Two things seem to be converging that make our mission particularly urgent. The first is the data suggesting that people are relocating to Florida in record numbers, with no signs of a slowdown anytime soon. For example, PODS reports that six of the top twelve cities in the country with the most move-ins are right here in Florida – Sarasota, Orlando, Ocala, Jacksonville, Tampa Bay, and Melbourne. At the same time, Ryan Burge recently published data suggesting that Florida remains one of the least “churched” regions in the country. In Florida, there is a church for every 1245 people (similar to Washington state). Compare that with Arkansas, where there is a church for every 407 people. The need for church planting in Florida is great.
I have been challenged recently by Jesus’ reaction to the crowds, recorded in Matthew’s gospel. It says, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36). I’ve found myself being drawn into prayer for the same compassionate heart towards the masses, as I sit in stand-still traffic trying to get to a meeting.
Please continue to pray for our efforts to plant churches in Florida. The most pressing need is gifted and qualified church planters. We are diverting energy and resources towards developing regional pipelines for future church planters and church leaders. The harvest is, indeed, plentiful. The workers are few. So, pray earnestly with us – that the Lord of the harvest would send out laborers into his harvest (Matthew 9:37).
Thank you for taking the time to read these updates from our church planters. I hope you will be encouraged by their stories. Please pray for them and the mission churches they are pastoring. And when you do, reach out to them with a quick note of encouragement. Church planting can be a lonely business.
Grateful for your gospel partnership in this great work.
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
This spring we led the city’s Easter sunrise service again. In addition, we hosted a low country boil and egg hunt on Palm Sunday. We currently have two elders in training (one is a transfer from our sending church, and one is a nominee). This past Sunday we wrapped up a series in Isaiah and are spending the summer in the psalms. The total community is about 180-200 people and our membership is ~118 (61 adults, 57 kids).
You can pray for Christ Church Beaches by:
Praying for the mission and the church, that we would find Christ more and more beautiful, growing in our rest, joy, and courage, as people come into the worshipping community
Praying for the elders in training, that Jesus would encourage their hearts, cultivate mutual love for Christ, one another, and the Church, and protect their marriages and families.
Praying for the Bigelow’s, that they would get some rest and recovery from a whirlwind 4 years in the field.
NEW CITY CHURCH
PALM BAY
LAUNCHED: October 2019
WAYPOINT CHURCH
PONTE VEDRA | James Brignac
LAUNCHED: SEPTEMBER 2016
EMAIL JAMES
We are excited to be able to say we particularized our church on Sunday, May 28, 2023! It was a wonderful service in which we installed three elders and four deacons as well. We look forward to seeing what God has in store for Waypoint in the future!
Prayer Requests:
Pray for our newly elected elders and deacons.
Pray for continued vision and passion to reach the lost of our community.
Pray for future opportunities to participate in church planting.
COVENANT OF GRACE CHURCH
NORTH PORT | Aleksey Zhuravlev
LAUNCHED: Fall 2018
EMAIL ALEKSEY
We are thrilled to share the latest developments in our church. Our outreach efforts through various media channels continue to make a positive impact. We believe in utilizing technology and digital platforms to reach a wider audience and spread our message effectively. Last month we reached a mark of 1000 subscribers on our YouTube channel. In exciting news, we are going to welcome a new family to our congregation this month. It's remarkable to learn that they have chosen to move to our area specifically because of our Presbyterian Russian-speaking church. The head of the family named Vlad used to be a RE back in St Petersburg, Russia. They will be a great addition to our team.
Additionally, we have formed a meaningful connection with an independent Russian-speaking church located in Georgia. It has been a mutually beneficial partnership, as they are actively involved in a successful outreach program for unbelievers in the Atlanta area. We are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate, share resources, and exchange ideas with them.In recognition of our mutual support, I was invited to be a speaker at the event organized for Russian speaking people in the Atlanta area. It was an honor to contribute to their efforts and have a platform to share the Gospel and sound biblical teaching from the Reformed perspective. We will continue leveraging media channels, forging connections, and engaging in meaningful outreach initiatives. Our team is dedicated to strive to create a positive impact and foster spiritual growth in our church and beyond.
Prayer Requests
Pray for the numerical and spiritual growth of our congregation. We desire to see more people connecting with God and finding a loving community in our church. Pray that hearts would be opened to receive the message of the Gospel, and that believers would be strengthened and encouraged in their faith.
We would appreciate prayers for opportunities to impact unbelievers both in our local area and through media channels worldwide. Pray that God would open doors for us to share His love and truth with those who have not yet experienced His salvation.
We have a new family moving to North Port to join our church, and we kindly ask for prayers for their successful adaptation and settlement. Pray that they would quickly feel welcomed and supported by our church community. Ask that God would help us to surround them with warm hospitality and provide assistance as they navigate their new surroundings. Pray for their joy, peace, and a deep sense of belonging as they integrate into our church family and community.Thank you for your prayers and support. We truly appreciate it!
LA VINA
ORLANDO | Pablo Torres
LAUNCHED: APRIL 2018
EMAIL PABLO
SEVEN RIVERS THE VILLAGES
THE VILLAGES | Stephen Speaks
LAUNCHING: October 2021
EMAIL STEPHEN
Since launching public worship in October 2021, Seven Rivers Villages Church has continued to experience growth. SRVC welcomed a second class of 16 people as New Members in May. We also continue to welcome new guests each week as people investigate the church plant. The plant is financially independent of any outside giving sources. Yet, with all of these positive markers, I am becoming increasingly aware of my own limitations and our need for new staffing and leadership:
A Consistent Music Leader
A Personal Assistant
An Assistant Pastor
A New Children’s Ministry Leader.
Even with these growth pains, we continue to be encouraged by what God is doing in our midst. Several people of our members took the initiative to begin their own small groups this Spring, while our current small group studies continue to grow. The Tuesday morning Bible study I lead had 24 men in attendance, sporadically of course. It is The Villages, after all. We have some younger people beginning to attend more frequently, with “younger” being a relative term in our demographic. One interesting dynamic of SRVC is the high number of families in our plant with kids on the Autism spectrum.
Perhaps the most encouraging thing for me continues to be the number of people, particularly in our older population, who say that they have experienced a measure of personal growth in the gospel that they have never experienced prior to coming to the plant. Several older men have said that they have grown more in their understanding of grace and of the Bible in their short time attending our plant than they did in 15 years before moving to The Villages. I am grateful to be serving as a church planter in The Villages.
Please pray for the following specific needs:
Staffing and Volunteers
Young families to find a church home with us
Summer Responsibilities. My wife is in SC for a month to care for her 97-year-old mother. While she is gone, my middle son will undergo shoulder surgery.
CHRIST CHURCH SARASOTA
SARASOTA | Chris Knaebel
LAUNChed: 2022
EMAIL CHRIS
After a more sudden than expected location change at the beginning of the year, our team (who had been seeking a new worship location for months), began praying and working in earnest. For a month we were back in our living room. Then God provided a temporary space a few miles to the south. As we continued praying for an affordable space closer to the heart of the city, God did something incredible: a restaurant team got so excited about our vision to reach the city with the gospel that they opened wide their doors to us on Sunday mornings!
PRAISE:
A New Home: God provided a sweet space to gather in the heart of the most foot-trafficked portion of the city!
A New Heart: One of the children in our church placed their faith in Jesus - what a joy seeing God at work!
New Families: several growing families recently joined our growing community and immediately started sharing their gifts by serving - so encouraging!
A New Sound System: God provided a portable sound system to flood the streets of our city with the music of heaven and good news of salvation in Christ!
New Guests: each week people walking along Main Street stop to hear God’s people worship, often lingering to lean over the restaurant railing. Many come inside to join the singing and listen to God’s Word read and preached.
A New Sound Tech: one of the new families has been helping each week with set-up, tear down and running of the sound system - what a gift he is to us!
A New Nursery and Big-Hearted Team of Co-Leaders: Christ Kids Nursery launched several weeks ago with eight precious 0-4 year olds hearing weekly about Jesus on their own level!
PRAYER:
For WORSHIPERS to be gathered and matured in Christ and into community through the preached Word, the regular celebration of the Lord’s Supper and the weekly rhythms of fellowship, Bible reading, and prayer and service.
For BELIEVERS to be raised up to lead groups that will help shepherd and care for our growing community.
For GENEROSITY among our growing church family. We are asking the families of Christ Church to consider a biblical tithe of 10% as an offering to the Lord and to support the mission of Christ Church.
For CONVERSIONS: that we would see and participate in the Spirit raising dead hearts to eternal life by His power and for God’s glory!
KISSIMMEE FELLOWSHIP
KISSIMMEE | Heath Zuniga
LAUNCHING: Falll 2022
EMAIL HEATH
We've been in our new facility for 2+ months now and have very sustainable routines establish for set-up and tear down. Emily and I personally feel very encouraged - we have had a number of new visitors since our move to a new facility. My children's director also shows a ton of enthusiasm for the work. If there's one area we need to grow in...it's musicians. We have one right now (our paid worship coordinator, Walewska) and so we're praying for a team. Aside for our worship team, everything for a September launch of public worship feels right on track.
UNIVERSITY PRESBYTERIAN
TAMPA | WRIGHT BUSCHING
LAUNCHING: 2023
EMAIL WRIGHT
We have a launch team of 28 adults with 12 kids. We moved into an Episcopal church building at the beginning of May, because our house was getting a little crowded. The Lord blessed us with a part-time worship director who is helping gather other musicians. Lord willing, we will have 2 preview services at the end of August and beginning of September before launching worship on Sunday, September 10th with a 4:00pm service.
Please pray:
Pray for our launch team to grow prior to launch.
Pray for a part-time nursery coordinator.
Pray that our launch would go as planned and the gospel would be proclaimed in North Tampa and Temple Terrace.
OAK CITY CHURCH
BARTOW | BRIAN MACDONALD
LAUNCHED: 2023
EMAIL BRIAN
Outreach: Brian had been meeting with Evan over past six months walking through the gospel of John together. Evan came to Christ on June 10th and was baptized June 25 [he had formerly attended our Roots membership class]. This is the second adult baptism in the first year of our young church plant! To God be the glory! Pray for two more conversions by end of 2023.
Gause Academy: Brian, in partnership with Idols Aside Ministry, met bi-weekly at Gause Academy in Bartow. We were allowed on campus at this public school to meet with any interested students during their lunch hour and beyond for mentorship. Praise God that we were able to use this time to openly share Christ with 7 high school boys and 7 middle school boys! We saw a growing interest in the Lord among many of these boys and we have had successful follow up with a few of them already this summer! Now, Bartow High School is asking for us to start a group on its campus this fall! Pray for Brian, Logan [youth intern], and Jeff from Idols Aside as we plan and recruit for next school year!
Oak City Biblical Counseling: we launched our biblical counseling ministry officially June 1. Oak City Biblical Counseling [OCBC] is a ministry of Oak City Church but operates under a separate budget and board of directors. This ministry includes two certified full-time staff: Sarah Puebla [executive director] and Christopher Boll. This ministry is primarily funded through fundraising and counseling fees which is determined by a sliding scale based upon family income. In just one month, the Lord has already brought 12 consistent counselees who are growing in grace and learning how to apply the scriptures to their particular circumstances. Brian is currently working on his certification and has the goal to use this ministry as an evangelistic outreach, prioritizing counseling for the unchurched and unbeliever.
Spiritual Growth-Prayer cohorts: Prayer is one of our core values at Oak City and we want it to be a foundational cornerstone of everything we do. In that light, we launched four prayer cohorts [small discipleship groups focused on intercessory prayer]. Two men’s and two women’s groups meet weekly and we have already seen God answering prayers including for specific families to plug into our church plant.
Book study: This summer we are studying “Relationships: A Mess Worth Making” on Thursday nights. This has been an excellent study for our adults as we have been learning to navigate the crucial waters of biblical confrontation, repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation.
Numerical Growth: We currently have 64 people involved in our ministry. This includes 40 adults and 24 children/youth. Forty-one individuals have joined Oak City mission. We average around 50 for each Sunday night worship.
Launch: September 10th
Space: We are currently in final discussions with Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Bartow to move to their fellowship hall space to launch our Sunday morning worship services. This is a beautiful space with lots of natural light and a great location.
Date: We plan to soft launch our morning worship services August 6, 13, and 20th. We will be commissioned from our mother church, Strong Tower on August 27 and that afternoon will canvass the Bartow neighborhoods with door hangers advertising our morning launch on September 10th!
Pray with us:
Praise God for new believers and baptisms. Pray for two more conversions by end of 2023.
Pray for two more families to join before our launch.
Pray for our morning worship launch on September 10. Praise God for our new worship space at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Bartow.
Pray for our Childrens ministry team as they organize and recruit volunteers for Sunday morning children's church.
Pray for our members and regular attendees to grow in their financial giving.
EAST COLLIER | GREG BLOSSER
I’m continuing to serve on the pastoral staff at Covenant Church in Naples, while working towards the launch of a new congregation in Collier county. We have a Sunday evening group that meets to study the Bible and pray. We are recruiting and training a launch team. The focus is on training participants to befriend and gather unchurched people. Our family’s personal outreach to unchurched people in the community continues to bear fruit.
ANGEL ROMAN
LAKE NONA PRESBYTERIAN
TONY ELSWICK
REDEEMER WINTER HAVEN