Today we’d like to introduce you to Caleb Ring
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
In 2015, God moved on my heart along with my wife, Kirsten to move from Tampa, FL to Clermont to pastor a church named the River. We began with many problems and a very small group of people. God had given us a vision that we would be a church to feed many, to birth a new sound of worship, to raise up business leaders and civil leaders for a city and county. We would raise up ministers of the gospel and we from Clermont would have a global reach. Along the way, God just continued to bring people to us. We grew, we expanded, and we have paid off all debt and are blessed to operate owing nothing to anyone. Since then, we have seen our church grow to over 500 strong. We have a food ministry that is feeding on average over 200 families a month with meats, fresh vegetables and fruit, and staples like rice, pasta, beans, and more. We have a full time Bible College training up a new wave of ministers.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
We faced crazy bumps. The leaders that predated us, left the ministry in trouble with the IRS. There was a time early days, where we needed a way to pay back debt quickly or the IRS had threatened to put me in jail for back taxes. It’s a heavy moment when you go from a full time evangelist traveling the nations to a small town pastor that is facing a debt too large to pay. God gave us a way, we went straight to the IRS and worked a deal, we have by the grace of God brought this church out of bankruptcy and out of debt. We also had moments of great growth and seasons and people leaving for various reasons. Through it all, keep your eye on the Lord, keep putting one foot in front of another and God will make a way.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As a pastor and leader of a ministry, I am thankful that God had led me before ministry to study business. I graduated from ORU in 2009, truly believing I would work in international business only to discover that God was leading me more and more to ministry. I have to say though, if it were not for the education and experience I gained in business and entrepreneurship that I would not have seen the success that we have seen here in Clermont.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I may have a more spiritual view than others but risk is always worth it if it is faith based. Through the years of ministry I watched men and women build businesses and churches and somewhere along the way, they would start to make decisions to protect or keep what they had “built”. Those decisions were ultimately based in fear of losing what they got. Faith is the opposite, faith moves on vision, on success, on expansion. So my take is foolish risk is just that foolishness. Risk from faith on doing more, accomplishing something greater for Him is the only way to keep moving forward.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.riverclermont.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caleb_ring
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Pcalebring
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@calebring
- Other: https://www.calebring.com
