Our church Story
Stonewater Fellowship Began As A Reluctant Vision...
It was birthed by God’s pure will and desire to have a missional body of believers reaching the communities of New Braunfels, Canyon Lake, and Bulverde/Spring Branch areas of Texas and beyond. Scott and Brandi Richerson and their family moved to Bulverde in 2015 as Scott was an active corporate executive in the automotive industry. Scott had served in ministry bi-vocationally since 2010. A conversation between the EFCA Texas Oklahoma district supervisor and Scott started the process in late 2016 as Scott entered into an assessment process that would last two months and culminate in affirming him in the ministry of church planting lead pastor.
After A Season Of Prayer And Fasting...
Scott and Brandi would take the steps in early 2017 to begin serving Jesus Christ in leading out in planting Stonewater Fellowship. In March of 2017, 10 adults had been gathered to be the committed core team of Stonewater, and God gave them the vision that there would be a body of believers that would be well-equipped and fully deployed out into the world to live on the mission that Jesus Christ gave the church, which is to engage all people into becoming multiplying followers of Jesus. This mission aligns with the responsibilities of the local church as ordained by God.
As The Core Team Gathered And Grew...
The people of Stonewater began to seek out a place to begin gathering. Gathering people to share the mission, vision, and core values of Stonewater. Gathering to grow and learn and reach the community. As well as ultimately gathering to worship Jesus in spirit and truth. In April of 2017, as they were driving on FM 306 between New Braunfels and Canyon Lake, Scott noticed a church building and was prompted to reach out to the leadership and make a connection. Originally, it was just to learn more about the community and what was the spiritual landscape of the area.
But God had much more in mind...
Scott joined in on a Bible study on a Wednesday night, and the text was out of Ephesians chapter 4 – “Walk in a manner worthy of the calling by which you have been called.” On Monday of the following week, Scott was at lunch with one of the Elders of that church, and after several hours, there was an offer made to allow Stonewater to use the building to launch. With the Elders of that church in agreement, Stonewater entered into a three-year written agreement to launch worship gatherings in February of 2018. On February 10 of that year, Stonewater Fellowship, 27 adults strong, launched into weekly worship.
In April Of That Year...
Stonewater celebrated its first “Easter Weekend” as we were a Saturday night gathering seeing about 60 people in worship, as Comal Country Church, was meeting in the building on Sunday mornings. On that Easter Sunday, as Scott and Brandi were enjoying Easter Sunday at home, Scott received a phone call from Roger Corbin, one of the Elders of Comal Country Church, saying, “their lead Pastor had resigned.”
Roger asked Scott to come and preach on Sunday morning as they sought what God would have them do as a church. Scott agreed to preach for 90 days and so for 90 days, there was Stonewater Fellowship on Saturday night and Comal Country Church on Sunday mornings. Roger also asked if Scott and Bob Petruccio, Stonewater’s associate pastor, would join the Elders of Comal Country Church every Wednesday evening for prayer and discussion as to what might be next for Comal Country Church and Stonewater together.
So For 8 Weeks...
Scott and Bob and Tim Donnell and Roger Corbin met and prayed and discussed what God might have them do. God had laid on the heart of Scott 4 deal breakers that would guide the conversation. No name change, no mission change, no denomination change, no doctrinal change. With these four set as the framework of conversation, a time of discussion and prayer commenced.
In late May of 2018, the Elders of Comal Country Church came to believe that God would have them close the ministries of Comal Country Church and call the congregation to all join the ministries of Stonewater Fellowship. As well as donating the land and building that was owned by Comal Country Church to Stonewater Fellowship once Stonewater grew from a “church plant” to an autonomous church within the EFCA. This transition emphasized the God-ordained responsibilities of uniting His people. Transfer of ownership by donation for the 15 acres of land and ~8500 square foot building was completed in January 2022.
Later...
On June the 3rd of 2018, there was no Stonewater Fellowship worship on Saturday, and there was no Comal Country Church on Sunday; at mid-day, there was singing and prayer and communion and lunch as the Church; the people of God, praising God and worshiping Him and being in community together—about 70 people, men, women, and children, were a part of that celebration.
One Body of Jesus, One Church,
established to carry out the God-given mission.
On Sunday, June 10th of 2018, at 10:45 in the morning, the praise and worship team opened the worship service by saying, “Welcome to Stonewater Fellowship” as Stonewater began to gather together in its permanent gathering place.
Today...
Stonewater Fellowship sees about 100 people on Sunday mornings. We have launched two house churches. We are partnering with other churches to help launch two new churches and actively participating in continual missional work with ministry partners in the New Braunfels and Canyon Lake area. This reflects the glory of God fellowship in action. Scott, as the Lead Pastor, serves on the Partner Advisory Team of One Community Church, a church plant led by Charles Wright out by Randolph AFB. He is a certified coach for church planters as well as a certified lead assessor of potential church planters, helping them understand and fulfill the God-ordained responsibilities of a local church.
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