- October 22, 2024
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Temple Free Will Baptist Church was started in Winter Garden in 1960 and has been sharing God’s word through traditional church services for 64 years.
The church has begun a new chapter with the addition of a contemporary service and a name change to better reflect its mission. Temple Free Will is now GracePointe Church.
John Shaver and his father, Jeff Shaver, continue as lead pastors.
“Temple Free Will Baptist Church, our slogan was ‘Where the sun is always shining,’ but we felt as though that doesn’t reflect who we really are, so we changed the name to GracePointe, because we want to reflect grace to our community,” Shaver said. “Our slogan is ‘Everyone needs grace.’”
The beliefs of GracePointe Church can be summed up like this: Love God. Love people. Tell the world.
“We’ve been a beacon of encouragement in the community for the 64 years we’ve been a church,” Shaver said. “But Winter Garden is a growing community. We have within 10 minutes from the church 54,000 residents, and the median age is 38.”
The church is keeping its traditional service at 9:30 a.m. and has added a contemporary worship service at 11 a.m. The earlier service, called the Old Time Gospel Hour, will continue to use the old hymnals with familiar songs, such as “I’ll Fly Away,” “What a Day That Will Be” and “Amazing Grace.” The second service will include music such as “Goodness of God, “I Speak Jesus” and “I Trust in God,” the tunes typically heard on Christian radio station Z88.3 FM.
“I grew up with the old music, but in order to get the younger families … we had to make some changes, and all of our people embraced that,” Shaver said.
There currently are about 125 attendees on Sunday mornings, but Shaver wants to share God’s message to even more people. The church also is expanding its youth group.
REFLECTING CHANGE
John Shaver grew up in Temple Free Will, where his father, Jeff Shaver, has served as pastor for 25 years. Jeff Shaver’s wife, Sister Kay, has been by his side throughout his ministry.
John Shaver started preaching in 2017 and took a part-time pastoral role at the church in 2019. He assumed full-time ministry, supported by his wife, Kaylee, last year.
“One thing that’s important to us is we believe that everyone needs grace,” John Shaver said. “We’ve had times where we’ve had about 170 (people) every Sunday. Ever since COVID, we’ve gotten knocked down a little bit. Whether we’ve had 170 or 50 in here, we’ve always held familial values. Anytime anyone walks through that door, it’s important to us — and important to me — that people feel like home.”
According to the church’s website: “We hold the conviction that a name should reflect one’s identity to the community. We embody grace and dedicate ourselves to guiding others towards God’s abundant grace. We affirm that grace is essential for everyone, regardless of their journey in life. Thus, we are GracePointe, a place where ‘Everyone Needs Grace.’”
The church’s mission is to give Glory to God and point all to Christ.
“We strive to create a welcoming community where people from all walks of life can come together to worship, learn and grow,” the website states. “Our dedication to glorifying God and pointing others to Christ is at the core of everything we do, whether it’s through our worship services, community outreach programs or any of the other things we do. We believe that by living out this mission, we can inspire positive change and make a lasting impact on the lives of those around us.”
“We’re small in number, but we’re very strong in spirit,” John Shaver said.
