To the glory of God, Florida IPC is now in its 37th year of ministry in Central Florida. The Church of Jesus Christ is not made up of buildings, cement, and mortar. The Church is a living organism, made up of called out ones (ecclesia), the body of Christ, finding their place in a local fellowship in Lakeland, FL. Having begun humbly in 1981 as a Bible study in Winter Haven, God has faithfully led this church through the years, under the guidance of his servants, Pastors P.S Philipose, Joy Abraham, Philip Joseph Sr, Jacob Koshy, K.M Varghese, James George, Sam Nina, and Pr. C. P. Varghese.
The desires of our fellowship are to worship and grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, equip the body to do the work of the ministry, locally and worldwide, challenging them to be salt and light beyond the 4 walls of the building, encouraging the hurting and needy and faithfully passing on the baton of our faith to the next generation…and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
We believe in the Holy Bible and accept the Holy Scriptures as the revealed will of God, the all¬sufficient rule for faith and practices, and for the purpose of maintaining general unity; it shall adopt the statement of Fundamental Doctrines, namely:
If there is any glory, if there is any honor, if there is any praise in this report, let that be to our Lord Jesus Christ who is the founder and architect of the Church. Last 25 years of this church is truly a miraculous evolution of history. In 1981 a small prayer and Bible study group got started at the residence of Bro Philip Joseph in Winter Haven, Florida. The only Pentecostal group at that time was a small gathering in Hollywood, Florida, where we used to go to have fellowship with other brothers. This went on for about 2 years. At about this time in 1982, Pastor Philip Joseph Sr. was visiting his children in Winter Haven and he insisted the need for a Malayalee Church in this community. Till that time we were attending local American congregations.
In June 1982 Pastor P. S. Philipose and family moved to Winter Haven from New York and organized a small congregation of believers and in October of 1983, a church was Registered under the name India Christian Church. This church slowly grew in membership as several Pentecostal and non-Pentecostal families started to migrate to Central Florida. We had about 50 to 75 in attendance and we were meeting at Lake Wire Church of God Fellowship Hall in Lakeland.
In August 1985 Pastor Philipose went to be with Lord because of a Heart Attack. He was truly a humble and sincere man of God pioneered the Malayalee Pentecostal movement in Central Florida.
In November 1985 the congregation decided to invite Pastor Joy Abraham and his family from Oklahoma to come and be the pastor of our church. By then Lake Wire Church was too small and we were forced to find a place for worship. We met with the Pastor of Trinity Assembly of God on 540A in South Lakeland and they gave us permission to meet at their fellowship hall. In May of 1987, the congregation voted to purchase one and a half acres of land with two buildings on Naomi Road in Lakeland, and a down payment was given to the landowner. In November of 1987, Pastor Joy Abraham decided to move to Orlando to join some of the families already moved from Lakeland church. Incidentally, most of the pioneer members of the Orlando IPC and Eben Ezer IPC today used to worship with us at Trinity church when Joy Abraham was the pastor.
After Pastor Joy Abraham left, the rest of the believers continued to worship at Trinity for few more weeks under the leadership of Pastor Philip Joseph Sr. Then we had to move our place of worship to Bartow Civic Center. Pastor Philip Joseph Sr. led the worship and continued the services both at Trinity church and Civic Center until Pastor Jacob Koshy took charge of the church.
Pastor Jacob Koshy was the Pastor of Houston IPC accepted our invitation to move to Florida with his family in January 1988. He did an outstanding job of rebuilding the church. When Pastor Jacob Koshy took charge of our church, our general body unanimously voted to change the name of the church from India Christian Church to India Pentecostal Church of Florida, Inc. and we registered this church with the State of Florida. At that point, India Christian Church was totally dissolved and all the assets and liabilities were absorbed by the new church viz. IPC Florida.
Thereafter, we actively started our church building program at our Naomi Road property. With the leadership of Pastor Koshy, liberal contributions of a lot of our friends, faithful church members and other churches from all over the United States, we raised enough money for down payment and we borrowed the balance from South East Bank in Bartow, Florida. On Thanksgiving Day 1988 we dedicated our new church building with a beautiful sanctuary, baptistery, and seating for about 200 people with enough Sunday school rooms and a small fellowship area.
Since then every year new families and guests started coming to church and our youth became very active in English worship and several revival meetings and conventions were held every year. During the 10 years, Pastor Koshy was the Pastor of Florida IPC, he was interested in developing lay leaders to do different ministries. Pastor Koshy recommended Bro. Philip K, Joseph, and Bro. Mathew Joseph to be ordained under India Pentecostal Churches at large. Pastors T.S.Abraham, K.M. Joseph, K.V.Kurian and several other senior Pastors in New York ordained both of them and were given ministry credentials.
Soon after the ordination Pastor, Koshy encouraged Pastor Mathew Joseph to start an outstation work in the in the Brandon/ Tampa area. That is the Zion Worship Center of today.
Pastor K.MVarhgese and family came to Florida IPC and took charge on January 19, 1998. He was the pastor of a large congregation in IPC Hebron, Dallas. His arrival in Florida IPC was definitely a turning point in the history of our church. During his 7 years of ministry in Lakeland, he took our church to a higher level in attendance and spiritual commitment by all believers. His Bible teaching and total commitment to the local church definitely made all believers work together.
Our believers and Pastor Varghese felt that our Naomi Road facility was getting crowded and we started looking for a suitable property. At the right time God arranged this property of 10 acres for us to purchase first, and then we started actively raising funds for a New Church Building. Because of the sacrificial contributions of several members of this church and friends we raised enough for down payment. About that time God brought us a Spanish Church Group to buy our Naomi Church facility. Along with our total down payment and a loan from Colonial Bank we were able to construct this beautiful worship Center and parsonage.
The dedication service of our new worship center was an exciting celebration. Rev. Ray Popham and Dr. Mark Rutland, President of Southeastern University, were the main speakers along with Lots of local church leaders, Polk County commissioners, Sheriff Crow, and his top police officers attended the event. All the speakers challenged our church regarding the need of reaching out to this community with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
At present we are using only 5acres of land, and if God willing we have the other 5acres left for future expansion. Everyone will agree to the fact that it is because of the strong leadership of Pastor K.M. Varghese we were able to accomplish this building project.
The transition from Pastor K.M.Varghese to Pastor James George was very smooth. As the grandson of one of the founding fathers of IPC and a well-known convention speaker Pastor James George was well received by everyone in the church. When James George took charge he challenged all church members to take 21 days of fasting and prayer. The entire church was totally revived during those days. Pastor James George definitely made a strong effort to unify all the churches in Florida by revitalizing the efforts of Southern Region of IPC. At present, he is the Secretary of that organization.
Pastor James George also took a special interest in mobilizing all the resources to start a mission station in Orissa India. He also encourages all the church members to contribute, to visit and organize mission trips to Orissa. At present we have a small Bible Training center called Massi Bhavan Bible School, under the Massi Bhavan Samati which is the extension of Florida IPC mission project. In 2007 we were able to train and graduate 7 local evangelists for village evangelization. Also, our church helped to purchase 3acres of land for future growth.
Florida IPC church had three associate pastors for the last several years: Philip K.Joseph, P.A.Kurian, and Sam Ninan
As we all know the Church of Jesus Christ is not made up of buildings, cement, and mortar. The Church is a living organism. What we have accomplished in the last 30 years is only a fraction of what we are able to accomplish. Our Lord is coming soon, Harvest is truly plenty, and Laborers are very few. If the coming of the Lord tarries, let us gird up our loins and go out to the byways and highways to bring souls into His Kingdom and fulfill the “Great Commission” of our Lord.
Report Prepared by Philip K. Joseph (Associate Pastor)
Sources: 1. Diary of Pastor P.S. Philippose
2. Diary and notes of Pastor Philip K.Joseph
3. Info. From old pictures and reliable people.
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Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.(Isaiah 6:8)
We strive to prepare people to be useful for the kingdom of Christ.