Austin / Texas / United States
The Elders of South Shore Church felt led of God to purchase our present facility in September of 2002 Red River Church was born. The name change signified not only a change of location from south of the river to north of the river, but a statement of the power of Christs death on the Cross to set men free and wash them clean. In February of 1999, New Covenant Church and Mission Hills Church merged together to form South Shore Church. These two congregations possessed similar values, though they had a varied history. Mission Hills Church was a church planted by Hope Chapel here in Austin in the mid-80s. Mission Hills had grown to 250 people as it focused on good teaching, praise and worship, the local community and foreign missions. When the pastor felt Gods call, leading him to focus on foreign missions, he resigned the pastorate and the church began a pastor search. During this time, the church declined in numbers but continued to press toward Gods will for their future. New Covenant Church was an elder-led church that grew out of a merge of two fellowships in 1984; People of Prayer and New Life Fellowship. Both of these fellowships had common roots in the Well Community, a college campus ministry in the 1970s. New Covenant emphasized good teaching, worship and strong internal relationships. The weak side of the relational strength was the tendency to be inward. In 1989 there began to emerge significant interest in missions, through teen mission initiatives that spread to adult missions in the 1990s. In the fall of 1997, God began renewing the church with a broader outward focus, including the city church and interests in evangelism and prophetic ministry. It was at this time that God began to stir the two congregations to consider joining together to form a new fellowship, which became South Shore Church.
