Welcome to Family Church
About our
church
What we
believe
What We Believe About The Bible
We believe that the Bible is the absolute Truth and God’s final authority. We believe both the Old and New Testament is the inerrant, verbally inspired, and infallible Word of God.
What We Practice Through The Authority Of The Bible
We accept the Bible as our manual for living. Our first question when faced with a decision is, “What does the Bible say?” We practice Bible reading, Bible study, and Bible memorization. The Bible is the basis for all we believe.
What We Believe About God And The Trinity
We believe that there is one true living God who is revealed to us as the Godhead existing eternally in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and that these three are as one God. We believe that God the Father orders all things according to His own purpose for His own glory. We believe that God the Son is Jesus Christ who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born without sin of the Virgin Mary to redeem man from sin. We believe that God the Holy Spirit is sent from God to convict of sin and righteousness, and to be an indwelling guide, teacher, and source of strength for the believer. We believe that all who receive Christ as Savior are born of the Holy Spirit.
What We Believe About Salvation Of Man Through Jesus
We believe that salvation is through Jesus Christ alone and the atonement and forgiveness He extended to us on the cross. We believe that man was created in the image of God, that man sinned (rebelled against God) and because of the fall, incurred both a physical death and a spiritual death (eternal separation from God). We believe that all human beings are born with a sinful nature. We believe that all who call upon the name of the Lord as Savior will be saved and will spend eternity with God.
What We Practice Through The Ordinance Of Baptism
We practice baptism by immersion under water—the way Jesus was baptized and the way the Bible commands. Being a church ordinance, it is a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.The Bible tells us that every believer is a minister. We encourage every member to find a place of service and ministry. Every believer has direct access to God through prayer and Bible reading.
What We Practice Through The Spirit-Led Life
We believe that the only way possible to live the Christian life is through God’s power within us. We seek to practice a daily dependence on God’s Spirit leading and enabling us to follow God’s Word.
What we practice through the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper
We observe the Lord’s Supper as a symbolic act of obedience. Baptized members of the church remember the death of Jesus and anticipate His second coming through sharing in the Lord’s Supper
What we believe about the church and the believer
We believe that a New Testament church is an association of baptized believers. We come together through worship, small groups, and service. As the body of Christ, the church, we have diversity in our gifts and unity in our beliefs. We believe that every believer is called to a holy life of service and should belong to a Bible-believing local church for fellowship and for the furtherance of the Gospel to every person at home and around the globe.
What we practice through the autonomy of the local church
Christ – not a person, group, or religious organization – is the recognized head of the church. We practice self-government and independence from any denominational control and team up with a network of like-minded churches for greater impact. Each congregation determines its own strategy, structure, and style.
What we practice through giving
We practice tithing as an act of worship to our Savior and Lord. We recognize that tithing 10% of our income is the starting point, and giving above and beyond that is our privilege.
What we practice through sharing the Gospel
We practice sharing Christ personally as we exemplify the life of Christ and verbalize the Gospel. It is the responsibility of every Christian to share the Good News of the Gospel with those whom God brings across our path. Of course, we also like to invite friends to church.
Our Network
Although we exist as an autonomous congregation, we understand the power of connecting and cooperating with other gospel-centered churches and organizations. To that end, we are part of a nation-wide network of over 40,000 churches called the Southern Baptist Convention. We partner together to do some amazing things. For example, our network sponsors over 5,000 missionaries who are sharing the love and message of Jesus globally. We work together to plant new churches in major cities across the U.S., operate the second largest disaster relief organization in North America, and have created seminaries to train new generations of leaders for churches around the world. We are excited about the power of this network to exponentially increase the impact of our church.
get to know
our team
Chuck Carter
Lead Pastor
Angel Garcia III
Teaching Pastor & NexGen Pastor
Russ Donaho
Lakeside Community Pastor
Charles Cooper
Teaching Pastor
Rainey McFadden
EWG Community Pastor
Ray Lloyd
Windermere Community Pastor
Nick Goelz
Teaching Pastor
Joel Ramos
Spanish Community Lead Pastor
Lécio Dornas
Brazilian Community Lead Pastor
Troy Schmidt
Director of Communications
Emille Crawford
Director of Social Media
Mark Goff
Worship Arts Pastor
Thea King
Director of Guest Experience
Denise Burch
Director of Special Needs Ministry
Brian Emond
Kids Pastor
TJ Watson
Student Pastor
Hudson Griffin
Student Director - Lakeside Campus
Christopher Roberts
Oakland Community Pastor - Director of Sports Ministry
Russell Slack
Administration Pastor
Filipe Mendes
Director of Web Technology
Carol Vereb
Director of Missions
Lesha Miller
Director of Events
Bobby Vanderzalm
Director of Assimilation
Chad Vermillion
Director of Video Production
Grayson Stallings
Art & Brand Director
Craig Anglin
Visual Arts Director
Sarah Sechrest
Lakeside Kids Director
Daniel Goins
Director of Onstage Production
Yvette Romero
Lakeside Preschool & Kids’ Club Director
Sophy Abreu
Windermere Preschool Director
Doug Rapp
Campus Pastor Liaison
Vanedson Ximenes
Brazilian Community Executive Pastor