In 2013, on the heels of a significant move of the Holy Spirit in their church in Mooresville NC, Matthew and Sarah Bollinger, Associate Pastors of RiverLife — Mooresville, began to hear the Lord whisper to them about His plans for Chapel Hill. With a family that had grown to 8 and life on a family farm in Rowan Co., NC, the Bollinger’s were stirred yet unsure how they would fit into what they heard the Lord speaking. Quickly, that whisper became a shout, “I am going to move in Chapel Hill and I want RiverLife Fellowship to be a part of it! Do you want to go?” “YES!” their hearts resounded. In early Spring of 2014, the Lord spoke to Matthew, “When you go to Chapel Hill if you will establish family, your roots will run deep and your branches will spread wide. This is not a quick-growth model but a lasting-growth model.” With much faith in their hearts by the summer of 2014, the Lord had provided a house in Chapel Hill for the Bollingers, a meeting space for RiverLife – Chapel HIll and many other miraculous provisions. In October, 2014, RiverLife — Chapel Hill held their first Sunday service at 6 pm at Extraordinary Ventures on Elliot Rd in Chapel Hill. While Sunday morning would have been the preferred time to start a new church, the evening slot was the only one available in the building the Lord had provided to rent. For 2 ½ year, RL-CH met on Sunday evenings at EV. Every week the power and presence of the Holy Spirit continued to move in the meetings!
Then, through a series of God-ordained connections, we made contact with New Life Fellowship Seventh-Day Adventist Church who had been working for over 7 years to build a church in Chapel Hill. Their protestant denomination meets on Saturdays, traditionally; and they had decided that they would find a Sunday-morning congregation to rent space. We met them the week before they were going to post an online ad. Obviously, the Lord was speaking! On February 5, 2017, RiverLife – Chapel Hill held our first Sunday morning service at New Life Fellowship at 510 Sage Rd, Chapel Hill. Our church rents space at New Life on Sundays and Wednesday nights for small group “Life Link” meetings.
In February of 2019, our 1st board of Elders were commissioned. We continue to see the hand of the Lord guiding and directing us. He has put a passion for His Presence and His Power in our hearts and in our hands. We believe that true revival and awakening are coming to Chapel Hill, North Carolina and the United States! We want to be positioned in our hearts to be a part of that for which God has called us and established us as a church.
Let the journey continue . . .
