Their motto is: ‘Play Hard — Pray Hard — Finish Well.’ Thursday evening just before dusk, Live Oaks Community Church congregants watched as their Pastor, Hemingway Village resident Chris Holck, removed a blue tarp — revealing a promising sign.
Located in vacant pastureland at the junction of Woodridge and County Road 103, just behind the County Road 466 Wal-Mart in Oxford, the sign reads “Future Home of Live Oaks Community Church and Elim Senior Living — A Ministry of Elim Care — a Faith-based Community.” The unveiling was to have taken place earlier in the week, but was cancelled due to torrential downpours.
If all goes well, a total of 25 acres will be shared by the new church building and a senior residence. “This is a beautiful piece of property. We’ve been looking at many pieces of property,” Pastor Holck said, gesturing toward their real estate agent, Danny Smith, a former local farmer and preacher’s son, “We kept coming back here because of the beautiful live oak trees on the land, and because it is golf cart accessible. This is just outside The Villages, and to find cart-accessible property outside The Villages is  incredible.”
Live Oaks Community Church is about 2 1/2 years old. They began meeting monthly at the Waterfront Inn, and currently meet for Sunday services at the Wildwood Community Resort, just south of State Road 44 near Brownwood Paddock Square.
“Purchasing land is a process,” real estate agent Danny Smith said, “and we are doing our due diligence. Our recent meeting with the City Commissioners was uneventful, which is a good thing. The land will have to be re-zoned, Our final meeting with them will be November 24.” The group hopes to be able to move ahead by early next year with soil and traffic studies, engineering and architectural plans.
Smith recalled living nearby in his youth, and growing melons and vegetables on this very land. “Development didn’t drive out the farmers,” Smith said. “The young people were no longer interested in farming, and with NAFTA and other agreements, we just couldn’t get the labor we needed. We used to play basketball right over there on CR 466,” he continued, “and could usually finish an entire game with only one or two cars driving through. It’s a different world now, and I’m part of both.”
“This land is a great fit,” Pastor Holck continued, “and this is a new church with a Biblical message and blended worship approach that fits The Villages. We welcome people from all different church backgrounds. Most of our people come from a different faith tradition or have no church history. At Live Oak, we share a common faith in Jesus Christ and the mutual confidence in the Bible as our guide for life. We like to say the ground is level at the foot of the cross. We offer an alive and dynamic worship experience for people who are living life to the fullest right now. We like to say: ‘If you are not dead — you are not done!'”
Pastor Holck described the congregants as mostly Baby Boomers who have accumulated a lot of knowledge and hopefully wisdom. “We are here to help each other live a balanced life.” Holtz added. “We want to reach out to friends; to help the frail elderly who may be forgotten in their old age; and provide mission opportunities — locally, nationally and globally.”
The church leaders like the concept of an ‘encore.’ Encore means the best saved for last — giving our lives in The Villages to the Lord. They want to help people find a greater purpose for the second half of their lives — and are here to support each other as they face the challenges of their lives and the world.
For more information, e-mail: info@liveoakschurch.org and www.elimcare.org.
