Brightside Church

Brightside Church was started by a pioneering church planter named Michael Stowell in March 1997 in Caledonia, Michigan, USA. The church was initiated with no buildings, bodies or bucks. The church is very unusual in that it was birthed with a small group of brand new believers, instead of launching the church with long time church goers. The launch team consisited of four adult couples; one of the couples had just given up drug dealing and using drugs, and another individual in the group had just been released from prison and had experienced a life change through faith in Jesus Christ. Stowell himself had very little experience and education at the time, but instead had a lot of zeal, and the guts to step out in faith with this group to start the church. It was an unlikely crew that God used to start a church that would end up on a campus, in a renovated warehouse.
The church met at numerous locations before it settled in its current location. The first year and a half they met at the Caledonia Public Schools, and after they outgrew that location they moved to a National Heritage Academies Charter School called Cross Creek, which they outgrew in the next three and a half years. They bought a farm in Caledonia and then purchased a warehouse in an industrial park, which was protested by the township zoning commission until it was finally overruled by the township board. The church had a grand opening in the new facility in 2001 and has met their since that time.
Brightside has launched and been part of at least five other church plants, and has been used to reach many people for Christ, and has helped many needy people. The church has made a huge impact on the community in West Michigan, and in other parts of the world.

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