The Next Hill Plan

One of the first priorities in the Next Hill Plan was to bring our budget and financial practices in line with our mission and resources. Our staff and ministry leaders have worked diligently to better plan and steward the funds entrusted to them, ensuring that every dollar is used strategically for the sake of ministry.

We have revived and strengthened our financial policies, creating clear processes that encourage compliance and accountability. These steps have brought far greater transparency, making it easier for every member to understand the financial health of our church. We implemented a zero-based budgeting process for 2025, aligned our budget to reflect only what we actually bring in, and built a reserve fund to prepare for emergencies.

Donor appreciation and communication have also been a focus—thanking first-time givers, encouraging recurring giving, and making giving easier through updated tools. These efforts, combined with more efficient use of our facilities and partnerships that help shoulder costs, have resulted in a far stronger and more sustainable financial position.

We sought to simplify our bylaws, clarify ministry team roles, and create consistent policies for finances, personnel, and facility use. While we have not yet adopted new bylaws, we have already implemented policies that have strengthened spending practices, increased accountability, and improved cooperation. A group of volunteer members has been working alongside Pastor Josh to draft the revised bylaws, with the goal of presenting them for public forum discussion and a congregational vote by the end of 2025.

We recognized that while our church has a rich history as First Baptist Church Lewisville, the name “First Baptist” can carry baggage in the wider culture—sometimes being perceived as overly traditional, disconnected, or tied to controversies that do not reflect who we are. Within our own community, we are aware that our reputation hasn’t always matched our heart and mission.

To address this, we are taking a fresh step with an “extended name” approach—introducing ourselves as Valley Ridge Church, The First Baptist Church of Lewisville, Texas. This allows us to retain and honor our heritage while presenting a renewed identity to our neighbors. Our hope is never to shy away from being Baptist, but to reintroduce ourselves to the community we love in a way that opens doors, removes unnecessary barriers, and better reflects the gospel-centered, welcoming church we are today.

In early 2025, our church family voted to make this change official. As of August 17, 2025 , our website, logo, social media, and overall branding have all been updated to reflect this exciting new step forward.

One of the most significant changes in the Next Hill Plan has been restructuring our weekly schedule—particularly shifting our age-graded outreach ministries from Wednesday nights to Sunday nights. This decision was made with our community in mind. We live in a suburban area where many people commute to work, and our congregation includes members who travel 20 minutes or more to our campus. By moving these ministries off Wednesday evenings, we removed barriers created by afterschool programs, long commutes, and already busy family schedules.

Our new RALLY format on Sunday evenings creates a full-family experience. Every member of the family can be involved in a specific ministry at the same time—children, students, and adults all have their own intentional, age-appropriate opportunities to grow and connect. Since launching this approach in August 2024, we’ve seen a significant increase in participation across all of these ministries, strengthening both outreach and discipleship.