Thank you for taking the time to read these updates from our church planters. I hope you will be encouraged by their stories.
I shared some of these data points at our annual meeting in February. They compel the work we are doing as a Network.
In 2010, there was 1 church for every 1,000 people in the country. According to census data, in order to maintain the same ratio, by 2050 we would need to net gain 86,000 churches, or 2100 churches each year. Currently, across all of evangelicalism, we are only net gaining 300 new churches each year. We are falling woefully behind.
In the PCA, we are now only netting 5-10 churches each year. We plant an average of 40 churches and lose an average of 30 churches. On average, we assess 40 new church planting candidates each year. This is not nearly enough. The MNA Assessment Center has the capacity for 100 candidates each year.
MNA Assessment staff recently did a deep dive into the larger trends. Since 1998, the PCA has planted just over 1000 churches (an average of 40 churches each year). 68% of those church plants have been successful – that is, they have particularized and are still operating.
All of those numbers all reflect pre-pandemic trends that were concerning then, and have only been exacerbated by the hardship of these past two years. To give just one example, in the first six months of this year, MNA has only assessed 4 couples. Yes, that is nation-wide. FCPN hosted that Assessment in Lakeland in January. (2 of the 4 couples were sent from churches in our network.)
Nevertheless, our work here in Florida continues. By God’s grace, we look to be on track for 3-4 new plants in 2022 – in East Collier County, in Tampa (around USF), in Lake County, and a few other possibilities we are praying will materialize. We also now have three apprentices who are preparing for future plants (in 2023 and 2024) – Angel Roman at Lake Nona PCA, Brian McDonald at Strong Tower PCA in Lakeland, and Tony Elswick at Redeemer PCA in Winter Haven. And this Sunday, May 22, Greater Hope Church in Mulberry will particularize. The Lord is at work across our state.
The harvest continues to be plentiful (Matthew 10:37). I’m reminded of this every time I get in my car and try to navigate I-4, or the I-75/Turnpike interchange near the Villages, or even the roads between Winter Haven and Lakeland here in Polk County. The workers also continue to be few. Therefore, we pray earnestly, as our Lord commanded. Would you continue to pray with us – that the Lord of the Harvest would send out laborers into His harvest?
Thank you again for your generous support of the Florida Church Planting Network. This work is more crucial now than it ever has been before.
Drew Bennett | Executive Director
1410 Dundee Road
Winter Haven, FL 33884
(863) 298-9849 - work
(863) 286-2310 - cell
drew@redeemerwinterhaven.org
Christ CHURCH BEACHES
JAX BEACH | Kevin Bigelow
LAUNCHED: September 2019
EMAIL KEVIN
Christ has continued to be faithful to his Church in Jax Beach. On April 24 we received part of next class of new members as he continues to broaden and deepen the community. A couple other recent highlights are:
Christ Church Beaches led the 71st annual Easter Sunrise service at the Jax Beach SeaWalk Pavilion where about 800-1000 people gathered to celebrate the resurrection of Christ
on Palm Sunday we hosted a Low Country Boil & Egg Hunt and 141 people joined us for worship
Over the past two years, the Lord has been leading us to focus on cultivating prayer and gospel-fluency amongst our community. One major step in that process is the planting, deepening, and (eventual) multiplication of our community groups. This year we planted four new community groups. Those groups have been growing in gospel-fluency, prayer, and numerically and we anticipate planting two more new groups in the fall.
As a catalyst, Kevin & Jenn have been focusing on the development of Community Group Leaders and forming the nucleus of a leadership community. To do this, Kevin has been meeting with the group leader men on Tuesdays at 6:15a and Jenn has been meeting with the group leader women at 9:30a on Wednesdays. This community has worked through Unfolding Grace (a curated reading of Genesis-Revelation with a focus on Christ), Gentle & Lowly, and the men just began the Westminster Confession. Alongside these groups, Kevin & a commission of elders from Christ Church East have been together reading through Lead by Paul Tripp with a particular focus on how to cultivate a leadership community centered on who Jesus is and what he’s doing.
In January, we lived through the loss of one of our two beloved deacons - Chris Hebda. While his passing was sudden and very sad, Christ used it to rally the Church and knit her together in himself.
This month we’ll be transitioning our groups to monthly meet-ups for the summer along with a weekly gender-specific prayer time for the whole church. Then in August we’ll relaunch our groups and this upcoming year we’re hoping to relaunch “the Pablo Island Fellowship”, this time as a 2 year cohort aimed at accelerating the development and training of future group leaders and officers.
This Spring, Kevin and the commission worked through an updated 3-30 year plan with a focus on people, purposes, and places. While there are many moving parts and opportunities within the mission, the Lord continued to make clear that he has put reaching the next generations on our heart and becoming an intergenerational community that hands the gospel to families and our children. As part of this effort, we’re continuing to work on growing as disciplers of our children and will begin an initiative aimed at cultivating gospel experiences amongst moms and the spiritual formation of women leaders.
You can pray for Christ Church Beaches by:
the Bigelow’s as they take an opportunity to slow down for a few weeks and do some reflection and planning for the coming 1-3 years (both personally and missionally)
the Church, that Christ will continue to cultivate a community of prayer centered around who he is
the Jax Beaches, that Spirit of Christ will raise the spiritually dead to faith and build his Church, creating a gospel centered community whose beauty plays itself out on the streets of our neighborhoods
the mission, that Christ will continue to provide the laborers, the space, and the resources the mission needs as it grows
NEW CITY CHURCH
PALM BAY | Ben Harris
LAUNCHED: October 2019
EMAIL BEN
“O sing to the Lord a new song … declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples!” We are praising God for a fresh season here at New City and God’s goodness to us beyond what we could ask or imagine. Our church family continues to grow in size and maturity. We will be holding our first ever “Serve Teams appreciation dinner” next week and will be thanking the 81 people who are actively using their gifts in our various "serve teams.” We are grateful for the leaders of our 3 City Groups and our ladies Bible study who help to disciple our congregation. In March we welcomed McCartney Diener our new “Director of Worship & Communication” and he has been a huge blessing to our church already. We were excited to crack 200 in attendance for the first time at both our Palm Sunday and Easter services and enjoyed a combined Good Friday service with our sending church, Covenant Palm Bay. We look forward to prayerfully beginning elder discipleship and training this fall.
Please pray for New City
For a restful sabbatical for Ben and the family during the month of June.
For God to prepare the right men for the role of elder in our church.
For conversions to Christ in our city.
GREATER HOPE CHURCH
MULBERRY | Stan McMahan
LAUNCHED: December 2017
EMAIL STAN
We’re thankful to say God is still at work in Mulberry! We wrapped up training and held elections this spring for our first crop of church officers. Four ruling elders and four deacons will be ordained at our particularization service on May 22 at 5p. Our congregation is very excited and encouraged about taking this next step! We’re continuing to grow as a church—in new members, regular attenders, and ministry opportunities. Our women’s ministry is continuing to develop, with new leaders rising up, a new Bible study launching soon, and a women’s retreat this summer. We’re also looking forward to hosting our first week-long VBS in July for kids in our church and throughout Mulberry. We’re grateful for a donation we received to purchase additional land adjacent to our current facility in order to expand our sanctuary space in the future. Praise God!
Please pray for Greater Hope Church
For our new officers. Pray that our elders would lead the church wisely and care for our people with kind and compassionate hearts, and that our deacons would be proactive in seeing and meeting needs in our church and neighborhood.
For fruitfulness in our ministries. Ask God to open up opportunities to share the gospel and for conversions to Christ. Ask that more of our members would be built up so they can in turn help build others.
WAYPOINT CHURCH
PONTE VEDRA | James Brignac
LAUNCHED: SEPTEMBER 2016
EMAIL JAMES
This has been a sweet time of ministry overall for Waypoint. Over the past couple of months we have launched two new community groups, added new members, and have continued our various ministries. During this season we have seen the majority of the church get engaged in one of our studies and/or community groups. In the midst of this we’ve also seen our attendance numbers steadily increase and this has included several new visitors. Our primary focus has been on getting these new visitors and members connected to the church in settings that allow for spiritual development and serving opportunities.
We also have some wonderful outreach opportunities during the spring We recently hosted a springapalooza at the church which allowed us to host several local small businesses and led to hundreds of people coming onto our campus. Over the past couple of months we’ve also prioritized reaching the families that attend our preschool. We had a Valentine’s Day event where we invited the families to join us in making cards for a local nursing home and had our annual Easter egg hunt following Easter service. We’ve seen several new families join us for worship and these various events which we hope will lead to more gospel opportunities in the future.
Prayer Requests:
Pray that our outreach events will bear fruit and provide opportunities to reach our community more effectively.
Pray that God would continue to raise up new leaders as we grow and have more ministry opportunities.
EL SHADDAI COMMUNITY CHURCH
WINTER HAVEN | Dony St. Germain
EMAIL DONY
We praise God for the way He is helping El Shaddai Community Church to reach the Haitian Community in Polk County for His Glory. On Sunday, April 17, we celebrate our first anniversary. Many have come to know the Lord as their personal Lord and Savior over the past year. Pray that this church will serve as a base to plant four more Haitian churches in Polk County.
We are training leaders who will become, in the near future, the elders and deacons for the church. Our goal is to become a particular church before the end of this year 2022. Last week, we had our first Mission Conference and was able to raise budget goal and will support 6 different missionaries and ministries.
Please pray with us:
Pray for the temporary Session who will oversee the examination of the Elders and deacons
Pray that God raises a leader to minister to the second generation whose heart language is English.
Pray that we will be able to raise the additional $150,000 to build the youth Center.
Pray that we will be able to partner with churches from the presbytery to worship together at least twice a year.
COVENANT OF GRACE CHURCH
NORTH PORT | Aleksey Zhuravlev
LAUNCHED: Fall 2018
EMAIL ALEKSEY
As you know, at the end of February, a war broke out between Russia and Ukraine. And this greatly affected the relations between Russian-speaking immigrants from Russia and Ukraine here in America and throughout the world. Relations are extremely tense, and they have become tenser over the past two months. In our church, there are people from Western Ukraine, people from Eastern Ukraine, people who came from Latvia and Kazakhstan, and, of course, there are immigrants from Russia. Thank God our congregation is holding to the peace we have in Christ, which unfortunately cannot be said about the people living around us.
This war also significantly negatively impacted our mission to Russian-speaking people. If you remember, in order to spread the gospel and sound doctrine, besides our media tools and channels, we organized two missions, one (Mission to the Russian Speaking World) aimed at finding funds for training potential pastors in Belarus, the other (Grace to Russia) to translate high-quality theological literature into the Russian language. We were supposed to represent both missions at the Ligonier Conference in Orlando, but due to current events, we decided to take a short break for the time being. But at the same time, there is no evil without good. Since the seminary in Kyiv was closed and our students from Belarus could not continue their education there, Pastor Slava and several other qualified brothers started an underground Reformed Seminary in Minsk.
Another big event for us happened about a month ago. Ukrainian refugees from Kherson arrived in our city (Russian troops currently occupy the town). Sergey and Olya with three small children. Sergey has been a pastor of the Presbyterian Church there for the past ten years. When the war began, they managed to escape to the States, and by God's providence, they ended up in North Port. And already, while being here, they learned about the existence of the Russian-speaking Presbyterian Church. They are with us now, and we are trying our best to help with their arrangement in a new place. They needed absolutely everything because they left Ukraine, taking only the most necessary things.
Pray for Covenant of Grace
For peace in Ukraine and our community.
For the adaptation of refugees from Ukraine.
For the numerical and spiritual growth of Covenant of Grace (we recently had a few families visiting us who potentially could join our church in the future).
For development and impact of our missions to the Russian Speaking world.
For my successful graduation and wisdom to continue the ministry.
LA VINA - UPC HISPANIC CHURCH
ORLANDO | Pablo Torres
LAUNCHED: APRIL 2018
EMAIL PABLO
We want to thank you for your support and care for us. I want to share with you some of the things that have been happening in La Viña in the recent months:
In March we participated in the “Mission’s Week” of St. Andrew’s Chapel
And in April, we celebrate Easter and a very different Maundy Thursday service.
We are grateful to God that through activities like these, we have been able to share the gospel and the Lord has allowed us to add some people to our congregation. Throughout all this year on average we have had 2 new people coming every month, some of them are new in the faith in Jesus Christ. God has been good.
Gustavo, works a few hours a week with me in the church and also he is starting to collaborate with “DESTINO” (which is a CRU student ministry among Hispanics). We pray and hope that soon he will start attending seminary to begin his theological preparation in more depth.
Little by little we begin to develop new ministries, and people are using the gifts that God has given them. It is so beautiful to see how they are growing in their relationship with Jesus and how their faith matures day by day.
Please continue to pray for us.
For the development of ministries.
The preparation of leaders and servants.
For the numerical growth of the church.
For the opportunity to continue sharing the gospel among the Hispanic community.
For the health of some of our elderly people who are suffering from poor health.
SEVEN RIVERS THE VILLAGES
THE VILLAGES | Stephen Speaks
LAUNCHING: October 2021
EMAIL STEPHEN
We continue to be amazed at God’s faithfulness and his work in our midst at Seven Rivers Villages Church. One of the delights of being a church planter is simply seeing who God brings and who unexpectedly stays. An older gentleman, who had nothing to do with any church for 50 years, has been worshipping with us since Oct. 1. An 18-year-old has been on bad terms with God since her mother died last summer, just before her senior year of high school, but after coming into the service one Sunday, she has been attending our worship each Sunday for about a month. A young mom had not been to any church in years, but she has been attending worship with her two kids every week since we started. Every time we gather for worship, there is a new person, a new story, and a new opportunity to give thanks for what God is doing. Not everyone who visits sticks around, but it has been very encouraging to meet the people who come through our doors each week.
During a lunch meeting with a retiree who was investigating our church plant, the man said, “You have a terrifying job, because if you say something wrong, you are answerable to God.” I said, “No, it is not a terrifying job…it’s a privilege. I get to see firsthand what God is doing in people’s lives and even handle holy things. That is an amazing privilege.” And I believe that. What we do in church planting is challenging, draining, confusing, and sometimes heartbreaking, but it provides a front row seat into the redemptive work of God in the lives of broken and lost people who might otherwise never have come to know him.
Those are just a few Polaroid moments of specific people. Let me give you a few big picture highlights from the past few months:
We had our first new members class and will be interviewing and receiving new members in May.
120 people worshipped with us on Easter.
4 women’s Bible studies connected with our church meet each week
2 Men’s Studies meet weekly
A Sunday night fellowship time for families with young children also meets weekly
Please pray for the following specific needs:
Music. We are struggling to find a musician to help lead worship on Sunday mornings. On May 1, we used a service that provides tracks with lyrics during our worship time. I was amazed how people sang out! It is still not ideal, so please ask God to provide the right person to lead.
A building. The Wildwood Community Center has been a great first facility, but our team is taxed each week and exhausted. We put out chairs, tables, and unload a trailer every week, and then put everything away afterwards. Many of our folks are retirees. (It is The Villages, after all!) It would be nice to have a building where everything could stay put during the week. Please pray for God to provide such a facility.
Young families. The Villages is the largest retirement community in the universe! In addition to retirees, we also feel called to minister to youth, families, and singles. Pray that God will open doors into those other parts of the larger Villages community.
CITY CHURCH SARASOTA
SARASOTA | Chris Knaebel
God continues to lead us in gathering this seed scattering, Spirit-watering work and we are honored to invite others in our city to join us in responding to Him. While the days are long and at times lonely, there is no other work we’d rather give ourselves to than declaring daily that “Jesus Christ is Lord.” Only the good news of Jesus raises dead hearts, heals soul-deep wounds, and reconciles broken relationships.
Sunday gatherings with our small group have seen deepening gospel fluency as our team explores the depths of God’s love in Christ. Families are enjoying one another and worshiping Jesus together. Gatherings are fueling families worshiping Jesus in their homes throughout the week in song. Our team continues to purse lost people where the work, live and play. Recently a team member said, “I’ve always thought of myself as an evangelist but was not sharing my faith with certain relationships. Now I find myself sharing the gospel often with many of those around me. I have greater peace and contentment when I do.”
Easter weekend provided an opportunity to host several gatherings of nearly 30 people each. On Good Friday, a reflective gathering included many of our children in the readings. An unsaved former Parisian doctor called the gathering “wonderful,” noting we are doing a “good job for the children.” A family in orbit said it “felt like they had come home” and couldn’t believe hadn’t come sooner. Easter morning, we hosted a rooftop sunrise gathering followed by brunch. One new believer said afterward, “I’m clinging to what was shared, that Jesus is the only one that satisfies.” In all, nearly 40 people heard the gospel over the weekend, including a half dozen unbelievers, several of whom are going through the gospel of John with one of our team members.
A few ways to join us in prayer:
LABORERS: We’re asking God for 4-6 additional believing individuals, couples, or families.
CONVERSIONS: That the Lord will open the heart of unsaved neighbors to Jesus as Lord.
RENTAL SPACE: For affordable downtown core gathering space.
ST JOHN’S PRESBYTERIAN
WINTER GARDEN | Frank Cavalli
LAUNCHED: September 2021
EMAIL FRANK
We praise God for a glorious Easter celebration worshipping our Risen Lord! We thank him for drawing near during Holy Week as our hearts and minds were set anew on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Thank you for your faithful prayers and generous support. It was a precious time and we all loved hearing the Lord’s praises coming from the lips of our covenant children as they helped turn our thoughts and affections to Jesus. On Easter Sunday we had the largest attendance yet as a plant. Altogether we were 118 and 32 of our people were either away and out sick that day. Otherwise, we would have been 150. We were delighted to meet new visitors who discovered us through social media or heard about us through friends. Some were visiting from out of town, but most were local so we pray they find a home with us. New people continue to visit and our members have taken greater initiative both in evangelism and inviting others to worship. We will receive members for the first time on May 15th and are on track to particularize by the end of the year if not sooner. To God be the glory for leading, providing, equipping, and growing this body over the last seven months.
The Lord has enabled us to provide an environment where people can encourage each other in the faith and new folks can be assimilated. We are grateful for the three home groups, one men’s study, and two women’s studies we have in place but we hope to add more to accommodate people in different areas. We have SS for all ages and Youth Group on Sunday evenings where our young people are being challenged, building relationships, and bringing friends. The Lord has blessed us with Christians with a range of gifts that meet our current needs as we continue to trust the Lord to build upon what we have and to further penetrate our community with the gospel. If you have a chance, please visit our website to learn more about us at stjohnspca.com
Prayer requests:
To grow in faith, hope and love finding our greatest joy in Jesus.
That all would engage others with the gospel thru normal conversation.
For God to help us identify qualified men to serve as church officers.
For wisdom, strength, and uncommon grace for the Cavallis as life and ministry are full.
For God’s hand of favor upon his saints and their selfless service.
KISSIMMEE FELLOWSHIP
KISSIMMEE | Heath Zuniga
LAUNCHING: Falll 2022
EMAIL HEATH
Kissimmee Fellowship has been meeting weekly as a core group on Sunday evenings since January! We have a lot to be thankful for! Over the last few weeks Emily and I have both expressed that we’re having the most fun we’ve ever had in full-time ministry.
What does Sunday look like for us?
We’ll gather each Sunday from 4-6:30 for fellowship, an interactive lesson from the Person of Jesus and a time to pray for one another. The last several weeks we’ve had attendances of 22-25 individuals. We have a simple liturgy where we use both English and Spanish. For instance we’ll sing in both languages and sometimes recite a creed in Spanish (with an adjacent English translation) or vice versa. Emily and I are beginning to determine options for a larger meeting space.
How are we spending our week?
I’m spending roughly 40% of my week networking and meeting people in the community. This includes referrals, other pastors, civic and government commissioners, store owners/managers, neighbors, etc. During these meetings I’ll do a lot of listening and asking questions about Kissimmee and Osceola county (what to celebrate, what to lament, etc.) I’m also approaching these meetings to see if the Lord may open a door for evangelism or if Lord might be calling them to join our core group. Emily and I are also regularly engaged in discipleship conversations throughout the week with core group members. In the evenings, we host 1-2 families/individuals per week for dinner.
Here is a list of our prayer concerns:
That my leadership would model a life of prayer and dependence on Jesus.
For conversions and lives to be changed.
For the Lord to bring more families and individuals who feel called to help us start this new work.
That the Lord would provide for us an affordable larger meeting space. , as we continue to gather individuals and families for their core group. Pray for new belief in the gospel.
BRIAN MACDONALD | BARTOW
OAK CITY CHURCH
ANGEL ROMAN
LAKE NONA PRESBYTERIAN
TONY ELSWICK
REDEEMER WINTER HAVEN