The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guidelines for companies and organizations .(July 2023) |
Celebration Church | |
---|---|
Location | Main campus: Jacksonville, Florida |
Denomination | Non-denominational Christianity |
Weekly attendance | nearly 7,500 |
Website | www.celebration.org |
History | |
Status | Active |
Clergy | |
Senior pastor(s) | Tim Timberlake Jen Timberlake |
Laity | |
Music group(s) | Celebration Worship |
Celebration Church is a multi-site church based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is a member of the Association of Related Churches. [1] and is led by Senior Pastors Tim and Jen Timberlake.
Celebration Church was founded in 1998 by Stovall Weems and his wife Kerri. The church grew to be a major presence in Northeast Florida. [2]
In August 2011, the church broke ground on a new facility in Jacksonville, including a three-thousand seat arena-style sanctuary. [3] The first services in the new "Celebration Arena" were held on November 11, 2012. [4]
In 2022, the church had 12,000 parishioners and around 10 locations. The church's headquarters in Jacksonville is called the Arena. Other locations included Orlando, Amelia Island, North Carolina, South Florida, and Washington, D.C., as well as operations in the Netherlands, Paris, Belgium, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. Weems was the senior pastor and president of the church until 2021 when he started to shift his focus on missions. In 2021, Tim Timberlake became senior pastor and took over leadership of the Jacksonville church and its campuses in the US. In January 2022, Weems was suspended from his position by the church's trustees due to reports of possible financial improprieties which Weems disputes. [2]
As of 2024, the church's locations include Jacksonville, FL; Orange Park, FL; Orlando, FL; Washington, DC; the Netherlands; South Africa; and Zimbabwe. The church plans to open a location in South Florida. [5] Tim Timberlake is also the co-pastor of the Christian Faith Center in Creedmoor, NC with his mother. [6]
Regarding Scripture, Celebration Church believes that the Bible is the inspired word of God and the only authoritative word of God. They believe the Bible is inspired, infallible, and inerrant. [7]
The church believes in the Trinity — one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. [7]
Celebration Church has three sacraments: water baptism, the Lord's Supper, and marriage. Baptism is by faith in Jesus and performed in water in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Lord's Supper is bread and grape juice is done in remembrance of Jesus' sacrifice. Marriage is viewed "as a covenant, a sacred bond between one man and one woman, instituted by and publicly entered into before God". [7]
On July 13, 2024, Celebration Church had free grocery giveaway in Jacksonville. They provided free food to 2,000 families in need. [8]
In January 2022, Weems was suspended from his position in the church after a vote by the church's trustees. The trustees claimed there were reports of possible financial improprieties. Weems claimed there were financial improprieties, but denied that he committed them. On February 2022, Weems sued to get reinstated in his old position and said he wants "full and thorough investigation of any and all wrongdoing involving the church’s board of trustees, present and former officers, employees, and other parties and organizations that contributed to the dispute." [2] Weems and his wife Kerri filed a lawsuit for injunctive relief against the church. They alleged that the church was improperly billed by a church trustee who tried to oust them. They also alleged that they were threatened with arrest if they entered church property. In response, the church filed a motion to dismiss the Weemses' injuction. In the motion, the church said this is the “latest chapter in a campaign of deception, manipulation, distraction, and abuse of power by Stovall and Kerri Weems against Celebration.” Also in the motion, the church alleged that the Weemses improperly used over $1 million in PPP loan proceeds to fund Honey Lake Farms, LLC – an entity they managed – and to purchase an illiquid, speculative digital currency called TurnCoin. [9]
In July 2023, Stovall and Kerri Weems sued Association of Related Churches (ARC), a national-church planting organization which is associated with Celebration Church. The Weemeses argue that ARC executive director Dino Rizzo, its co-founder Chris Hodges, and founding board member John Siebeling had been “working behind the scenes to oust Pastor Weems from his leadership position” at the church. In December 2024, the lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge over concerns that handling it would violate the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine. [10]
Jacksonville is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonville consolidated in 1968. It was the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020, and became the 10th largest city by population in 2023.
WTLV is a television station in Jacksonville, Florida, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Orange Park–licensed ABC affiliate WJXX, a combination known as First Coast News. The two stations share studios on East Adams Street in downtown Jacksonville; WTLV's transmitter is located on Anders Boulevard in the city's Killarney Shores section.
John Henry Rutherford is an American politician and former police officer serving as the U.S. representative from Florida's 5th congressional district since 2017. His district encompasses most of Jacksonville and most of its suburbs in Nassau and St. Johns counties, including St. Augustine.
Charles Frazier Stanley Jr. was an American Southern Baptist pastor and writer. He was senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Atlanta for 49 years and took on emeritus status in 2020. He founded and was president of In Touch Ministries which widely broadcasts his sermons through television and radio. He also served two one-year terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, from 1984 to 1986.
WJXT is an independent television station in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It is owned by Graham Media Group alongside CW affiliate WCWJ. The two stations share studios at 4 Broadcast Place on the south bank of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville; WJXT's transmitter is located on Anders Boulevard in the city's Killarney Shores section.
Timothy James Keller was an American Presbyterian pastor, preacher, theologian, and Christian apologist. He was the chairman and co-founder of Redeemer City to City, which trains pastors for service around the world. He was also the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City and the author of The New York Times bestselling books The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith (2008), Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God (2014), and The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism (2008). The prequel for the latter is Making Sense of GOD: An Invitation to the Skeptical (2016).
Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa is a Christian megachurch located near the boundary between the cities of Costa Mesa and Santa Ana in Orange County. Although the church takes its name from its original facilities on the Costa Mesa side of the boundary, it is now in Santa Ana. The original Calvary Chapel, the church has grown since 1965 from a handful of people, led by senior pastor Chuck Smith, to become the "mother church" of over one thousand congregations worldwide. Outreach Magazine's list of the 100 Largest Churches in America lists attendance as 9,500, making it the thirty-ninth largest in America.
Riverside Church at Park and King, formerly known as Riverside Baptist Church, is a predominantly Baptist ecumenical congregation located in Jacksonville, Florida, at 2650 Park Street in the Riverside neighborhood. It is affiliated with the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, Alliance of Baptists and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
The JAXPORT Cruise Terminal is a 63,000 sq ft (5,900 m2) "temporary" cruise ship terminal in Jacksonville, Florida. The facility located at the northwest corner of the Dames Point Marine Terminal, beside the Dames Point Bridge. It was completed in six months during 2003 and is a facility at the Port of Jacksonville, administered by the Jacksonville Port Authority. The baggage handling area is 28,000 sq ft (2,600 m2); and a passenger embarkation section has 15,000 sq ft (1,400 m2). Vehicle access to the site is via Hecksher Drive and there is paved parking for about 600 cars.
John Anthony Palumbo is an American author, businessman and professional speaker who writes and lectures internationally on consumer behavior, sales psychology, and personal development. He is based in Jacksonville, Florida.
Donna Hazouri Deegan is an American politician serving as the 9th mayor of Jacksonville, Florida. A member of the Democratic Party, she was elected mayor in the 2023 election, defeating Republican Daniel Davis in the May 16 runoff election. She is the first woman to serve as the mayor of Jacksonville.
Baptist Health (Jacksonville) is a faith-based, non-profit health system comprising 6 hospitals with 1,168 beds, a cancer center, four satellite emergency departments and more than 200 patient access points of care, including 50 primary care offices located throughout northeast Florida and southeast Georgia. The headquarter is in Jacksonville, Florida.
Mark Rutland is a missionary, evangelist, ordained minister of the International Ministerial Fellowship, and founder of Global Servants, formerly known as the Trinity Foundation. and the House of Grace. He was the third president of Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Prior to his election as president of Oral Roberts University, Rutland served as the president of Southeastern University of the Assemblies of God in Lakeland, Florida, from 1999 to 2009. Additionally he has served as pastor of Calvary Assembly of God in Orlando, Florida, and as an Associate Pastor at Mount Paran Church of God in Atlanta, Georgia. Global Servants is an organization centered on missions and evangelism around the world. The House of Grace is a home for tribal girls threatened by sexual slavery in Chiang Rai City, Thailand. He also has a thirty-minute syndicated radio program titled Herald of Joy. Rutland is married to Alison Rutland and has three children.
Elevation Church is an Evangelical non-denominational multi-site megachurch based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Weekly church attendance was 14,000 people in 2023. Elevation has 20 locations. Its senior pastors are Steven Furtick and Holly Furtick.
Bryan Schwartz is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the second round of the 1995 NFL draft. He played college football at Augustana College. During his senior season, Schwartz was the first Division II player nominated for the Dick Butkus Award, which goes to the nation’s best college linebacker.
William Graham Tullian Tchividjian is a pastor and author of more than a half dozen books about Christianity and current issues, including One Way Love and It is Finished. He is a grandson of Christian evangelist Billy Graham.
Casey Treat is an American pastor, televangelist, author and motivational speaker. He is the co-founder and co-pastor of Christian Faith Center in Federal Way, Washington. He hosts his own television program called Your Unlimited Life, which can be seen on the internet and on various Christian TV networks such as Daystar TV and the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN).
Donald McCall "Mac" Brunson is an American Baptist minister who was the senior pastor of the First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida, a Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) megachurch. Previously, he served as senior pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, and in 2018 took over as the senior pastor of Hoover, Alabama's Valleydale Church.
Leonard Boyd Curry is an American politician, accountant, and businessman who served as the 8th mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 2015 to 2023 after defeating then-incumbent Alvin Brown in the city's 2015 mayoral election. He was re-elected in 2019. A Republican, Curry formerly served as chairman of the Republican Party of Florida and co-founded the professional services firm ICX Group.
Kimberly Daniels is an American minister, religious author, politician, wife and mother of four from Jacksonville, Florida. She is a member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing House District 14. She began her political career as an at-large member of the Jacksonville City Council. She served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing House District 14 as a member of the Democratic Party from 2016–2020. Though she lost her re-election campaign in 2020, she has won every election by a landslide since, taking House District 14 back. On the last day of qualifying for the 2022 election, Daniels entered the race for the House District 14 seat in 2022. On August 23, 2022, she easily took the Democratic Primary for House District 14, winning all of the district's 41 precincts. Shortly thereafter, the write-in candidate withdrew from the race, securing Daniels' return to the Florida House of Representatives, this time without ever having to win a general election campaign.