The Future of
Horizon West Church

We are praising God for tremendous growth at Horizon West Church over the past 36 months. But as everyone knows, with growth comes new opportunities and new challenges. Please join us in praying for God’s provision of workers – including both staff and volunteers – for the incredible harvest we are seeing.

Pray, too, for the onset of our exciting construction project at our future church property, which we anticipate beginning this spring! Pray for things to move smoothly and efficiently as we seek the earliest possible date to officially begin utilizing the facility for Horizon West Church services and ministries.

In 2016, God began to birth in the hearts and minds of First Orlando leadership the vision of a second campus located in the heart of Horizon West, one of the fastest growing communities in the nation. Since planting the campus in 2018 – and especially since relocating to Horizon High School in 2021 – we have seen God bless our efforts and reach more and more people with the good news of Jesus.

By having a permanent “home” in the heart of Horizon West, we can secure a place where the good news can be lived and proclaimed to the growing numbers of people moving to our area from all parts of the world. The permanence of a physical church location will ensure that generations of Jesus-followers can continue to hold out the hope of the gospel in our area.

Since its inception in 2018, Horizon West Church has existed as a campus of First Orlando. This means having a shared mission, a shared vision for reaching Central Florida, shared senior and executive leadership, shared central services, and a single shared operational budget. This is the reason you will sometimes hear us refer to Horizon West Church and, alternately, to Horizon West campus.

On a practical level, Horizon West campus staff receive coaching through First Orlando leadership and participate in regular departmental and all-staff meetings. The campuses of First Orlando also have a high degree of alignment in the area of sermon series and ministry programs, and campuses have flexibility to adjust as befits to the unique needs of the campus.

In the fall of 2022, we were able to secure nearly 13 acres of land at the corner of Schofield Rd. and the 429. This property was purchased in cash, without taking on any debt!

The easiest place to see and access the property is driving southbound on the 429. Right at the Schofield Rd. exit you will see (and likely already have) a large trailer with the words “Future Home of Horizon West Church.” That’s us! We want to invite you to pray for the church – and for the soon-coming facility that will be located at the property – whenever you drive by.

The Horizon West campus – together with all of the campuses of First Orlando – took part in an initiative called “Greater” in 2024-2025. The collective response from those initiatives was a response of commitments over the next two years in the amount of $56.4 million! This response will allow all of the campuses of First Orlando to accomplish all that God has put in our hearts to do over the next 2+ years, including the building of the future Horizon West Church facility.

Our hope and prayerful expectation is that construction on the new facility will begin later this spring! Stay tuned for a precise date of groundbreaking, which we anticipate announcing in the next few weeks.

We anticipate accomplishing the building project in two phases. The plans for Phase One include:

• A 700-900 seat worship auditorium
• A two-story KIDS Ministry Center with Classrooms
• Parking Lot and Playground
• Shared Office Space and Meeting Spaces

Completion of Phase One is an estimated 14 months from the date we break ground.

The plans for Phase Two include:

• A roughly 1200-seat Worship Center
• Additional Multilevel Building with Classrooms
• Additional Flex Meeting Space
• Additional Play Areas and Parking Lot
• A Cafeteria

Completion of Phase Two will be contingent on the growth of Horizon West Church after moving into our new facility and the need for the additional space afforded by a 1,200-seat Worship Center.

We will prayerfully discern the movement of God as to what opportunities arise once we make the move. In the meantime, we are enthusiastically committed to providing the following ministries and programs in the new space:

• Weekend Church Services
• Weekly Kids and Student Programming
• Celebrate Recovery
• ESL Classes
• Christ-Centered Counseling
• Space for Adult Bible Studies and Small Groups

In addition to any ministries and programs we may offer on our church property, we will continue to point our people toward the missional opportunities that exist in their own spheres of influence, including neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and sports leagues.

You can become a regular financial contributor to Horizon West Church now by clicking the “Give” button on this website. You can also participate by becoming a regular weekend volunteer at one of our two Horizon West Church services on Sunday mornings. Finally, and most importantly, you can join us in praying that God would go before us and that everything we put our hands to would have his hand of favor behind it!