For the first time in the history of Reformed Presbyterians in Florida, public worship on the Lord’s Day occurred in three different locations. March 19, 2023 was a historic Lord’s Day in Florida Reformed Presbyterian history. The Orlando Reformed Presbyterian Church, founded in 1920, has begun church planting endeavors in both Gainesville and Celebration, Florida.
Gainesville Fellowship began in August of 2021 with Rev. Tom Reid as the onsite church planter. Rev. Reid, retired from RPTS and moved to Florida with his wife Genvieve. Rev. Reid has been preaching at 10:30am and 5:00pm each Lord’s Day. The small band of Reformed Presbyterians worship God in the city that hosts 35,000 undergraduate students at the University of Florida. Gainesville is about two hours northwest of the City of Orlando. The Reids, as well as the other member families of the fellowship are members of the Orlando congregation. They meet in a subdivision meeting house and the Reids frequently practice hospitality in their home each week. Celebration, Florida is a planned suburban community twenty miles south of Orlando, right outside of the Orange County limits. On March 19th, the first evening service in Celebration commenced with Elder Mark Goerner preaching from John 1:1-5. Elder Goerner is an elder of the Orlando congregation and is also a licentiate; with a preaching license held by the Great Lakes-Gulf Presbytery.
Twenty-nine people attended the first evening worship service in Celebration; several families from the Celebration area are members in Orlando and travel in to downtown to attend the morning worship services. The public worship service was held at the Artisan club house in Celebration. Joel Schaefer served as the precentor and the worshipers used the Book of Psalms for Worship donated by the Orlando congregation. They also followed the same order of service used in Orlando. Over the next several months, Elder Goerner and Student under care, Joe Johnson will share the preaching responsibilities from John’s Gospel.
Each of these fellowships are in need of families to join them in the endeavor to plant churches in Central Florida. Gainesville is home to a vibrant public university and would be an ideal opportunity for a student or academic; one with apologetic and evangelistic desires; or Gator fans to relocate and help out. Celebration is a high-end suburban community and also has many opportunities for outreach into close and needy communities, immigrant communities, and young people with transient lifestyles (Celebration is very close to Disney). Gospel opportunities abound!
March 19th is a day to remember. Public worship occurred in three Central Florida locations as the RP witness expands in the Sunshine State. Would you pray for each of these works and give God the glory with us? And of course, you are welcome to join us in what God is doing in Central Florida. It’s pretty amazing, really.
Nathan Eshelman, Pastor in Orlando, FL
