HISTORY
In 1968 ten families took a leap of faith and began praying over their shared dream of establishing a church in the northeast suburbs. They began meeting for worship at an
elementary school in 1969. Lakewood Evangelical Free Church was officially chartered by the State of Minnesota and formally recognized as part of the Evangelical Free Church of America in 1972. A search for a permanent home resulted in the construction of a portion of our former facility, which was completed in the spring of 1973.
As Lakewood’s people lived out their commitment to minister to the surrounding community, the congregation experienced significant growth during the I980’s. Space was proving to be inadequate for the quality ministries the church sought to provide. The decision was made to expand the facility to accommodate the additional growth that was anticipated. Phase I of a new addition was completed in 1986. When it came time to consider the second phase, it became apparent that the current site was too small.
If Lakewood was to continue to expand its ministry and enlarge its impact on the surrounding community, a new location was needed. Recognizing the future need, the faithful people of Lakewood voted in 1996 to purchase 108 acres of land and relocate to a larger property in Lake Elmo that offered nearly unlimited potential for future ministry. Through the prayers and sacrificial giving of the people of Lakewood, God miraculously provided the $1 million needed to purchase the land. After many years of working with the city, our new facility was completed and our first Sunday was held in July of 2007. The church also changed our name from Lakewood Evangelical Free Church to Rockpoint Church prior to our move so that we would be ready to launch our ministry into a new region.
Countless prayers and sacrificial giving of time, talents and treasures has been a rich history of our church. Based on God’s faithfulness in our past, our humble dependence on Him, our leadership has felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit to pursue a new work of God locally and globally. As we now embark on the future of Rockpoint with God’s vision, we believe that God will do a new and fresh work in the lives of each person, our community, the Northeast Metro area of the Twin Cities, our nation and around the World.
We invite you to visit the church web site www.rockpoint.church where you will find more information about Rockpoint Church. Our Mission is to Multiple Disciples in a Healthy Church. Our Discipleship Model is to help people move from knowing Jesus, to grow in Him and help others do the same.
GOVERNANCE
Rockpoint Church is part of the Evangelical Free Church of America. We are congregationally led. What that means for us is that we bring before the church membership the following items for approval by majority: The annual budget, placement of Senior Pastor, Elders, Deacons and, according to our by-laws, the sale of properties. Our Elder Board are made up of men only. Both men and women serve on the Deacon Board.
The Senior Pastor is a voting member of the Elder Board and is accountable to the Elders of the Church. Based on our newly adopted governance, the Executive Pastor serves as a non-voting member of the Elder Board and oversees all of the staff. He directly reports to the Senior Pastor. Our Elder Board is responsible for the overall direction and spiritual life of the church however, once the vision and direction is established, Board allows the Pastoral staff, under the direction of the Senior and Executive Pastor to implement the vision.
