Northridge Church
Churches | Northridge Church
780 Salt Rd. | (585) 338-7810 | www.northridgerochester.com
Originally called the North Baptist Church, Northridge Church of Rochester is located at 2025 St Paul St. with campus churches in Greece, Webster and Henrietta. North Baptist Church was organized January 24, 1889 with 29 members. Rev I. S. Kneeland was the pastor. Meetings were held in the Clifford Street Baptist Mission near Joseph Avenue. In December of 1890 the church had grown to 89 members. With the help of the Baptist Union, a new church building was erected at the corner of Avenue A and Clinton Ave. The dedication service was held on January 1, 1891.
In 1903, the congregation members finished the basement, constructing Sunday School rooms and a kitchen. In 1906, pews and new carpeting were added replacing the old theater chairs. In 1931, a new Kohl Triumphal organ was installed. The dedication of the new organ took place on October 4, 1931.
In 1945, a building fund was started for a new church. A search committee reported that property was for sale at St. Paul St. and Ridge Rd. In 1947, the Covenant Presbyterian Church sold the property on St. Paul St. to the North Baptist Church. The first service in the new church was held December 21, 1947 and the dedication ceremony held January 18, 1948.
The church was growing. By June of 1954, it became necessary to hold two morning services to accommodate the growing number of members. In January of 1955, the church purchased seven acres of property from the city of Rochester for $3800. In June of 1955, Dryer and Dryer were engaged as architects for a new 10,000 sq. ft. building for a cost of approximately $200,000. A building fund was started and on May 7, 1961, a ground breaking service was held. On June 10 1962. the new building was dedicated.
Four years late, the mortgage was paid in full and a new building fund was started to build an educational facility. On June 14 1970, the ground-breaking service was held for the new education building. In September of 1973, the North Baptist Christian School opened with grades K through 5.
In 1989, the church celebrated its centennial with several events including a banquet with David Nettleton as guest speaker.
Dave Whiting became the lead pastor at North Baptist Church in January of 2001. 2009, a complete change was undertaken at the church starting with a new name. It would now be called the Northridge Church of Rochester. Groundbreaking for a new building began in 2008 and the building was completed in 2010.
In 2010, the church adopted a new constitution. A new music style, and a new digital style of ministry that allows members to connect to services through the internet was initiated. Three new campus areas were added: the Greece Campus in 2012, the Webster Campus in 2014 and in the fall of 2017 the Henrietta Campus opened. Drew Karschner, the lead pastor at the time of this writing, describes the church as theologically conservative but methodologically progressive.
The Webster campus opened in October, 2014 at Willink School, 900 Publishers Parkway. Summer services are held at Schroeder High School at 875 Ridge Rd. Members watch a livestream of the service held at the main church on St Paul St. with live music at the Webster campus.
Pastor’s List
| Rev. I. S. Kneeland | January 1889-May 1891 | |
| Rev. I. L. Martin | May 1891-November 1891 | |
| Rev. James O Wallace | December 1891-April 1893 | |
| Student pastors | April 1893-May 1894 | |
| Rev. G. F. Love | May 1894-March 1896 | |
| Rev. Charles Merrill | June 1896-July 1897 | |
| Rev. Erwin Taft | August 1898-October 1901 | |
| Rev. F. C. A. Jones | January 1902-April 1909 | |
| Rev. Herbert Lotee | June 1909-December 1916 | |
| Rev. Harry Greensmith | March 1917-September 1933 | |
| Rev. Frank Waaser | December 1933-July 1937 | |
| Rev. John Betlem | February 1938-December 1968 | |
| Rev. Gruenberg | December 1968-1979 | |
| Pastor Thomas Fillinger | 1979-September 1987 | |
| Rev. Gruenberg | November 1988-February 1992 | |
| Pastor Dave Whiting | 2001-2016 | |
| Pastor Drew Karschner | 2016- |
Sources
- “Town Talk” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY, June 16, 1891, p 6.
- “Deeds”, Rochester Daily Record, Rochester, NY, April 30, 1947, p 2.
- “Rev Ralph Gruenberg retires from NBC”, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY, February 19, 1992.
- Roth, Leo, “Rochester church on fastest-growing list Northridge uses digital outreach to grow”, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY, September 24, 2016, p 10A.
- NBC Historical Highlights, Chronology 1889-1989.
- Brookins, Eileen, re:Northridge Church History, Garnham, Robert, November, 2017, gmail.
- Northridge Church of Rochester, https://www.northridgerochester.com