Bringing the Light of the Gospel to Seminole and Greater Pinellas County
Christ the King Presbyterian Church exists to glorify God through biblical worship and to extend and strengthen the kingdom of Christ in Seminole and beyond through apologetic outreach, loving relationships, and faithful discipleship.
“But sanctify Christ as Lord of your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense (apologia) to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with gentleness and reverence…” – *from I Peter 3:15
Our congregation has its genesis in the prayers of a small group dedicated to God and a pastor’s desire to begin a church in which Biblical worship would reign supreme. For several years, a faithful band of believers prayed for a Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) congregation to be established in the Seminole area. Concurrent to their prayers, Peter La Pointe, pastor of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in North Tampa, was praying how God would best use his gifts in ministry. God seemed to be leading him toward the possibility of starting a new church. Seeing the needs of Pinellas county, Peter approached the Mission to North America (MNA) with the idea of planting a new church.
God seemed pleased to bring the two parties together and it was determined that a new church should be organized in Seminole, Florida, just across Tampa Bay in Pinellas County. Support was raised from the presbytery, the denomination, interested churches and individuals. Peter was approved by the presbytery and invited by the core group to begin the work. In 1999 the core group began to meet, eventually moving from a house to an office complex where it met on Sunday evenings during the summer of 1999. After God dramatically provided us with our first meeting place at the gymnastics and dance academy, a date was established to begin morning services – September 19th. After a time, God opened the doors for worship to be moved to the chapel at Keswick Christian School where the church met until God worked again in the life of the church providing for us the historic chapel on the corner of 54th avenue and Seminole Boulevard, our current church home.
After almost 25 years of faithful ministry at Christ the King, Pastor Pete La Pointe retired in June of 2024. Our long-time Assistant Pastor, Steve Sinclair, assumed the pastoral duties until a pulpit committee could be formed and select a new candidate to be the lead pastor.
In August of 2024, this work came to a completion as the committee selected, and the congregation voted in favor of, calling Samuel Lee Brewer Jr. to be the next lead pastor at Christ the King. Samuel was then ordanined and installed on October 6th of 2024.
Our Historical Roots
Christ the King, Seminole is a confessional congregation and has for over 25 years embraced the historical Christian faith as expressed in the creeds of the early, universal church such as the Apostle’s and the Nicene creeds. We are a member of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), and, as such practice a presbyterian form of church government and adhere to Reformation theology as summarized in the Westminster Confession of Faith.
*Apologetic, in this sense, means “to give a defense”.