Who We Are
Our Mission, Vision, Values, and Church History
Our Mission:
To live well, Holy Spirit led, and love well, with all He gives us.
“We love because He first loved us” – 1 John 4:19
Our Vision:
Our vision is to be a church family, in authentic relationship with God and each other.
What We Value:
In each ministry area we focus our values on the following.
We value teaching the Bible. Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
We value worship. John 4:24 “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
We value being Holy Spirit Led. Galatians 5:25 “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit”.
We value knowing our identity in Christ. Ephesians 1:4-6 “In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship, through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will – to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely give us in the One He loves.
We value prayer. Ephesians 6:18 “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.”
We value family. Hebrews 10:24-25 “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching”
We value being a part of the community. Romans 12:5 “ …so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.”
We value serving others. 1 Peter 4:10-11 “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
Fernridge Faith Center’s History
The journey of becoming a church can be an adventure as the identity and the leadership of a church is established. Some would say that Fernridge Faith Center first started with a church plant at Veneta Elementary School, in the 1970’s, when Paul Lenssen started Fern Ridge Faith Center. The church met for a little over a year and then folded.
Others would say that the church started with Herb Newell when he planted Veneta Foursquare Church from January 1991-February 1993. Both stories are part of the journey of Fernridge Faith Center, but many attest that the church history began in the summer of 1990 when Mike and Debbie Monaghan started, in a park, what was then called Bethel Foursquare Church.
They met in the park thru the summertime and then moved to Willamette High School’s cafeteria for a few years. After that, the church moved to sharing a building with a Seventh Day Adventist Church on Bailey Hill Rd. in Eugene, for a year. The church then moved to Shasta Middle School off of Barger Rd. in Eugene, before moving out to its current location in Elmira.
The Elmira Foursquare Church Charter was established in October 1996. At this time the name Fernridge Faith Center was also adopted. Mike and Debbie Monaghan were the pastors until April 2002.
In August 2002, Laurie Forbes took over as the Senior Pastor and helped with purchasing the property that the church was renting at the time. She stepped down in September 2005 and Paul and Junie Gangle took over as the Senior Pastor’s in November 2005. Pastor Paul earned his BS in Youth Ministry from Multnomah Bible College in 1995 and then his Master’s of Divinity from Liberty University in 2012. He has been an ordained pastor in Foursquare since 1997. Junie earned her BS in Psychology from the University of Oregon in 1999, went to seminary for her Master’s in Biblical Studies for one year at Multnomah in 2000-2001 and then earned her Master’s in Counseling from Northwest Christian College in 2006. They had Abby in 2003 and Isaac in 2005 and they are both helping in the church today.
During the last 20+ years, the church has grown to be multi-generational, becoming a family of believers who worship, love their community, and study God’s Word together. We bought the property (late 2018), adjacent to the church, to expand our acreage and to add a building to our campus.
In November 2020 we heard about the Methodist church in our community selling their property and building. We began the 9-month process of selling our two properties and buying the 10,000 sq. foot facility and property in Veneta. We officially closed on August 27th, 2021.
We are excited about growing and expanding our tent posts. The church began with the mission statement “Bethel Foursquare Church – A Place to Meet God” and continues today with its mission being To live well, Holy Spirit led, and love well, with all He gives us. “We love because He first loved us” – 1 John 4:19
Regardless of catchy mission statements, this is a church that is established in loving God and loving the community we have been rooted in. More history to come!