Horizon West Church finds forever home

Horizon West Church welcomed nearly 800 people for a Sunday service Nov. 16. 

The Vision Sunday service was an outdoor event that took place next to the nearly 13 acres, located at the corner of Schofield Road and State Road 429, the church purchased in 2022.

Attendees sang worship songs, some were baptized, and everyone prayed over the property. Although the church has yet to be built, it is nearing its groundbreaking. 

Since its inception in 2018, Horizon West Church staffers began looking for easy-access locations in Horizon West to purchase and build their forever home. 

In 2021, as Horizon High was opening, Horizon West Church partnered with the school and used it as the church’s campus, while also giving back to staff and students. 

Although the partnership is great, the church’s goal always was to have a property of its own. 

In 2022, the perfect Horizon West location became available for purchase — nearly four years after beginning their search. 

“We just kept praying, kept walking, kept believing,” said Chris Ogden, Horizon West Church campus pastor. “The location was definitely right where we wanted to be (and) believed we needed to be — not only to have a high visible and accessible church but also a place that generations of people just can come and find hope, find freedom in a place that’s not hard to find, not hard to access.” 

To them, it was a no-brainer that they would be calling that land home in the future and bought the property for $6.5 million. 

The campus will be built in two phases, with a cost of $20 million for construction. 

Phase one will break ground in the spring of 2026 and will consist of a 33,000-square-foot building that will include a worship center with seating for 800 people, a two-story education wing and dedicated spaces for children and student programming. 

With this first phase, Horizon West Church hopes to continue its partnership with various organizations, groups and ministries like Celebrate Recovery and Family Advocacy Ministry. 

“We want to bring that message of hope, healing and transformation,” Ogden said. “We believe that our community is right for the needs that we’re hoping this church is able to meet.” 

The first phase of the project also will include ESL classes, Sunday services and midweek activities for children and students to experience worship and fellowship through Bible teachings. 

The hope is to have phase one of the project completed by Easter 2027. 

The second phase would include space for a The First Academy school campus, as well as a worship center auditorium seating 1,500 people and accompanying support space. 

“We are expecting to fill all these seats multiple times on a Sunday, Lord willing,” First Orlando.

Pastor of Administration Matthew Robinson said. “There’s a verse in the Bible that says that God can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, so we’re just hoping and believing for that.” 

What they’re most excited for is the permanent footprint the church will have from which generations to come are going to be able to benefit.

“This isn’t just a building for us today but also for our kids and grandkids and generations to follow in the future,” Robinson said. 

More than that, they hope to be a church sharing the love of God with the community. 

“It’s really about representing the impact that God can have through a church on people because that’s what it’s about,” Ogden said. “We want to get the good news to as many people as we can and believe that God’s positioned us to do that.”