Good News - October 2018

LOCAL 26 OCTOBER 2018 Good News • South Florida Edition Wilton Manors Baptist Church, Fort Lauderdale Com- munity Church, North Star Community Church, Midtown Campus of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale and Harvest Prepa- ration Ministries. The names have changed over the past fifteen years, but the desire to be a vibrant bea- con for the gospel and the hope it offers has remained the same. This is a story not of a church or facility but of the Church as God has moved through pastors, businesspeople and lay mem- bers to reach a community and impact the generations. Fort Lauderdale Community Church In 2004, five men began meeting for lunch to pray about the explosive growth in down- town Fort Lauderdale and the possibility of planting a church to meet the needs of the com- munity. Fort Lauderdale Com- munity Church was launched in 2005 to be a church with expos- itory preaching, where the gospel was shared and lives transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Bill Davell shares, “We (Fort Lauderdale Community Church) initially met in a facility we rented at the corner of Davie Boulevard and Andrews Av- enue. It was a blend of tradi- tional and modern worship, and we averaged between 60-70 people at our weekly Sunday services.” North Star Community Church “The original plan was to be located downtown and to be a part of the rapid growth, but Wilton Manors Baptist Church approached us about merging our congregations. In 2007, we moved into their fifty-year-old facility, and the pulpit was filled with two extraordinary visiting pastors. It was actually the sug- gestion of one of them – Dr. Jay Strack – that we change the name to North Star Community Church and you can still see a north star embedded in the pavement of the patio.” “The church was thriving, and three years after we called our first, full-time pastor, he felt called to a church out of state. Church leadership concluded the congregation had several options – search for a full-time pastor, merge with another church or become a satellite.” Bill explains. Scott Whiddon was chair- man of the Transition Commit- tee. “Through a relationship with Calvary Chapel Fort Laud- erdale, they offered to help with our music and to fill the pulpit while we searched for a perma- One Name Remains Anitra Parmele Good News