A new Church on the Northshore
We are a loving community being shaped by the work of Jesus and joining his mission in the renewal of all things.
We are a loving community being shaped by the work of Jesus and joining his mission in the renewal of all things.
Residents living in St. Tammany Parish
Percentage growth in population since 2010
Growth in the U.S. over the same period
As we've prayed and sought the counsel of others, two key reasons driving our calling to start Restoration Community Church in Mandeville, Louisiana have come to mind: the need and the opportunity.
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Perhaps surprisingly, 200,000 of the 278,000 living throughout the Northshore in St. Tammany Parish do not attend or identify with a Protestant church. As our community grows faster than the rate of the rest of the country, the percentage of unchurched people living here also continues to grow. There is a need, not only for greater gospel witness, but a diversity of expressions of God's church, all working together to reach as many as possible with the love of Jesus.
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And the Northshore brings with it a unique opportunity for that kind of kingdom impact. Much of modern church planting strategy has focused on urban city centers believing that when you reach the city, you impact the surrounding area. By and large, this is true. But globalization has also increasingly given cities more in common with one another than their immediate geographic region, leading states like Louisiana to often feel disconnected from the culture, politics, and direction of some of their most influential cities, like New Orleans.
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While the long term goal of Christians in Louisiana should be to see a movement of self-sufficient, center city churches multiplying across our cities like New Orleans whose impact ripples throughout the gulf south, we believe the catalyst for that movement in the city might find the greatest potential in the area surrounding the city. From the average household income to the cheaper cost of living ($76,700 in New Orleans vs. $85,300), the Northshore is uniquely suited for planting churches with a quicker path to self-sustainability that also sit close enough to the city to understand and share elements of the culture of the city.
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By starting a new church in Mandeville, LA, our prayer is that God would use us in collaboration with churches throughout St. Tammany Parish both to see the gospel impact our community on the Northshore and to serve as a launchpad for a sustainable movement of church planting throughout the region in and around the city of New Orleans.
We are a loving community being shaped by the work of Jesus and joining his mission in the renewal of all things.
The gospel in all of life. A church for every city. Renewal across our state.
Watch this brief video to learn more about our story and what God has been doing in our lives.
We will be a church that fully enters an area to reach an area. Following the model of Jesus, we will seek to meet people where they are at by living life where they are. What does this look like? Because the work of Jesus provides us with a new identity, we will intentionally disciple the members of our church family to live, work, and play in light of the gospel and through a missional lens in the communities where we live.
Though our mission is to be a part of a movement of the gospel that sees new churches multiplied throughout the region, we will work toward this goal through local contextualization. Our church's DNA will intentionally and strategically seek to engage our specific community's unique culture and demographic through the congregation’s methodology while maintaining the church’s overall vision and commitment to knowing Jesus and making him known.
In order to be a both/and type of church, engaging distinct cities while also participating in gospel renewal across the entire region, we will embrace a model focused on multiplication. We believe that every community and culture provides unique challenges and opportunities for the gospel. For that reason, we will look to continuously assess, equip, and send out leaders and teams to plant autonomous churches reaching their neighborhoods for Christ.
6 Months
Forming relationships
6 Months
Forming a team
Fall 2025
Forming ministries
First year post launch
Forming healthy systems
Still want to know more? Shoot us a message, and we'd love to connect!
Yes. Restoration Community Church is united with its local association (Northshore Baptist Association), state convention (Louisiana Baptist Convention), and the Southern Baptist Convention. We wholeheartedly affirm the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 and are committed to giving toward the Cooperative Program. We are also thankful to be in the process of joining both the North American Mission Board and the Harbor Network, an association of like-minded congregations cooperatively working to launch, lead, and multiply thriving churches.
Yes. Our sending church is First Baptist Church Covington, LA. Rob Russell grew up and was baptized at FBC Covington before returning and meeting Macie there as an adult. They served as members for over 5 years with Macie also being part of the staff most recently as the church's Young Moms' Associate. Dr. Waylon Bailey and the entire FBC Covington church family have been an incredible encouragement to the Russells as they have helped prepare, send, and now go on mission with us and Restoration Community Church. Their church website is fbccov.org.
Restoration Community Church will receive financial support from a combination of the North American Mission Board (NAMB), its local and state association/convention, the Harbor Network, collected church partners, and its members.
New churches in similar areas often take around 4 years to become fully self-sustaining. Our desire is to achieve this goal between years 3 and 4 and to begin planting a new church as a part of our ongoing culture of multiplication within the first 5 years.
We believe that Jesus and the inspired revelation of God’s Word serve as the chief authority and head of the church. Under that authority, Restoration Community Church will function as a pastor/elder led, deacon served, member responding church with Rob Russell serving as a leader among equals within the rest of the pastoral team. Until the church is able to identify, equip, and enlist other qualified men as pastors, Restoration Community Church will function with an outside Advisory Board who will serve as an external accountability and support team to the Lead Pastor.
Learn how you can partner with our family as we plant Restoration Community Church on the Northshore in the coming months.
Stay up to date on how you can pray, participate, and provide as we share stories around what God is doing in the life of this new church.
