As The Villages continues to grow at a rapid pace, so do the churches.
The most recent church to break ground for a new building is New Life Christian Church, an independent non-denominational church.
Earlier this month, members broke ground for their new 500-seat worship center. It will be built on the same land where they are now meeting on County Road 462 in Wildwood.
Construction is planned to start this summer. Members held the groundbreaking a little early said the church pastor Matt Malott, who prefers to go just by “Matt .”
The plan is to be in the new center in early 2017.
The auditorium where they are now meeting will be used for classrooms.
“We are calling it a worship center instead of a church,” said Matt “because the people are the church.”
The new worship center will have a large stage and an extra- large foyer. “Plenty of room for visiting, this is a congregation that likes to visit with each other,” said Matt. It will also include a suite of offices.
Matt describes New Life Christian Church as conservative.
“We accept the Bible as God’s word. We think the miracles are miracles.” The church started in October of 2005. They moved to their current location in 2008. With their Sunday attendance averaging more than 300; it was time for a larger space.
“We are an incredibly welcoming and friendly church,” said Matt. “I’m not tooting our own horn; this is what I hear over and over.”
“We have a very active senior population,” continued Matt. “We do a lot of mission programs.”
Locally they participate in High-Impact Days. They recently had 60 members painting and weeding at Wildwood Elementary School. The vast majority of members are Villagers.
