New Life Community Church has been a part of the community for more than 60 years. It has seen periods of growth and abundant blessings, and many episodes of difficulty and challenge. It has failed to replace an aging church family with younger persons and families that can continue the worship and ministry. Hence the body has dwindled to a mere handful, and without revitalization will likely fade completely away in the months ahead.

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THE CHURCH THAT NEEDS NEW LIFE

In the mid 1950s Orlando businessman Fred Falkner honored the memory of his wife by planting a small church “back in the pine trees” of Plantation Estates, a neighborhood he was developing northwest of the city. A number of families from First Alliance Church formed the core of the small congregation, and an engineer from Martin Marietta was called to be the first pastor. The community was growing up around the church, which itself drew on the energies of the young families moving into the new neighborhood, and flourished.

Generations of families came to Christ over the years, and Grace Falkner Memorial Chapel thrived as a local church of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Sometimes the ministry flourished, reaching several hundred from the neighborhood at one point. Other times were more difficult, as children, then grandchildren, grew up and left to pursue life around the world. In 1987 the name was changed to Northside Alliance Church. However, a critical time in the life of the church came when very few of the original members remained, and all of their children had relocated elsewhere. 

By 2005 the decline was alarming, and another businessman in the church (who had actually been a business partner with Fred Falkner!) concluded that moving the church from “back in the neighborhood” to “out on Main Street” was the catalyst needed for renewal. He purchased a piece of property on Forest City Road (our Main Street) which he donated for the church to relocate, and the grueling process of planning, permitting, and building a new facility was begun, not to be completed until 2011. Early in the project the name was changed a second time to New Life Community Church, with a view to setting past problems and stigma behind and establishing a “new life” in a new facility. The process was exhausting, and the congregation lost a number of core families in it. 

The drawn out project finally produced a beautiful, functional facility, with a mortgage that was small in ratio to the value of the completed campus, but large in proportion to the number of members. 

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THE NEW LIFE SHORT TERM MISSIONS TRIP:

Come over and help us!

A missions trip to New Life Community Church in Orlando

 to minister and re-plant this local Christian & Missionary Alliance church

The leadership at New Life Community Church is asking God to put it on the hearts of several local students, couples, and families to go on a very special short-term missions trip. As the Macedonians in Paul’s night vision (Acts 16:9) appealed, we are also appealing “Come over and help us.” The Apostle Paul’s short-term mission team was led by God’s Holy Spirit: “immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.”(v.10) We are asking God to call families and individuals with a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ, some gifts, talents, and life experience, to come and help us with worship, evangelism, and discipleship, with a commitment of one year.

WORSHIP

We have a sanctuary and other beautiful venues ready for “focusing attention on God and responding to His glory.” Our pulpit ministry is solidly bible-based with meaty, relevant, expository preaching. We like to sing, and are ready for all kinds of Christ-honoring music and praise. Our worship team is thin, but ready and willing to be joined by eager worshippers.

We are well equipped for the video ministries of making the glories of God known through a large library of Creation videos and films, with a strong emphasis on the reliability of the Bible in science and in life. From the large screen in the auditorium to smaller Blu-ray-and-flat-screen mobile units, these tools are in use to the glory of God.

EVANGELISM AND DISCIPLESHIP

We look forward to renewed ministries with the TERM chronological Bible Studies, Alpha Groups, and other evangelism outreaches. TERM and Alpha also provide a good base for discipleship ministries, teaching and leading new believers to be like Christ, walking in step with him.

The new Community Center is almost complete and will be the site of family recreation, films and videos, Alpha dinners and other expressions of church life. We are also very interested in welcoming other congregations to make ours their home, and the Community Center and Auditorium have been designed to accommodate multiple worship events at once.

HOW WILL SUCH A “TRIP” WORK?

There will be no need to quit a job or career, leave school(s), or sell a home. There will be no travel costs or relocation costs, only the costs of living missionally for the duration of the “trip.”

Each team member will be bringing their gifts, experience, strengths, and training, to labor together to re-establish the church at New Life. The plan involves focused ministry with the gifts and interests, as well as new skills and talents developed during the trip. 

We need help in 

    Leadership and administration

    Christian education

    Web and Social Media presence

    Hospitality and Family Recreation

    Physical work

    Outreach/Community Connection

Everything that a local church should be doing, we hope to do together with our Short Term Mission Team members, each with a long-term view of yielding lasting fruit, recruiting and training their replacements who become a part of the local body, all the while being trained themselves in the ministries of the church.

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our pastor: