Our History

In May of 1994, Pastor Wayne Young was asked by nine families (23 people) to be their pastor and begin a church. The church that was formed was called River City Christian Center and first met at Englewood High School on Barnes Rd. In the fall of 1994, River City leased space from what was then Peeler Memorial United Methodist Church on Atlantic Blvd. The church grew to about 100 people in the first year.

At the end of that first year, Pastor Wayne was approached by Pastor Mike Turner of Abundant Life Outreach to merge with them and become their pastor, as Pastor Mike was leaving for the foreign mission field. After prayer, the board of River City Christian Center agreed and the merger was completed. The church moved to Anniston Rd. in the Regency area and grew to 160 members. 

In February 2002, our church was approached by three churches seeking to purchase our facility. Already feeling the desire to move the church, the Elders began to pray for direction. It was clear that we were to move to the Westside and “re-plant” our church to reach an area with very few churches in relation to the rest of the city. Our target area became North of I-10 and West of I-295. At that time, there were only 13 evangelical churches in that area. Only two of them were showing any significant growth, though the area was growing with many new subdivisions. As a result, we began a two-year process in the move toward the “re-plant” of our church.

In January 2004, we became WestGate Church and in February, we began having our regular Sunday Services at Eagle’s View Academy at 7788 Ramona Blvd. West. The new work of WestGate Church now had a core of forty members and began to grow almost immediately.

In April of this same year, Pastor Elmer Crews joined our pastoral team. For almost two years, he and Pastor Wayne had been praying, seeking God’s direction on how to launch this church re-plant. They knew God had called them to work together in this work. One year later, our membership was at 85 people with an average weekly attendance of 105.

In May 2005, Pastor Wayne and the other staff began to assist and encourage Pastor Howard McIntyre of Carpenter’s House Christian Fellowship during a great time of trouble. Over the course of the summer, through much prayer, the Board of Carpenter’s House and the Elders / Board of WestGate decided it was best for the churches to become one and work together in fulfilling the vision of WestGate. As a result, the merger of the two was completed, incorporated as WestGate Church. This merger added another 35 members. This has been an outstanding union. By the end of March 2006, we saw the church membership climb to 170.

On Easter, April 16, 2006, we planted another new church in Macclenny, Florida called Celebration Baptist Church of Macclenny, with Pastor Elmer taking the lead. We sent 6 families (22 people) to assist with this church plant. At WestGate Church, we are committed and convinced that by bringing hurting and struggling congregations together and starting new churches with healthy and vibrant people who have a heart and passion to engage in fresh new works, we fulfill our vision by “transforming community – one life at a time”. We accomplish this through Loving God and Loving People. We seek to “do good to all men” according to Galatians 6:10.

On April 5, 2009 we settled into our new home at 570 Ellis Rd. South. We are thankful for what God has done in our lives over all these years. We seek to accomplish His great plan for our lives by living a life of Never Ending Worship saying, “Here I am. Here’s what I have. Lord, what do You want to do?