based in Glen Rose, Texas.
For more information about the Gilgal Education Center, and how to travel there, visit
www.gilgaleducationcenter.org or contact Kevin Bentley at
kbentley@fathershousefoundation.com or 817-556-1061.
The mission statement of Father's House Educational Foundation is:
To bless God's people and increase their joy by creating experiences and supporting causes that
o teach biblical truth and heritage in the context of the Bible's land and culture,
o practice biblical ministry and mercy today, and
o impart biblical legacies of faith for the benefit of future generations
in order to make the Father's unchanging message more relevant, practical, and personal from generation to generation. (
www.fathershousefoundation.com)
# # #
Read more Press Releases by EIN Presswire:
