In 2000, Ed Kendrick was a student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. While there, God called Ed and his family to church planting and instilled a vision in him to start a new church in Winter Haven, Fl. Ed shared his vision with Gary Grubbs, a Worship Pastor and friend he had known for a number of years. Gary expressed an interest in joining with Ed to move forward with the vision God had provided. Ed and Gary began praying and working together in preparation of starting the new church upon Ed’s graduation.
Ed graduated in May of 2002. He and Gary along with their families and a few friends started Heartland Community Church. Heartland’s first service was in July of 2002 with 83 people in attendance. The following week, attendance dropped to around 30 people who formed the core group for the new church.
During the first year, Heartland met in the Admirals Inn Hotel located at Cypress Gardens. The church grew to around 100 in weekly attendance at that location. In the summer of 2003, the church moved into a new location in a local commercial center. The location was more permanent, not requiring setting up equipment and tearing it down each week. There were also a number of buildings that could be leased for future growth. Heartland stayed in that location for about six years. During that time the church experienced steady growth. When the church moved to their current location in 2009, average weekly attendance had grown to around 450 and the church had rented 5 additional buildings to accommodate their needs.
In April 2009, Heartland moved again. This move was to a local shopping Plaza located next to Cypress Gardens Adventure Park. The new facility was remodeled to seat 400 people and was equipped with state of the art audio/visual equipment. For the first time, Heartland’s children ministry was housed in the same building as the church itself.
Since moving to the new facilities in April of 2009, Heartland has experienced explosive growth. The church has added two additional campuses, one in Eloise and one in Auburndale. The average weekly attendance has grown to more than 1000 each week and is still growing.
Although the growth God has blessed Heartland with is great, growth is not the focus of the church. The Bible is clear that “God grows the church.” Heartland’s focus has always been and will always be about pointing people to Jesus Christ.
Our mission is to help people … Connect with God … Connect with Others … and Connect in Service. At Heartland, we believe if we’re getting that right, our future will be bright.
Heartland is still a young church and our history is only nine years old. However, as we look back we can see God at work in so many ways. All of the changed lives, the success, and the growth are a testament to God’s working in and through His faithful people. It’s His church. He’s just given all of us a great opportunity to partner with Him as He works in our lives and in the communities we have the privilege to serve.
