Pastor: John Forsythe
John was raised on the beaches of central Florida, first in Ormond Beach before moving to Indialantic in the summer of 1965. He graduated from Mel-Hi in 1972 and Florida State in 1976. He then spent the next 29 years in Texas as a marine biologist with the Univ. of Texas in Galveston (another barrier island!).
He was raised a Methodist by his two Christ-following parents who celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary this past summer. They raised him in the admonition of the Lord, and though he strayed from the church after college, he never could escape the call of the Holy Spirit to return.
Ten years of trying different churches eventually led him to Calvary Chapel of Houston in 1998, where the expositional line by line study of God’s Word revolutionized his heart. After leading the Singles ministry for three years, he took an early retirement and went on staff at CCHouston, taking on multiple other church duties while being in training for ordination as a pastor. By this time he had met and married Opal through their involvement in the church.
Their testimony of God’s power includes her being diagnosed with late stage leukemia just 18 months after being married. But God brought her through two bone marrow transplants and today she stands beside John in the birth of this fellowship. John was ordained in 2006 and he and Opal moved back to Indialantic to care for his parents so they could live out their days in their beachside home.
A couple of years prior to moving back to Florida, the Lord put it on John’s heart to one day plant a small Biblically focused church on the beachside. To be sure this was God’s call, John and Opal first became actively involved at Calvary Chapel of Melbourne, leading the singles ministry and serving in marital counseling, prayer counselors and oversight of the large Angel Food outreach. However, by late spring of 2008, the calling was still strong to step out in faith and plant a small fellowship in the Satellite Beach area.
In June ’08 the decision was made to proceed and the first Service and Bible study was in September of that year, meeting Sunday mornings at DeLaura Middle School. After 9 months, the Lord opened the door to re-locate to a full time location in Indian Harbour Beach where the Church now resides. The Holy Spirit has anointed Pastor John with the gifts of a pastor/shepherd and a passion to teach God’s Word with enthusiasm and relevance, which he is eager to share with this new fellowship of believers.
Pastor John loves to surf, play tennis and just enjoy living on the beaches of South Brevard.
