Location: Orlando, Fla.

Presbytery: Great Lakes - Gulf

Organization: 1920

Membership: 107 communicant; 50 baptized

Pastor: Nathan Eshelman

Website: OrlandoRPC.org

“Now is the time for our people who dislike the cold winters in the north to make their reservations to spend the winter in Orlando, where the climate is delightful and where the oranges are now ripe on the trees.” Mr. J. C. McKnight wrote this to the Covenanter Witness as a way to lure Covenanters to Orlando, where his daughter, Ada, attended nearby Rollins College (from 1915–1919).

Soon would follow familiar Reformed Presbyterian names: Moore, McBurney, McFeeters, Chestnut, Terry, Donahue, and Wilson. In the late 1910s a society was established, and by 1920 a congregation was established under the Philadelphia Presbytery. By 1926, a new building was erected on the corner of Livingston and Broadway at the cost of $17,363.11. The Orlando congregation has had 10 pastors since Wilbur J. McBurney was installed in 1921.

Today the Orlando Reformed Presbyterian Church is made up of 160 members, some with generational ties to those infant days and some who are new to the Reformed faith. The congregation is pastored by Dr. Nathan Eshelman and has four ruling elders: Kevin Duffey, Mark Goerner, Alejandro Ramirez, and Jonathan Schaefer. Two elders retired in the past year, being conferred the title of elder emeritus: James Pennington and Joe Worsham. Joe Worsham served for 50 years before he retired! Deacons include Scott Bailey, Chuck Bloom, Steve Garrow, Paul Knutson, and Becky Farrant (on sabbatical).

Many ages and backgrounds are represented in the church. Continuing a baby boom, we recently had four infant baptisms on one Lord’s Day, and a few couples are expecting children. We have had several recent marriages as well. Members are from many different nations, including Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Argentina, Vietnam, Colombia, Scotland, France, Northern Ireland, Chile, El Salvador, Korea, and Canada. Puerto Rico is worth mentioning as well, but it is part of the U.S. Orlando RPC also has retired missionaries and pastors in the congregation.

The Lord’s Day is filled with worship and fellowship. Sabbath school classes are offered for all ages, with Pastor Eshelman currently teaching a class on ancient church history. The high schoolers read Christian classics, such as R.C. Sproul’s The Holiness of God or The Art of Divine Meditation by Edmund Calamy. At the end of the regular Sabbath school year, a program highlights what the children and young people have learned throughout the year.

Pastor Eshelman is preaching through 1 Corinthians in the morning and Proverbs in the evening. When the Lord’s supper is administered (using the old RPCNA practice of communicants seated at table), sermons from Isaiah 53 are preached. The Lord’s table normally has between 75–85 communicants and is administered six times per year.

Morning and evening worship is often followed by food and fellowship. A monthly fellowship lunch with various themes is always a hit, and there is always an excuse to eat together on other Lord’s Days, either at the church or in people’s homes. Several homes host dozens of people each Lord’s Day. Following evening worship, many will spend the evening together enjoying fellowship and theological discussion over drinks and snacks.

Orlando RPC has various ways that it reaches out to the community, including “Coffee on the Corner.” Great coffee is served, and often there will be many neighbors that stop in for discussions and coffee. Men meet monthly for a book study and breakfast. There are various women’s Bible or book studies throughout the week. The young people often gather for fellowship, and on a regular schedule meet at the manse for lunch and times of testimony from older saints. At least once a month several walk over to the main city park, Lake Eola, and pass out tracts and Bibles while engaging folks in prayer and evangelism. We participate in a local pro-life ministry that has resulted in the congregation raising hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past several years. Many other events and gatherings occur throughout the year.

As the church grows, our hope would be to see more congregations planted in Florida. For nearly a decade, 1,000 people a day have moved into the Sunshine State, making it an ideal place for new churches to be established as cities and towns transition and accommodate new residents from around the nation and world. Currently we are working on planting in Celebration, Fla., (think Disney World) and Gainesville, Fla. (think Florida Gators). Our hope would be to see Christ establish more congregations to His glory.

Ordinary means of grace and extraordinary hospitality and fellowship—these are things that we value in Orlando and seek to emulate in our congregation. Maybe Christ is calling you to be a part of this as well.