New church launching in Horizon West

A new church officially is launching Sunday, Oct. 6, in south Winter Garden, and founding pastor Kenny Ortiz is ready to take Horizon City Church to the next level in the community. After spending the summer holding church services at various homes, he’s eager to introduce his congregation, and the community, to the new space at SunRidge Elementary School, in Winter Garden.

Ortiz said he has dreamed of planting a church since he was in college more than 20 years ago. His wife, Malaina, has been his biggest supporter, and they and their two young children moved to the area from Minnesota to start Horizon City Church.

The first sermon, titled “Treasuring Christ,” will look at Hebrews 1, which states “Jesus Christ is superior to all other prophets and all other claims to truth.”

“We believe in expository preaching, which is going through the Bible verse by verse,” Ortiz said. “Every Sunday, we’ll cover a different section until we’ve gone through the entire book of Hebrews, should take about eight months.”

The first Sunday will offer church services, followed by a luncheon with food trucks. A post-service gathering will be held every Sunday. Starting in January, a Sunday school program is being added.

“The two emphases are Christ-centered teaching and life-giving community,” Ortiz said. “We believe in overt emphasis on Christ. The goal is not to see how Christ can help us; the goal is to see who Christ is.

OPEN DOORS

Ortiz chose West Orange County in which to plant a church because it is a growing area.

“I am thoroughly convinced, based on numerous studies and surveys, the probability of anyone attending church in a local community goes up significantly as there are more options for a church,” he said. “The more churches there are, the more likely it is that people will attend church. I call it the ‘Field of Dreams’ approach. If you built it, (he) will come. … Someone asked me, ‘Does Winter Garden really need another church?’ Winter Garden needs another 25 churches.”

What makes Horizon City different, Ortiz said, is the church’s high emphasis on being an “easy-entry community” and giving people a simple way to get involved in the church — building new friendships and a deeper relationship with God.

“What people really want to know is, ‘How can I make friends?’” he said. “We want to make it easy for people to get together and build friendships.”

Horizon City Church consciously separates teaching spaces and relationship-building spaces, and starting in October, the church will offer a weekly chance to get together in the community for an activity that is strictly fun.

“There will be no teaching involved; just a chance to become friends with us,” he said.

Other small groups will be organized for teaching purposes.

The church’s stated purpose is to make disciples who treasure Christ.

“Everyone want to be happy in life,” Ortiz said. “There’s all different types of happiness and sources of happiness. We have found that the greatest and best kind of happiness is to know Christ. I want everyone to possess a steadfast happiness, and that comes from treasuring Christ.”

A leadership team is in place, but Ortiz is working on building a musical team. Interested persons can visit the church website for information.

REFORMED CHURCH

Horizon City Church is a Reformed church. Reformed theology emphasizes the authority of the Bible, the sovereignty of God in all things, expository preaching and covenant theology, a framework for understanding the Bible based on God's covenants with people.

The church is part of Pillar Network (a Reformed subnetwork within the Southern Baptist Convention).

“We hold to classic Reformed Baptist doctrine, we use a classic Protestant liturgy, and we place great emphasis on Christian hedonism,” Ortiz wrote recently on the church website.

Ortiz previously was a pastor at Cities Church and professor at Bethlehem College & Seminary. He completed a church planting residency at The Grove Church, in conjunction with Orlando Church Planting Network and Send Network.

Previously, he served as a professor and recruiter at Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minneapolis, a pastor at Cities Church in St. Paul and an adjunct instructor at Spurgeon College in Kansas City, Missouri.

He also is a published author and the chief content creator and podcast host for Theology for the Rest of Us.

“Throughout my life I’ve lived in 10 different places, and Winter Garden, Florida, is, without a doubt, my favorite,” Ortiz said. “I’m excited to serve the local community and in the years to come. … I love the people here, I love this place.”