Our Church History

The Birth Of Our Church Family

The Forest Lake Church’s rich legacy began 82 years ago in the spring of 1926, when a small company of believers--led by Professor and Mrs. F. H. Parrish--gathered for Sabbath services in the parlor of a large house located on 240 acres of rolling farm land in Forest City.  This rural setting of virgin pines and immense live oak trees was the newly-purchased site of Forest Lake Academy, and the property’s nine-room main house known as the “Old Mansion" served as the first home of the Forest Lake Church.

A year later, on February 10, 1927, the church was officially organized with four charter members and 31 future members in attendance.  The tithe recorded for that initial year was $1,122.60 (about $13,540.48 in 2008).  Many of these charter-member families--with names such as Lester, Lynd, Hoover, Ward, Curtis, and Bradley--continue to play a vital role in the Forest Lake Church of today.

On of the first acts of this little church was to start an elementary school which was housed in a building on the academy ground.  It is from this small beginning that our present Forest Lake Education Center (FLEC) has grown to provide Christian education to over 600 students a year.

In 1928, church services were moved to the girl's dorm, then in 1937 to the 250-seat academy chapel, which served as our church home for the next 23 years.  In 1958, the growing congregation moved to the academy gymnasium, and it was at this time that discussions began in earnest about the need for a real church building.

A Permanent Church Home

While recognizing that church growth was inevitable, the congregation deliberately chose to build a sanctuary with seating for only 800 people.  They thought that as the membership grew, new congregations would be encouraged to branch off and raise up churches in the surrounding area.  Because of this vision, the Forest Lake Church has been been parent to the Apopka Highlands, Altamonte Springs, Winter Springs, and Markham Woods churches, and most recently the Haitian company in Apopka.

The congregation--led by Pastor Hoyt Hendershot and later Pastor James F. Hamrick--also decided that construction of its new church building be done only as money was available so that debt would be kept to a minimum.  To this end, much of the actual labor on the church building was donated by the members, from the digging of the footers to the nailing of the roof shingles.  Through much prayer and sacrificial giving, fund raising and construction proceeded rapidly, and on April 23, 1966, the church doors to our current sanctuary opened, and the church was dedicated debt free on November 23, 1968.

Two lay leaders--David Bean and Andy Neubieser--exemplify the sacrificial spirit of our growing congregation in those days.  As a local building contractor, Mr. Bean oversaw the construction of all of the church's building projects in the 1960s and 1970s.  He contributed not only his expertise and his time, but also his personal physical labor.  Mr. Neubieser served as finance chairman, and as several donations of land came to the church, Mr. Neubieser and Mr. Bean worked together to build homes on the donated property, and this were able to generate much more income for the church than if the land had been sold undeveloped.

Completion of the Community Service Building in 1977 provided a venue for meeting some of the needs of the people in our community, and over the years the ministry has expanded to include the vibrant Gift & Thrift store and the off-campus Shepherd's Hope Clinic where services are provided free of charge.  The congregation also recognized the needs of its growing youth ministry, built a new school building for FLEC in  1973, where it is still in operation today.  Also, in 1979 the Youth Center was completed to provide a place for young people to gather for activities not only on Sabbath, but throughout the week.  During the 1980s and 1990s, our church has continued to grow, and its expanded ministries required renovations and additions to all the facilities on the church campus.

In the ensuing 42 years, Forest Lake Church has grown from 749 members in 1966 to nearly 3,300 as of July 31, 2008. In 1988, a new wing was added to the sanctuary’s east side. It was constructed to house new administrative offices, more Sabbath school classrooms and a new choir room. Another milestone was marked on April 13, 1991 as members celebrated 25 years of worship in the current church structure.

In 1994, Forest Lake refurbished the interior of its main sanctuary and added a third worship service to meet growing membership needs. Its youth center was remodeled in 1999 and in 2001, the church began streaming worship services live via the Internet at www.forestlakechurch.org. A fourth worship service, Deeper, was added for young adults in 2003 as the church continued to expand.

Time To Take The Next Step

Dr. Derek Morris became senior pastor in August 2004. Under his leadership, Forest Lake Church continued to reach out in new ways to spread the Gospel to the community and the world. Forest Lake’s Internet church audience continued to grow with hundreds of individuals around the world attending each week. In 2005, two radio programs created by the church were launched–Message Of Hope Radio and Hope On Fire, a radio talk show for young adults. Two websites, www.messageofhoperadio.com and www.hopeonfire.org were also created to support the new broadcasts.

In 2006, Hope Channel TV began airing Forest Lake’s church services and in January 2007, they also began broadcasting a television version of Hope On Fire. Hope TV also began airing Hope Sabbath School in January 2008. The program is a Forest Lake Church-produced panel discussion of the Adventist Church’s weekly adult Sabbath school lessons.

And so we come to the present—time to take the next step in “Building Boldly for Jesus” on the legacy of the Forest Lake Church. As we keep in mind Forest Lake’s mission, values and vision, the proposed expanded facilities aren’t so much about bricks and mortar as they are about the ministries they will house. It’s this ministry outreach that will continue be God’s light to our members, our surrounding community and the world.