Northstar is a community of believers who value intimacy with God and connection with others through community, discipleship and worship. Northstar is dedicated to creating a space where people can engage with Jesus. Northstar’s vision is to experience Jesus and to equip others to do the same through the mission of go. love. live.
Go to the missing.
Love the marginalized.
Live as God’s kids.
OUR Core values
Northstar's three core values guide everything we do.
Community | We strive to foster authentic community grounded in love and marked by generosity, vulnerability and a healthy balance of grace and truth.
Discipleship | We empower each person to become more like Jesus. We realize everyone is in process (us too!) so we have no false expectations of perfection. We also know that spiritual growth brings life and freedom so we encourage everyone to jump into an opportunity for discipleship.
Worship | It's God's story we are living in, not our own. We worship with open hands and hearts recognizing that Jesus is all we need.
Our Core Beliefs
Click here for what we believe.
how it all began
Northstar was founded to foster a community of passionate Christ-followers in Loveland, Ohio and later branched out to include a campus in West Chester, Ohio.
In 2002, Matt Massey and David Smith, pastors at Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati, at the time, began discussing the possibility of a church plant in their community, Loveland.
On October 6, 2002, Northstar opened its doors for the first time with a kick-off Sunday celebration with several hundred packed into the Loveland Middle School cafeteria.
In 2003, Northstar became aware of 300 families in the community living below the poverty line. This realization was the catalyst for an increased emphasis on community outreach and a commitment to give 25% of all tithe donations back to those in the community and beyond.
In the years that followed, Northstar launched multiple community programs to empower and equip vulnerable families in the area, including the Care Center, Jacob's Ladder & Pathfinders.
In the early years, Northstar met in the Loveland Middle School, before moving to the Loveland High School auditorium in 2005.
Later in 2005, Northstar revamped its mission to put words to what we believed God was calling us to do. Go. Love. Live.
In 2011, through a partnership with Grace Church of Loveland, Northstar Vineyard Church became Northstar Community Church with the tagline a community of grace.
In 2012, renovations began on the former Grace Church building. Renovations were completed by 2013.
On October 13, 2013, we held our first Sunday morning celebration at the current South Lebanon Rd location. After 11 years of gathering at various Loveland public schools, Northstar finally had a place to call home.
2016 marked the launch of Next Level Freedom, Micro Churches, and The School of Kingdom Ministry.
In 2019, we celebrated the launch of our West Chester, Ohio campus, to meet the growing needs of our growing church community.
In 2020, we sent out our founding pastor, Matt Massey, as he moved into the lead pastor role at Vineyard Cincinnati Church. David Smith, (co-lead pastor with Matt for 8 years) transitioned into the lead pastor role at Northstar.
In 2020, we finished the building construction that now allows us to have a larger space for our kids and student ministry, as well as an expanded and improved Care Center which exists to provide care for the whole person with a network of support and resources in order to promote personal advancement, spiritual growth, and overall stability. To learn more about the Care Center, click here.