OUR STORY

Beginning in 2013-2014, a small group of people living in Lakeland began attending Aletheia Tampa with a vision, dream, and prayer for a new church to be planted in our city. As God watered the seed for this church plant over many years, Aletheia commissioned & sent out a team of 30 adults and a dozen children to plant The King’s Church in September of 2018.

We started meeting for corporate worship at Dixieland Elementary School on Sundays and in smaller gatherings (City Groups) scattered throughout Lakeland during the week. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, our congregation was required to shift locations for our Sunday gatherings. We began to worship at Union Hall on Sundays and acquired our own office space where we hosted kids ministry and various gatherings throughout the week.

Just as we began to outgrow our gathering spaces, God opened up an incredible opportunity for our church family. In the fall of 2021, The King’s Church went under contract with the intent to purchase a historic church building right in the heart of the Dixieland historic district here in Lakeland. Through the generosity of our church members and ministry partners, God graciously provided all that we needed to acquire this property as our long-term home and we officially moved in January of 2022.

Since the beginning of our church, we have existed “to see a greater worship of Jesus through declaring and displaying the gospel.” We are passionate about making much of Jesus, supporting the work of church planting, caring for the fatherless & motherless through adoption and foster care, and being rooted as a gospel community in the Dixieland historic district of Lakeland.

WHY LAKELAND?

We believe that the Lakeland area is home to many great local churches. Why have we planted another church in this context?

Biblically and strategically, church planting is the most effective way to reach the lost, unchurched and de-churched of a particular area. It is estimated that more than 80% of people who live in Lakeland and the greater Lakeland area are not connected to any local church. Therefore, we believe that Lakeland needs many more churches who are seeking to be biblically faithful to the good news of the gospel while also spreading the good news of Jesus to our community. Our hope and prayer is that we would connect with those who do not profess faith in Jesus or do not have a church home.

Furthermore, we hope to be involved in supporting many new churches being established and planted in our city and county. We do not view other local churches as competition, but rather seek to partner with them in seeing the lost in our city come to be saved by Jesus. We believe that Lakeland needs many faithful and engaged local churches who are committed to declaring and displaying the good news of the gospel.