Renee Skalij Family Worship Center on O’Neal Road in Gulfport is temporarily located in two trailers on 5 acres cleared for the church’s future home.
Courtesy Family Worship Center David and Jill Hodges are the church’s pastors
GULFPORT — The Family Worship Center does not have a steeple or even a bell.
The church is temporarily located in two trailers on 5 acres that have been cleared for the church’s future home.
Financing is being worked out in order to start construction on the building of the permanent church.
”The City of Gulfport gave us these trailers. We are truly blessed,” said David Hodges, pastor. His wife, Jill, is also a pastor at the church.
The future church will have an auditorium that will seat 250 members, a children’s church, youth services and a nursery.
“There are a multitude of blessings that Jesus has provided to us,” Hodges said. “We want to let people know that they can have victory in every aspect of their life. If you are sick, Jesus will heal you. Jesus provides health and vigor. After all, we are all God’s children.
“Many people blame God for sickness and disease. They wonder why God would do such a thing. You have to remember God does not work against himself. You would not want your children to suffer with sickness; God does not want his children to be sick. There are many misconceptions”
The Hodges started having Bible study in their home in 1999. Shortly afterwards, the church rented space in Norwood Village, Gulfport. Last December, the Family Worship Center moved to the trailers at the present location.
The Family Worship Center has supported the start-up of seven churches oversees in the Ukraine, Poland, Slovenia, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Hungary. “It has been a wonderful opportunity to be able to support these churches,” said Jill Hodges.
David and Jill met at Rhema Bible Training Center in Broken Arrow, Okla., in 1986 and married two years later.
They pastored in Jonesboro, Ark., for five years and relocated to Florida to work with a traveling ministry.
“People travel from all over the Gulf Coast to visit our church. It’s great that they think our church is worth the drive. Dave grew up in the area, and he had it in his heart to come back here. We love it here and it’s now our home,” Jill said.
