Our Story

In February 2014, Pastor Don and Barb were driving through a neighborhood in Wildwood, Florida, when they noticed several children riding their bikes. A question came to mind: What will their story be? Would it be marked by hopelessness or by hope? They believed God was calling them to help make it a story of HOPE.

The Winters family moved to Wildwood in 2015 and began sharing their vision with others: to plant a church that would plant churches and reach every generation with the love of Christ and the hope of the Gospel.

For several months, Hope Community Church gathered in homes, restaurants, and community spaces.

On February 12, 2017, Hope Community Church officially launched. For the next two years, we were a mobile church, faithfully setting up and tearing down each Sunday morning—first meeting in the Wildwood Elementary School cafeteria, and later at Hiers-Baxley Life Event Center in The Villages.

New Creation Worship Center merged with Hope Community Church in July 2018. Both congregations believed they were better together than apart. Pastor Don serves as Lead Pastor. Pastor Zeph Mahadeo of New Creation became the Outreach and Discipleship Pastor until his retirement in December 2025.

As God continued to grow our church family, it became clear that we needed a permanent home in Wildwood. On March 31, 2019, we held our first service in our current location.

In September 2024, we added a second Sunday service to make room for continued growth. Throughout the week, connection groups meet both in our building and across the community, helping people build relationships and grow in faith.

We look forward to the day we can move into a bigger building to accommodate more children and a larger worship space.

From the very beginning, Hope Community Church has been committed to being an instrument of hope in the world. We are intentionally contemporary, multigenerational, and multicultural—an outward-focused church living on mission for God. We measure success not by our seating capacity, but by our sending capacity, as we equip and send people into our community and beyond to share the hope of the Gospel.