opens its new home

Walk into through its doors and you will feel a part of a family. Have a warm cup of coffee and listen to its Christian based band and you will find yourself singing along and tapping your foot to the beat. Listen to its Pastor, Nathan Johnson speak to his fast growing congregation and not only will you find yourself actually paying attention in church, but also laughing, smiling and knowing that you are listening to a truly happy and humble man speak from his heart. Freedom Church started out just a few short years ago as a bible study in Pastor Johnson’s home with just five people, four of which were family members. Now each week Pastor Nathan Johnson and his wife Mary minister to a packed house of hundreds of church members and followers. On Sunday March 4th Freedom Church opened the doors to its new home at 308 DeMers Avenue, and not to my surprise at all there was not an empty seat in the new facility. The Freedom Church houses the ground floor, and the third floor of this building. On the second floor is their neighbor, The Crosstown Bar. Although when I first heard of their neighbor I laughed a little, but Pastor Johnson speaks nothing but good words of the ownership of the Crosstown saying “they have been wonderful to work with”. The new church seats 300 people, and houses an amazing youth ministry area, and nursery on the third floor of the building where parents who want may have their children cared for during the service. The church also offers a wonderful coffee bar area which I must attest has the best dark roast coffee I have had in Grand Forks to date. In talking with Pastor Nathan Johnson I learned much about the church and was impressed with his knowledge of the Grand Forks community, and his sense of how to guide our youth down the right path. For example Pastor Johnson informed me that “4% of 18-26yr olds are post denominational”, meaning they haven’t really made a commitment to one faith or another. Well as a parent to two 18-26yr olds that made me wonder what my own children’s thoughts on religion and spirituality were. The following week I brought my son to the Freedom Church and he loved it. He also let me know that there are many in Grand Forks who are “un-churched”, and up until a few months ago I have to admit I was one of those. The one thing that astonished me about the Freedom Church the first time I attended was the number of young people, and young families in attendance week after week. I know this is a great thing for Grand Forks to have our young attending church again, and enjoying it. I remember grandma dragging me kicking and screaming to church every Sunday, and back when I was growing up to me church was like the boredom factory…UGH I hated it. But at the Freedom Church I can see why they like church again. The environment just reaches out and takes hold of you and says it’s good to be here again on Sunday morning with Pastor Johnson and the congregation who all seem like family. Pastor Nathan Johnson has been ministering to people all over the country for roughly twenty-years, and with his wife Mary they seem the perfect couple to preach about family values. They care about every single person in their ministry, but what I think sets them apart from other ministries is that they also care about those outside of their church. When I asked Pastor Johnson how he does it and his beliefs on how to minister he replied “Minister to the person, not just the spirit”. The Freedom Church also offers many small groups for men, women and children throughout the week which I think is a great way to keep the church bound together every day, not just on Sundays. On April 1st the Freedom Church will hold its Grand Opening, which Pastor Johnson and his wife Mary assured all in attendance this Sunday would be a “big party” for all. But you need not wait til then if you are looking for a warm welcoming place next Sunday morning. Each Sunday morning at 1030AM the Freedom Church has its weekly service. I encourage you to attend, and assure you that you will leave feeling so much better than when you walked through the doors of the Freedom Church.

The after affects of the Altru / PACES and Doctors Hospital debacle

When Altru Health System bought Doctors Hospital, it put some people out of work. One Grand Forks woman is trying to put the pieces back together after her new place of employment shut down just two weeks before it was scheduled to open for business. For the past 5 1/2 years, Lucy Dombovy worked as a surgical nurse for Altru. She had high seniority in her unit, but when she heard the news about Doctors Hospital coming to town, she couldn’t pass it up. “I feel like I played a game of monopoly and landed on the go to jail spot because I’m completely out of work now,” Dombovy said. Dombovy got a job offer from Doctors Hospital on January 11 and was given two weeks’ severance pay from Altru. She was one of about two dozen employees who made the switch. This is just one of the dislocated workers of the of the Altru / PACES / Doctors Hospital debacle. The Doctors Hospital was set to open on March 1st. That’s this week for those of you who are keeping score and who were so looking forward to the opportunity to choose a medical facility. The one thing at this point that can be stated as fact is that the Doctors Hospital ownership did not sell to Altru. Had this been your normal everyday friendly business buyout I doubt if Doctors Hospital staff would have had three-hours to pack their things and get out. At 1pm that day the Doctors Hospital had just received its final approval from one of the entities that certifies hospitals. They were set to open on March 1st. At 2pm, Altru, in all their majestic arrogance took the podium to announce their expansion plans and the buyout of the Doctors Hospital building. What a friendly buyout that was. More to come on this story as it unfolds.