Eastridge first begun as Grace Fellowship Church here in Covington, Georgia. Our first Sunday was November 12, 1989 and the meeting took place in the home of founding senior pastor Rob Raynor. From 1990-1999 Grace Fellowship met at a building on Flat Shoals Road until the church grew too big for the building. During 1998, the church became Eastridge Community Church and Sunday services were held at Eastside High School until a new building could be built. In May of 1999 Eastridge moved to its current facility on Highway 142 in Eastern Newton County. We currently average approximately 1,000 people in attendance each weekend.
Eastridge is blessed with an amazing pastoral team. All of Eastridge’s pastors are graduates of Atlanta Christian College. Pastor Scott Moore, who came to Georgia from South Carolina, has been at Eastridge for fifteen years. He started as the Youth Pastor then stepped up to fill the Executive Pastor role. Greg Miller, a native of Georgia who is now the Student and Children’s Pastor, came in 1996 to fill the open Youth Pastor position. The Pastor of Maturity is Gary Thompson, a Virginia native, who came to Eastridge in 2002 and has served in this position ever since then.
Eastridge provides an engaging experience at every service. On Sunday mornings, our worship teams lead a blend of contemporary and traditional worship, and Pastor Rob Raynor delivers practical and relevant messages. At Wednesdays @ 863, ECC’s midweek service, the 863 Band adds its own dimension to worship, and Pastor Gary Thompson offers challenging teaching. There are many ways to connect and grow spiritually at Eastridge. Much of the spiritual growth opportunities occur within small groups. ECC’s Small Group Resource Team helps direct people into small groups where they can connect with other Eastridge families and grow in their walk with Christ. Eastridge has many opportunities for its congregation to get involved in ministry. Sunday morning ministries such as ushers, greeters, Communion preparation, and parking ministries provide a convenient way for people to serve.
Eastridge has many other active ministries, including ministries for men and women. Men of Purpose and Women of Purpose provide fellowship and discipleship opportunities for men and women. Eastridge supports and promotes many missions and outreach programs. The church supports foreign missions such as Casas por Cristo in Juárez, Mexico, Mid-India Christian Mission in Damoh, India, and Kerala Christian Mission in the Kerala province of India. Local missions that ECC supports include Rainbow Ministries in Porterdale, Refuge Crisis Pregnancy Center in Conyers, Atlanta Christian College in East Point, and North Georgia Christian Camp.
Eastridge has many dynamic programs for children and students. Adventureland is ECC’s program for preschool children; capable and caring volunteers teach Bible stories and lessons to this age group on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. E-town is a high-energy Sunday morning worship service for children from Kindergarten-5th Grade; on Wednesday nights, school age children interact in E-Force small groups. Fusion is Eastridge’s Sunday morning teen service. At Fusion, Middle and High School students engage in exciting worship and relevant teaching; much of the worship and production tasks are done by the students themselves. High School small groups meet on Sunday nights, and Middle School small groups meet on Wednesday nights. Students also participate in monthly activities and different outreach projects throughout the year.
Another ministry at Eastridge is Celebrate Recovery, which is directed by Brad Rutledge. This is a twelve step program for people with any hurt, habit or hang-up. The purpose of Celebrate is to help people discover the power and serenity that is only found in Jesus Christ. There are many groups offered and they are all gender specific. Groups include chemically dependent, mixed issue group, adult children of alcoholics, codependent, anger, love and relationship dependent, sexually addicted, guilt and shame, and financial recovery. Also available is a group for newcomers where questions can be answered. There is a broad area of groups and all are Christ centered which makes Celebrate very different from most twelve-step programs. Celebrate Recovery meets every Thursday. Starting at 6:00 p.m. there is a Bar-B-Que followed by a time of praise/worship and teaching/testimony from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Everyone is welcomed, whether it be for some kind of addiction or hurt, or just as a volunteer.
Also offered at Eastridge is a pastoral care ministry. This is a ministry that is designed to take care of church membership and the community as well. Many different aspects fall under the umbrella of pastoral care. Prayer ministry is under this category as a way to answer prayer requests and keep the needs of the congregation and community in mind. Pastoral care also involves the Eastridge Home Educators as a way to help home school children and parents. Divorce care is also under this aspect of ministry, and is in place to help adults who have been through a divorce and are trying to get up and get on with their life. Pastoral care is a very important ministry, as is all ministries, at Eastridge. Eastridge offers a counseling ministry through the Counseling Center, which is available on the Eastridge campus . Through this ministry Eastridge helps people with needs that pastoral counseling may not be able to meet using licensed professionals.
On August 6, 2008, Scott Moore was elected by the congregation to fill the role of Senior Pastor.