MEET TWELVE CHURCH By David Rotteveel
My wife, Stephanie, and I were both born and raised in West Pasco County, Florida (a suburb of Tampa Bay). We both grew up, went to school, and played sports in West Pasco. It has always been home. When Jesus saved me, He almost immediately (if not simultaneously) called me to ministry and placed a particular burden on my heart for the community I’ve called home my entire life. I began praying from the age of seventeen that God would allow me to lead a church that would push back the darkness in West Pasco and through the proclamation of the Gospel, see many come to know Christ! March 1, 2020, was an extremely special day for my family and me. It was the grand opening of our new church plant, Twelve Church. My wife and I both grew up minutes from the church’s location and, in many ways, it felt like both of our lives had led to that moment. Over 500 people came to our grand opening! 502 people came and heard the life changing message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are still amazed at the grace of God and blown away by such a successful launch day, and we believe that we are just getting started! Like any church plant, we faced challenges. There were difficulties in the early days as we began
6 | General Baptist Messenger Winter 2020
developing a launch team. There were difficulties as we approached our grand opening. Tears of frustration led to tears of joy when we saw the hundreds of people gathered at this new church! On March 12, we were notified by the School Board of Pasco County that we were no longer permitted to hold our gatherings at Wendell Krinn Technical High School due to the threat of COVID-19. This news was devastating. We felt as though we had so much momentum and so much ahead of us, and to be prohibited from gathering (and not knowing for how long) was not only emotionally, mentally, and spiritually draining but caused extreme fear to enter our minds. We had so many questions, and no one had answers. I remember thinking, “Does this mean that we will never gather again? Is Twelve Church going to close? After waiting to plant this church for over 10 years, will we have to do it all over again?” With so much uncertainty of the future, we did the only thing we knew how to do. We remained focused on the mission of reaching the people of West Pasco with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but our approach had to be adjusted. For a season (the length of which we did not know at the time) we became an online church. We quickly developed a strategy to minister to people
