- North Coast Church
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North Coast Church is currently the largest church in the Evangelical Free Church of America with over 8,000 in weekend attendance. The main campus is located in Vista, California, roughly 30 miles (48 km) north of San Diego. The church also has two nearby Video Venue campuses located in the cities of Carlsbad and Fallbrook.
Known for its innovation and strong emphasis on Bible teaching, North Coast is organized around small groups, most of which are Sermon-based. These groups (which North Coast calls Growth Groups) meet weekly to dig deeper into the previous weekend’s teaching and text with an emphasis on application and building community among the members. The participation rate in these small groups has exceeded 80% of average adult weekend attendance every year since 1985.
In 1998, North Coast pioneered the concept of Video Venues, which helped to spawn and propagate the spread of the so-called multisite movement among mega-churches. Birthed out of rapid growth and a shortage of worship space and time slots, the idea was to provide simultaneous worship experiences offering a variety of worship styles - yet all sharing in the same message and sermon either live or via a video feed. Currently, members can choose from over 22 worship options each weekend; each with its own unique worship style, time slot or location.
Over the years, North Coast has received numerous awards including recognition as one of America’s Ten Most Influential Churches (Church Report’s Annual Survey of Large Church Pastors), one of American’s Most Innovative Churches (Outreach Magazine), and has consistently ranked as one of the 100 largest churches in the country (Outreach Magazine’s, Outreach 100).
Contents
Teaching Pastors
North Coast's pulpit is primarily shared by two teaching pastors – Larry Osborne and Chris Brown – each teaching roughly half the time.
Larry Osborne has served as a Senior Pastor and Teaching Pastor at North Coast Church since 1980. He also travels extensively to speak at conferences and training events for pastors and church leaders. His books include: STICKY TEAMS, STICKY CHURCH, THE UNITY FACTOR, SPIRITUALITY FOR THE REST OF US, and TEN DUMB THINGS SMART CHRISTIANS BELIEVE.
Chris Brown has served as a Senior Pastor and Teaching Pastor at North Coast Church since 2004. Prior to that, he developed a nationally recognized student ministry at Azusa Pacific University, where he served as the Campus Pastor. A gifted story teller and Bible teacher, Chris' humor and motivational style have made him a highly sought after conference speaker.
Community Service Projects
North Coast is highly involved in local community service, averaging nearly two service projects a day. Every 18 months the church closes down all weekend services for a massive Weekend of Service that has historically provided over $1,000,000 worth of goods and services to the surrounding community and community service providers in a highly concentrated 48-hour time-period.
Early history
North Coast Church began in 1976 in the home of Ron and Alice Treibel. With the help of a young seminary student named Mike Wilkins, the ministry soon grew large enough to start Sunday services. Pastor Mike became the first pastor of what was then known as the Carlsbad Evangelical Free Church.
In September 1980, Larry Osborne became pastor. On his first Sunday, 127 adults and children gathered for worship. In order to accommodate growth the church moved from its location at the Carlsbad High School to a rented facility in Oceanside (in the process changing its name from Carlsbad Evangelical Free Church to North Coast Church). In 1991, the ministry purchased warehouses in Vista where it met until moving into its current campuses in Vista, Carlsbad, and Fallbrook.
List of Campuses
- Vista Campus- located in Vista, CA
- Fallbrook Campus - located in Fallbrook, CA
- Carlsbad Campus - located in Carlsbad, CA
Beliefs
The Statement of Faith of the Evangelical Free Church of America (of which North Coast is a part) can be found here:
News Articles
- 05/15/11 Sign On San Diego - Skipping Church to do Volunteer Work
- 05/15/11 North County Times - Volunteers plant healing garden at Tri-City Med Center
- 05/11/11 Sign On San Diego Churchgoers prepare for community service
- 05/02/11 North Country Times - Church cancels Sunday service for community service
- 06/25/10 North County Times- North Coast Church opens new Vista campus
- 03/26/10 North County Times- North Coast Church opens new Carlsbad campus
- 10/20/09 North County Times- North Coast Church to open new location next year
- 7/29/09 San Diego Business Journal:Structures Unconventional North Coast Church Expanding Over 40 Acres
- 04/09 Church Executive Magazine- 'The church has left the building and is serving the community'
- 10/23/08 North County Times- Services canceled so service is done.
- 06/16/07 Church Relevance- #13 of the 50 Most Influential Churches in America of 2007.
- 04/19/07 North County Times- Loving their neighbors: Thousands from North Coast Church plan weekend of community service.
- 02/12/07 North County Times- Churches find niches in office parks.
- 02/02/07 North County Times- Church seeking homeowners to receive free work.
- 11/11/06 North County Times- North Coast Church likely to break ground in December.
- 09/09/05 North County Times- Young Vista couple make room for family left homeless by Katrina.
- 02/28/05 North County Times- Vista man lends a hand in Indonesian tsunami relief efforts.
- 01/01/05 North County Times- North Coast Church, neighborhood group reach settlement.
External links
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