Joel Hunter has been one of Central Florida's foremost religious leaders, synonymous for more than three decades with Longwood's evangelical megachurch Northland, A Church Distributed. But within the next couple of months, Hunter, 69, plans to step down from the calling he once thought he would devote the rest of his life to and start a new ministry for the poor and homeless.
Joel Hunter has announced that he is stepping down as a senior pastor in Orlando megachurch Northland Church to go beyond the walls of the house of worship and minister to the poor and the homeless.
Daniel Kelsey, 32, and Heather Kelsey, 30, were found dead on the side of I-4 near DeLand, their three sons were buckled into their SUV with its engine still running. The two died from lethal doses of fentanyl, a drug that is at least 50 times stronger than heroin.
The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America By Frances FitzGerald Simon & Schuster, 2017 In the hallway just outside the sanctuary of the midsize Southern Baptist church I grew up in hung a small cork board for posting announcements and other information.
One year later, CNN's Anderson Cooper returns to the Pulse nightclub. "CNN Special Report: The Pulse of Orlando: Terror at the Nightclub" airs Friday, June 30 at 10 P.M.
By Jim Leusner & Barry Glenn With Contributions by Dan Tracy, Cheri Henderson, Peter Kerasotis and Michael McLeod Joel Hunter Roberto Gonzalez 1. Joel Hunter Senior Pastor, Northland, A Church Distributed In Hunter's 32 years as Northland's pastor, the nondenominational Longwood-based church has grown from 200 worshipers to more than 20,000 taking part locally and worldwide, including congregations in Oviedo, Eustis and multitudes via the Web.
This past January, Homeless Services Network of Central Florida, along with the most expansive participating number of organizations and volunteers to date, conducted Central Florida's annual Point-in-Time (PIT) Count. The PIT Count, an actual physical count of homeless individuals, serves as an annual gauge to capture the number of persons or families in a community who meet the federal definition of homeless, as defined by the U.S.
One year ago, 49 people were killed at Pulse nightclub and Orlando was left reeling. A year later, Orlando Sentinel Snapshot talks with those impacted by the massacre: Since losing her son Christopher "Drew" Leinonen in the Pulse shooting, Christine Leinonen has been fighting to ensure what happened to her son never happens to anyone else.
ORLANDO, Fla. (RNS) Our natural tendency after a horrific event is to rush too quickly into blame and explanation. After the Pulse nightclub shooting here in Orlando, the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, which targeted the LGBTQ community and left 50 people dead including the shooter, I was probably not alone in asking, "Who did this and why?"
Seminole County residents have banded together to form a solar co-op to make it cheaper and easier for homeowners to install solar panels, which can produce major saving on power bills.
Dr. Joel C. Hunter is the Pastor of Community Benefit at Action Church, a multi-site congregation based in Winter Park and his one-minute daily devotionals can be heard worldwide on Z88 radio. He is the Chairman of the Central Florida Pledge campaign; a call to action for residents of Central Florida who are tired of hateful discourse and want to create a safe and inclusive community for all. The pledge asks residents to commit to treating all people with kindness and respect, especially those with whom they disagree. To learn more: https://www.centralfloridapledge.com/
He is a nationally and internationally known advocate for the poor, the marginalized, and those dealing with disabilities. He served a three-year term as the Chairman of Central Florida’s Commission on Homelessness. And, after 32 years as the senior pastor of Longwood, Florida’s Northland Church’s congregation of 20,000, he spent five years leading a non-profit in networking with churches and local charities to locate available resources and benefit the struggling in our community. Orlando Magazine highlighted his efforts naming him as the #1 most powerful voice for philanthropy and community engagement. And listed him among “Orlando’s 50 Most Powerful” six years in a row.
Approaching today’s challenges in a biblical and balanced manner, Dr. Hunter is neither partisan nor politically oriented, but often relates to public officials in a pastoral role; he served as a spiritual advisor to President Obama during his eight years in office.
Dr. Hunter has served in leadership roles of the World Evangelical Alliance, serving more than 600 million evangelicals, and the National Association of Evangelicals, serving more than 40 denominations and thousands of churches.
Married for 53 years to his wife, Becky, he is the father of three sons, grandfather of seven, and great-grandfather of two.
