Pastor Kyle Holmgren of Tomoka Christian Church told us of their plans to plant a new church here in Bunnell in the near future. Pastor Kyle has been involved with Tomoka Church since moving here from Hawaii in 2014.
We asked Kyle why plant a church in Bunnell? “We believe that Bunnell needs more bible-based churches. Flagler County as a whole has 137,000 people. Taking all the bible-based churches in Flagler County, we see that we’re only servicing 9% of the population. With a church in Bunnell, we’ll be able to bring the Gospel message to a community that needs to hear God loved them so much He gave His only Son so that all of them might be saved. Outside of Sunday service, planting a church gives us a permanent base of operations for good works being done in the community, as well as a gathering place for people wanting to experience their faith with like-minded people,” Kyle told us.
Kyle went on to talk about the impact they plan to make in the community. He noted that they wanted to do more than just start a church, they wanted to make the community a better place. “Planting this church, we’re hoping to see the Bunnell community and Flagler County as a whole come to faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior” he said. Currently they have three community groups where people can go to connect with other community members to talk about the Christian faith. Kyle stated his hope is, “to have 12 groups and 200 people coming to weekly service to worship together and hear the gospel preached.”
Currently the plan to open the doors on the new church is sometime in the January to February range of 2024. The Church services will start out being held at Bunnell Elementary School’s Cafeteria in Building 11, however a long term goal of obtaining the church it’s own building is definitely something Kyle and the rest of the church plant team hopes to achieve in the future.
When asked about community impacts, Kyle said, “Statistics aren’t the goal of the church but rather an important tool to hold ourselves accountable to the good work God’s called us to do. Having said that, I believe a good sign the church is doing its job is if we see numerous statistics being affected. Statistics such as less violent crimes, a rising economy, easier access to resources, improvement of school grades, a shrinking divorce rate, more marriages, and increasing baptisms in our local community are all incredible signs of the impact God has through His Church.”
Kyle also shared the impacts they hope to make with Flagler Schools. Kyle is a member of a local coalition of pastors in Flagler County called “Faith for Flagler” which is hosted by Epic Church. The coalition sponsors all of Flagler County schools and works to help improve the lives of teachers, staff and students alike. The coalition works together to help the pastors work with the schools while still following all of the laws and guidelines of the county and state. Tomoka also donates heavily to Bunnell Elementary along with having a ministry with over a dozen volunteers who come in weekly to work with the teachers, administrators and students. Kyle stated, “The school outreach ministry is an important foundation of Tomoka Christian Church Bunnell and will be a permanent and ongoing ministry the church will operate.”
He also mentioned the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) which is now operating in Flagler County high schools and middle schools. This organization provides physical, emotional and spiritual resources to coaches and athletes. Kyle said, “Tomoka Christian Church is heavily invested in FCA’s operations within the community and we most definitely plan on continuing our partnership with them.”
