King's Church moves into nearly century-old sanctuary in Dixieland

One of the oldest church buildings in Lakeland is home to a new congregation.

The King’s Church recently began holding services in a nearly century-old sanctuary at 730 S. Florida Ave., most recently home to Grace City Church. The red-brick building with a vaulted roof, square towers and stained-glass windows was occupied for decades by Westminster Presbyterian Church.

The King’s Church, a Southern Baptist congregation, launched in 2018 and held services at Dixieland Elementary School and Union Hall before paying $2 million for the former Grace City property, lead pastor Ian Thomas said.

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The new church held two Sundays of “preview services” before hosting its official opening last Sunday, Thomas said. That service drew about 230 people, he said, including children attending youth programs. He estimated that the sanctuary has capacity for 300.

Thomas said he understands that some might wonder why Lakeland needs another church.

“Our heart in planting The King’s Church was not to take members of other churches and have them join what we're doing,” he said. “But we really had a desire to try to connect with people in our community who didn't belong to a church or weren't necessarily Christians.”

He added: “Of course, you're going to end up with people who leave other churches and come; it’s kind of normal for all churches. But I'd say a really good chunk of the people that we originally connected with and have connected with over the years didn't really have a meaningful church home up to that point.”

'Planting' and expanding

Thomas said he and some other Lakeland residents began attending Aletheia Church in Tampa in 2013 with hopes of establishing a church in Lakeland. Aletheia is affiliated with Acts 29, a global organization with a mission of “planting” new churches.

The Lakeland contingent of about 30 adults and a dozen children launched The King’s Church five years later. Thomas said the leaders feel a connection to the Dixieland area, and the church held services at Dixieland Elementary until 2020, when local schools ceased allowing use of their buildings over concerns about the spread of COVID-19.

The church shifted to Union Hall, a music venue at 1023 S. Florida Ave., and rented office space in the nearby Dixieland Village. Thomas said church elders had long been interested in the former Westminster property, but Grace City Church’s leaders initially told them the site wasn’t for sale.

Grace City bought the property in 2015. Growth of the congregation required the church to hold five Sunday services, and in 2018 Grace City moved its services to a sanctuary on New Jersey Road previously home to Lakeside Baptist Church and now owned by Geneva Classical Academy.

Grace City continued to use the South Florida Avenue location for offices and leadership programs.

Thomas, the son of former Lakeland City Manager Doug Thomas, said he got an indication last year that Grace City leaders were reconsidering a sale. He said he met with Grace City Senior Pastor Andrew Gard last summer and described how the property would fit the mission of The King’s Church.

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Grace City’s leadership opted to sell, and Thomas said his church’s congregation set about raising enough money to secure a loan. The church opened a capital campaign with a goal of generating $350,000.

The campaign eventually raised $425,000, Thomas said, with the congregation contributing about $325,000. The property went under contract last August, and the church closed on the deal in January, Thomas said.

Other leaders of The King’s Church include Associate Pastor Andrew Lovette, who oversees music; Amy Hornbuckle, leader of women’s and children’s ministries; and Brandon Curriston, the operations director. Pat Kappenman, David Trivette and Rob Lourcey are lay pastors.

The church holds a single service at 10 a.m. on Sundays.

A 'really strong team'

The King’s Church is affiliated with the Florida Baptist Convention; Renew Polk, a network of gospel-centered churches that strives to create new churches; and the Gospel Coalition, a national organization.

Thomas, 31, graduated from Lakeland Christian School and has a degree from Florida State University. He returned to Lakeland and taught at LCS while serving as a lay pastor at Aletheia Church.

Thomas left his teaching job in 2019 to become a full-time pastor with The King’s Church.

The church had already established a core membership of about 115 adult members before moving into the permanent location, Thomas said.

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“We launched with a really strong team,” he said. “We had 30 adult members that kind of made up our team when we were just getting started. And that was the benefit of just — you know, we spent six years basically building the team and getting training through Aletheia. And so, during that time, they really helped us build a really strong core.”

The King’s Church emphasizes what Thomas called “orphan care,” as some members have adopted children or become foster parents.

“And in our heart is also to be a church-planting church,” Thomas said. “I mean, realistically, we can only grow so big in this building. … But we hope to plant churches and multiply what we're doing and spread it into different congregations, both locally and beyond.”

The site on South Florida Avenue has ties to one of Lakeland’s earliest congregations.

Cumberland Presbyterian Church formed in 1888 and built a wood-frame sanctuary at the corner of Florida Avenue and Lemon Street, according to Lakeland Public Library records. In 1925, the church moved to the newly built brick structure at what is now 730 S. Florida Ave., on land donated by prominent Lakeland resident Norman Riggins, a church member.

The congregation changed its name to Westminster Presbyterian Church in 1942.

Westminster Presbyterian ceased holding services in 2015 after its congregation shrank to about 30, The Ledger reported at the time. The church merged with Church in the Meadows to form what is now Beacon Hill Fellowship and sold the property to Grace City Church.

Gary White can be reached at [email protected] or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: King's Church moves into historic sanctuary in Lakeland's Dixieland