Growing Pains
River Club Church is a miracle. Fairview Baptist Church was a growing downtown Fredericksburg church feeling the constraints of limited space and parking. The members knew some form of expansion was needed but enlarging the existing building was not an option. The members voted to seek land on which to build a multi-purpose facility or Family Life Center to help meet the needs of an increasing congregation.
Two major hurdles existed: finding affordable land on which to build, and the resources needed to even begin such a project. But God was just getting started.
The Miracle Unfolds
The congregation believed that if God wanted this expansion to become a reality that someone would actually donate the land. Fairview began to pray that God would lay this need on someone’s heart to donate land for this purpose. The church’s prayers were answered when, in December 2003, Tricord Companies donated five acres in the River Club area just south of Fredericksburg and approximately 4 miles from the downtown building . Along with Tricord’s gift came the stipulation that Sunday Services must be held on the site. Fairview was now looking at becoming a dual-site church, and not just constructing a multi-purpose facility to serve their own needs.
Now faced with the reality of huge construction costs, the project was almost out of reach until Lucy Hearn, a former Fredericksburg resident and church member, left half of her multi-million dollar estate to Fairview Baptist Church. But nobody could remember Lucy Hearn. A legal secretary from Baltimore, she gave her gift to a church she had not attended in more than 70 years. God is still in the miracle business.
Once the church accepted the gift of land, planning began. The congregation was challenged to give sacrificially over and above current giving for 3 years. The program, named For Such A Time As This, began in June 2004 and added over $1,000,000 to the funding for construction of River Club.
Ground was broken on October 1, 2006. On April 20, 2008, 125 parishioners left the steps of Fairview’s downtown church and walked the 4 miles to River Club as a symbol of the connection between the two campuses.
Sunday, May 11, 2008 – Pentecost Sunday as well as Mother’s Day – was “launch Sunday” for River Club. One week later, on May 18, 2008, a dedication and celebration service was held at River Club. River Club will celebrate our 15th anniversary in 2023.
Over these 15 years, River Club has sponsored Upward Basketball, youth events, a concert, mission projects including the building of 80 bunk beds to send to an orphanage in Cambodia and preparing food bags for Rice and Beans ministry, weekend food bags for a local elementary school, and, in conjunction with Fairview Charlotte Street and White Oak Equipment sponsors an annual benefit oyster roast for someone in the community with medical needs. Several mission teams including folks from both River Club and Fairview Charlotte Street have served locally as well as in West Virginia, New Orleans, and Peru. River Club and Fairview Charlotte Street continue to find ways to work together in our community and across the world.
Two Sites: One Message
Fairview is now a multi-site church, and a unique one with different styles at each campus. The common message is that God, the creator of the universe, loves you and wants to have a personal relationship with you. God is just getting started with Fairview, and we can’t wait to see what other miracles He has planned.
