Pastor Dave Creek, candidate for Associate Pastor of Family Ministries, has been interviewed and recommended unanimously by both our Executive Elder and Shepherding Elder boards. Next steps in this process are: A Q&A hour with the congregation at 6:30 p.m. this...
Pastor Dave Creek, candidate for Associate Pastor of Family Ministries, has been interviewed and recommended unanimously by both our Executive Elder and Shepherding Elder boards. Next steps in this process are: A Q&A hour with the congregation at 6:30 p.m. on...
Amid packing for their move to Saginaw, Mich., Pastor Josh and Brandy Pardee took a break to talk about all that’s been happening for their family. Josh starts next month as senior pastor of Hopevale Church. Please join us Sunday, April 30, as we honor and thank...
Editor’s Note: This story was originally published in December 2020. By a wide margin, it is the most-read and most-shared post in this blog’s history. We present it again in honor of what would have been Darcie’s 56th birthday. “There’s no...
Toni became the Kids Ministry administrative assistant in August 2021, though she and her family have called First Free home for several years. Born and raised in Minnesota, Toni found her way to Rockford after marrying her husband, Philip, a Rockford native. At the...
Kathy Schooley carefully folds thin slices of prosciutto, places them on top of honeydew melon cubes and gently pierces them with a toothpick. She’s preparing hors d’oeuvres for the church staff Christmas party the next night—the latest of many times she’s used her...