| Woodside Bible Church | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Denomination | Non-Denominational |
| Website | woodsidebible.org |
| History | |
| Founded | 1955 |
| Founder(s) | Rev. Harold Moran |
| Clergy | |
| Senior pastor(s) | Douglas Schmidt |
Woodside Bible Church is a non-denominational megachurch. It is a multi-campus evangelical church in Troy, with satellite campuses in Warren,[1] White Lake,[2] Royal Oak,[3] Lake Orion,[4] and Farmington Hills,[5] Michigan. In 2010, Woodside Bible was listed as the 86th largest church in America, and the 94th fastest growing by Outreach Magazine, with an attendance of 6,363.[6] It is considered to be "one of the nation's fastest-growing congregations".[7][8] The church is led by Dr. Douglas Schmidt, who has served as Woodside's senior pastor since 1991.[9]
Originally named Big Beaver Baptist, the church was founded in 1955, by Rev. Harold Moran and a few families meeting in homes in the Troy, Michigan area. A converted home was purchased the same year at 3193 Rochester Rd. The church remained at this address until 2005. In 1962 the name was changed to Troy Baptist Church. Larger auditoriums were built on the property in 1973 and 1980. The name was changed to Woodside Bible Church in 2002, and moved to the current location in 2005.[10]
In July 2005, Woodside celebrated their 50th Anniversary as a church and, in September of that same year, merged with Redeemer Baptist Church in Warren, Michigan. This merger became Woodside's first satellite campus (Woodside of Warren), and was the first of a series of similar mergers with churches in similar condition. In addition to their central campus in Troy and the aforementioned Warren, Woodside now operates satellite campuses in White Lake, MI, Lake Orion, MI, Royal Oak, MI and Farmington Hills, MI.
In March 2007, Eastside Baptist Church of south Warren, Michigan, merged with Woodside Bible Church. The membership of Eastside Baptist moved to the Warren campus.
In April 2007, it was announced that First Baptist Church of Pontiac, Michigan's oldest Baptist church (established in 1822), would also merge with Woodside Bible Church to become the "Woodside of White Lake" campus. First Baptist Church of Pontiac was previously located in downtown Pontiac on Oakland Avenue. The stately structure, built of native fieldstone hauled from nearby farms, could accommodate 700 attendants and cost a total of $17,000. The last service in the downtown Pontiac church was Sunday, December 14, 1980. A 62-acre (250,000 m2) parcel of land on Highland Road west of Pontiac was purchased where a new building was dedicated on January 18, 1981. The official launch of the merged congregations was June 3, 2007.
In September 2008, Woodside Bible merged with Northwood Baptist Church in Royal Oak, MI, becoming Woodside of Royal Oak.
October 2009 saw the launch of Woodside of Lake Orion.[11]
In September 2010, Woodside merged with Farmington Hills Baptist Church creating Woodside of Farmington Hills.[12]
In 2010 Pastor Doug Schmidt joined with others to form The Evangelical Pastors Network, a group which provides inspiration and assistance for evangelical pastors.[13]
Additionally, Ravi Zacharias spoke at the Troy Woodside campus in late 2010, addressing The Evangelical Pastors Network.[14]