The small, migrant town of Immokalee, located about 40 miles east of Naples, is mostly known for farming. However, for Fellowship Church (formerly known as FBC Immokalee), small would be a misnomer. They operate on a kingdom-sized mindset, taking faith-sized strides to support the mission of the church to know God and make Him known.
“We do not have fancy programs or any outlandish techniques. Instead, we have sought to make God’s Word the program by which we do ministry,” said Pastor Timothy Pigg, a native of Florida and current FBC Board of Missions member.
Pigg said that this mission to know God and make Him known has struck a fire in the hearts of his members and he hopes that God will use the ministry being done at Fellowship Church to propel evangelism and revival across southwest Florida and beyond.
“My hope is that every resident in southwest Florida has the opportunity to hear the gospel through the faithful pursuit of our membership in knowing God and making Him known,” Pigg said.
When Pigg arrived at Fellowship Church in May of 2015, they only had one deacon, no staff, and 40 people for worship. Almost four years later, Fellowship Church has six pastors who are mostly volunteer, five deacons, and is now averaging 250 across two campuses and three languages services. This month, Fellowship Church experienced its highest Sunday attendance in its 103-year history with 600 people.
When Pigg was asked why he thought God was growing and blessing Fellowship Church he said, “We are fully committed to knowing God and making Him known. I believe that God is blessing us as a response to our obedience to Him.”
Pigg knew that if they were going to take seriously their mission to know God and make Him known, they needed to plant a second campus in a predominately Catholic community, Ave Maria. Despite launching Fellowship Church Ave Maria in a storefront of the Martial Arts and Fitness Academy on Super Bowl Sunday, February 5, 2017, they had over 75 people in attendance.
“The ministry that God is doing at our Ave Maria Campus is unique. We don’t have the space for ‘traditional church’, but God is showing us that ‘traditional church’ is not necessarily a biblical church,” Pigg said.
In addition to planting another campus, they have also launched new ministries to make God known in their community, which include:
- School of Music and Arts
- Fellowship Sports Ministry
- Two Language Ministries (Creole and Spanish)
- Hosting Mission Teams
- Gospel-Centered Recovery Program
“We try with all our ministries to find precedence in the Bible. If the Bible does not allow it, we do not do it. I truly believe that this text-driven approach to our various ministries has brought about God’s blessings,” said Pigg, explaining that all of this would not have been possible without the support of the FBC. “The new structure of Regional Catalysts has enabled us to have access to the support of the FBC through Wayne Briant. He has regularly prayed and provided wisdom to me over these last four years. Even during the most difficult times of our revitalization period, I knew I had a soldier right beside me in Wayne.”
For members at Fellowship Church, the mission to know God and make Him known is engrained in their DNA. “Our hope for the next 100 years at Fellowship Church is to plant more campuses,” said Bill Bethea, longtime member and deacon. “Our hope is that other churches in southwest Florida join us in our mission to know God and make Him known.”
By Jessica Pigg, Contributor, FBC Writers’ Network, February 20, 2019