The Road Church

We planted with preview services in early 2014 and launched weekly Sundays on Easter Sunday of 2014.  Calvary Baptist Church of Republic was our sending church.  I continued to serve as Calvary's youth pastor in 2014 while leading at the Road on Sunday mornings.  

In 2016 we had the opportunity to purchase 20 acres of land on hwy 14, relatively close to the high school.  God orchestrated a 0% interest loan for this, and eventually even a sale of 5 acres that paid off our remaining balance and put money back in the bank.  God almost gave us 20 acres for free when it was all said and done. 

We have been very involved in the Clever community through school clean-up projects, senior housing projects, Community Egg Hunts, Trunk or Treats, Teacher breakfasts, music program lunches, Back to School "Slide the Road" water slide days and other various events.  

We've had our share of struggles also. My co-pastor/elder Mike Foster's 8 year old son suffered a traumatic brain that eventually led to him stepping away from our ministry.  One other elder became attracted to some poor theology and stepped away.  Through those transitions of leadership we did experience some shrinking. Like many churches, COVID also had a major impact as we couldn't meet in the school for many months. 

Since those transitions though, God has blessed us with Landon (& Rachel) Douglas as our Youth Pastor. The last 2 years we have grown healthier and welcomed a few new couples to the church, celebrated a handful of young adult and teen baptisms, and began a regular outreach to new residents moving into our growing community.  

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-Dan Updegrave