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WFC gathers for worship at Whispering Oak Elementary School
Sundays @ 9:30am
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The Story of WFC
So, how did this story begin? Well, in April of 2002, the pastor and his wife were invited to start a new church in the West Orange County area among the coming development called “Horizons West.”
Through prayer and the counsel of friends, family, and several people involved in the development of the area, Summerport was selected as the launching community for this new church. Summerport is the “flagship” community of the 28,000 acre development called Horizons West, and it is the community in which WFC 1st gathered to worship together on Sundays in June 2004.
The real story of WFC does not happen on Sunday morning when we gather for worship together. The real story is our people loving God and loving others in daily life.
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From there, God began to provide the resources necessary to help get a new church ministry off the ground. Financial support was committed from the North American Mission Board, the Florida Baptist Convention, the Church @ the Mall (Lakeland, FL), First Baptist Church Orlando, First Newark Church (Thomasville, GA), and five individual donors. The Pastoral Team began to come together as well with John and Beth Courtney committing to be partners in starting WFC.
In December of 2003, the pastor and his wife began meeting with families who expressed an interest to be in on the ground floor of what God was doing with WFC. More meetings followed, and on February 15th, 2004, the church family gathered together for the 1st time in the living room of a home across from Summerport. Those Sunday night gatherings became very significant times of worship and vision casting for the coming ministry of WFC.
The focus was to develop a group of families who would be committed to loving and serving the West Orange County community as we followed Jesus daily and who would strive to reach the following vision:
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 To be a family-like environment where people can experience spiritual growth while doing life together within authentic relationships.
 To communicate the message of the Bible and its relevance upon the beliefs, values, and choices of daily life.
 To equip today’s families for daily life while attempting to answer the questions that come up in various relationships. |
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 To actively live out the love of God in all interaction with family, friends, and the people around us in the marketplace.
 To create a similar environment elsewhere by sending out people to start new churches and to help already-existing ones who are struggling.
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Sunday nights moved from the living room to the Summerport Community Center on June 6th, 2004. The Lord again provided as WFC was allowed to use this setting @ no charge. Sunday nights transitioned to Sunday mornings on July 11th, and WFC continued to love and serve families in daily life. At this same time, WFC began to partner in ministry with a church in inner-city Orlando in order to provide for the physical needs of families there. This ministry partnership continues to grow and expand today.
WFC celebrated our “Grand Opening” September 12th through November 14th, 2004. Having already existed as a church, we simply transitioned from a focused group of families to more of a public ministry inviting the community to serve and worship alongside of us. In the summer of 2005, we were growing low on elbow room in the Community Center. So, on August 28th, 2005, we moved into the brand new Whispering Oak Elementary School across from Stoneybrook West.
God continues to move among us, and we can’t wait to see how He uses WFC to carry out the vision He has given to us!
