Good Churches in the area? (Palm Bay, Melbourne: chapel, movie theaters, preschool)

[Carrie8038]

We'll be moving down this summer and I've been looking into the local churches down in the Viera area and there are tons!!! Can anyone help me narrow down the list by recommending a good one? The things I'm looking for are: good youth program, friendly and welcoming, vibrant and alive, radical grace, no hellfire/judgment. I'm open to recommendations for areas other than Viera as well because it's really important for me to find a good church rather than a good-enough church that is close by. Thanks!!

[TXB]

A couple that are really good are Calvary Chapel Viera and the Church at Viera.

CCV is a satellite campus of Calvary Chapel Melbourne and that's going to be video church, but it's really good. I am the Campus Pastor at Bay West Church in Palm Bay (a satellite campus of First Baptist Church Melbourne) and we visited CCV and met with some of their staff before we started. We went the live teaching route, but CCV is well-done, as is Calvary Chapel Melbourne (which runs about 5000-10000 a weekend down in Melbourne, CCV runs about 1000 or so - I think). Mark Balmer is the pastor there and when I've heard him preach it's meant a lot to me personally.

Church at Viera is a Southern Baptist church and is VERY good. Mark Ragsdale is the Pastor and he's a great guy. I met with him before I started BW and he was very helpful and kind. He's a good preacher and their church is strong. There are two that are some of the larger ones and they are solid.

That's what I've got off the top of my head. But there's a lot more there...I'll be interested to see what others say.

If you go further away, there's FBC Melbourne or CCM in Melbourne. These are larger churches...FBCM is about 900 or so on a Sunday and CCM with, as I said above, 5000-10000 each weekend through many services.

[Carrie8038]

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it. I'll google these churches and see what info they have on their websites.

[jdoty]

We go to First United Methodist in Melbourne. We like it because the church is very community focused compared to others in the area. We're also not a fan of mega churches like CCM (no offense intended; they're doing God's work, it just isn't for us) and First United Methodist is a good medium size.

My advice? Try them all. If you're not tied to a given denomination, try a bit of everything. Try CCV. Try the baptist churches. Try the nondenominational church that meets at the Rave movie theaters. Go to a Episcapalian service and a Presbyterian service. There are a ton of really good churches here so keep an open mind and one will feel like home.

[brco12]

Another Calvary Chapel in that area: calvarychapelspacecoast.org

[JFP in Christ.]

Pastor Mark Ragsdale is a fraud.
He was partially responsible for the rape of a two year old. Soon all the pastors in Brevard and the world will hear of what he did and his not willing to confess his sins before God and his church.
Godspeed Pastor Mark. You do know who I'm talking about. He used to be your jetski buddy friend before you betrayed him and his family.

[JFP in Christ.]

Ben was and is helping the man you betrayed. I'm with the international board of realtors. Look me up.

[buenos]

It might be a weird question, but what kind of messaging do the Brevard County churches have?
Here in SF Bay area CA I encountered 3 different churches that all trying to push some Marxist twisted messaging embedded into Christian themes. They seem very desperate in this deceiving conquest. One organized an anti-Trump protest with a facebook poster displaying a communist fist symbol.
When I went to Dallas, visited the Prestonwood Baptist Church, they sounded much more genuine, true to the Bible.

[pinkcat123]

Originally Posted by JFP in Christ.

Pastor Mark Ragsdale is a fraud.
He was partially responsible for the rape of a two year old. Soon all the pastors in Brevard and the world will hear of what he did and his not willing to confess his sins before God and his church.
Godspeed Pastor Mark. You do know who I'm talking about. He used to be your jetski buddy friend before you betrayed him and his family.

We are new to the area and my child attends the preschool at Church at Viera. I knew nothing about this news and I am very concerned now. What in the world are you talking about...rape of a 2 year old? Was this at the preschool? What do you mean the pastor was partially at fault. This is extremely disturbing news as a parent of a child who attends preschool there. Can anyone give me a news link or give me more information?

[grouse789]

Originally Posted by JFP in Christ.

Pastor Mark Ragsdale is a fraud.
He was partially responsible for the rape of a two year old. Soon all the pastors in Brevard and the world will hear of what he did and his not willing to confess his sins before God and his church.
Godspeed Pastor Mark. You do know who I'm talking about. He used to be your jetski buddy friend before you betrayed him and his family.

Moderator this post should be cut. No links providing any evidence. You can't come on here and make outrageous claims!