As Blue Ridge celebrates its 25th anniversary, Senior Pastor Woody Torrence and his wife Nan, Executive Director of Connections & Events, look back on what they learned in starting our church. In sharing the journey they’ve been on, they also look at how to apply these lessons for our Bedford church and beyond:

1. Start with prayer.
Come early for any service, any event or really any environment at Blue Ridge and you’ll find people praying. From the Parking Team huddled on the sidewalk to the Kids Community teams praying for children in the wee hours of a Sunday morning, we pray first. Additionally, three times a day (9 am, noon and 4 pm), Monday-Friday, staff pray for the events of that day, for the coming weekend message, for missionaries and for our people.

Nan shared, “Learning to start with prayer has been a journey for me, because I'm such a planner. I tend to be a Type A, plan-way-ahead person. Over the years, I would say to Woody, ‘We need a strategic plan.’ That's what I used to do in the corporate world. He would patiently say, ‘I know how you feel, honey, but God doesn't give us a five-year plan.’

“This was our life for years. This was what we argued about. One day the Blue Ridge Senior Management Team went to Brooklyn Tabernacle. Jim Cymbala would have these special times throughout the year where he'd welcome church leadership teams to come and talk about how the Brooklyn Tabernacle came to be. … He started talking and said God doesn't give a five-year plan, He just gives you the next step. I started crying. That was a pivotal moment for me … Pray first, then plan. Don't ask God to just bless your plan.”

In our recent Armor of God series, Woody detailed how prayer must cover everything we do. Check it out here.

2. Look to God's Word.
As a Bible-believing church, Blue Ridge, early on, looked to scripture to discern how to build a church. During a study of Acts, Woody shared guiding principles for how to live on mission. Desiring a church like that found in Acts 2, Blue Ridge’s mission unfolded in the 5 Gs:

  • Going: Go to people with the Good News.
  • Gathering: Gather them into community.
  • Growing: Grow them into fully devoted followers of Christ.
  • Giving: Give them opportunities to use their gifts.
  • Glorifying: Glorify God in all of it.

3. Hold fast to the values God has given us.
Through prayer and God’s Word, Blue Ridge has developed a number of core values. Here are a few that are especially meaningful to Woody and Nan:

  • Lost people matter to God. “If we don’t do this, nobody will,” Woody said.
  • Use your spiritual gifts to serve God. Along with this value, Blue Ridge has developed a whole series of serving values. Read that story here. “We want people to understand it's not about filling holes. It's about how God has wired you. It's about putting people in the right places,” Woody said.
  • Excellence honors God. “We want everything we do around Blue Ridge to be done well ,” Nan said. “Whether it's making sure our Sunday programs are done well or if it is ensuring that our campus grounds are well kept, we should reflect the excellence of God in all things. ”
  • Being the church is more important than doing church. Woody remembers a time when Blue Ridge disbanded its worship band for almost a year. “You can't be good enough around here to be a prima donna....Charles Spurgeon once said, 'When Satan fell out of heaven he ended up in a church choir.' We said, ‘Ya’ll go home’....for a year we sang everything to tracks.”
  • Every believer growing into a fully devoted Christ follower is normative. Nan recalls being part of a small group of women who had been involved in church ministry in other places before coming to Blue Ridge. They prayed about creating an environment at Blue Ridge where women could grow deeply in their relationship with God. After six months, they came together to share what God individually had laid on their hearts. God unified them, because every woman said they should do a Beth Moore study of Esther. And that’s how Women’s Bible Study began. They planned for 80 women and more than 170 came. “It was amazing,” Nan said. “God once again showed me that through prayer and trusting Him that He's got this all figured out. “

To hear more about Blue Ridge history and the journey God has taken us on, be sure to join us for the 25th Anniversary Celebration on May 22.