The story of Crown Point Baptist Church begins with the directive of the Saviour to simply, “Go.” At the age of fifty-four, Pastor Mark Irmler and his family surrendered to the call to start a new independent Baptist church in the city of Simi Valley, California.
This was the fifth church plant directly out of Ambassador Baptist Church in Fresno, California where Brother Irmler first planted a church. God touched the hearts of two families to co-labor together with the Irmlers in seeing this new church birthed. These two couples, plus an extension team from West Coast Baptist College, would become the core workers for Crown Point Baptist Church.
After the first summer of soulwinning outreach and making contacts with families throughout the city, Crown Point Baptist Church held its grand opening service in September of 2012 with forty people in attendance.
The Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Simi Valley was the perfect place for the church to start, but after two and a half years God allowed them to begin leasing their own building in a business park near the hotel.
After a few months of much prayer and negotiating, the Lord gave them favor in providing a 14,400-square-foot church auditorium that a former church had been using. In fact, Dr. Chappell was traveling to preach in Asia when he met the owner of the facility. After giving a tract to the businessman, the man asked Pastor Chappell if he knew of a church needing a building. A few days later, Pastor Irmler signed the lease agreement. The Crown Point church family committed to take a giant step of faith and trust God to provide $10,065 every month for the first year’s lease payment. God has been faithful!
The former church originally spent $1.7 million on the infrastructure of the building so it could function as a church rather than a business complex. In addition to this miracle, God has allowed them to lease an additional 18,000 square feet of office, nursery, and classroom space for a total sum of $1 per month for the first eighteen months of the lease.
God provided during those first few months not only the payment, but also $50,000 to remodel the auditorium, all by their third anniversary.
The church has experienced both the highs and lows of every church plant but continues to trust God. Please pray for God’s continued leadership and blessing on the Crown Point Baptist Church.
