| Church Development New Churches Started
By Dr. Montfort C. Duncan Jr.,
Executive Director, Church Development
 June
1 saw the beginning of two new congregations in the Florida Annual
Conference.
The Florida Conference Cabinet, along with the
Committee on New Church Development, approved these two new church
starts. They are the results of two districts that take seriously
Jesus’ command to “Go, make disciples.” Both the Orlando and
DeLand districts’ Boards of Missions and Church Extension caught the
vision of reaching unchurched people in new, unserved areas of their
districts.
The DeLand District began a new community of
faith northwest of St. Augustine, a growing area in St. Johns County.
The World Golf Village is part of this area. New housing communities
are being built, and people are moving into them. The district had
already purchased 18.3 acres of land to start this new church when the
community started to grow. Now is the time. The Rev. Jim Walker has
been appointed to give birth to this new congregation.
The Orlando District has also decided to begin a
new community of faith in southeast Orlando. Land in this fast-growing
area had been purchased several years ago in an area called Lake Hart.
New homes are being built there daily. The Revs. Carolyn and David
Williamson have been appointed as co-pastors to begin this new work.
This is the second time in recent history that the conference has used
a clergy couple to start a new church.
There are three more new churches waiting to be
started this year. The Committee on New Church Development is now in
the process of working with pastors to discern if they have the gifts
and graces to be a new church start pastor.
God is continuing to open new doors of reaching
the lost, the broken and the hurting in our communities. We need
churches that are open to God’s leading to join this growing
movement of churches starting churches. We also need pastors who are
open to God’s leading in this direction in their lives and in their
ministries. If you feel that God is calling you to be part of this
exciting kingdom-building work, you are encouraged to contact me at
1-800-282-8011, extension 147, at the conference center in Lakeland to
discuss these possibilities. |
