History

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The church was organized and chartered as THE NEW TESTAMENT BAPTIST CHURCH
of New Port Richey on Jan. 27, 1963. The church met in the VFW hall near Hwy 54 in
Elfers. William Chappel was the founder and Rev. Van Doren was called as Pastor. The
church had 14 charter members. Prior to this date the members met at the Chappel's
home.

The church moved to property which had been purchased by the Florida Baptist Bible
Fellowship on Aug. 25, 1963. The building on the grounds was a converted garage. On
Sept. 25, 1965 the church called William Chappel to be it's new pastor. Where he served
until his death in 1972. A new name came with the new building; but the new name
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH PORT RICHEY was only temporary.

The building under went extensive remodeling and the name changed again to
VICTORY BAPTIST CHURCH , and a new pastor was called, Rev Jerry Brown.
The date was Oct. 12, 1976; Rev. Brown Pastored for 3 years.

On May 19, 1995 the congregation voted to revert back to the
name of FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH PORT RICHEY. 1995 proved to be an
active year for the church. In September the churched voted to merge with
COMMUNITY BAPTIST CHURCH and all would share the First Baptist name.
Rev. Ellis Bond, Pastor of Community, became co-pastor with Pastor Manley.

In March of 1997 Rev Bond became the sole pastor following the resignation of
Rev. Manley, Pastor Manley served the church for over 17 years. Pastor
Bond and his wife Sherri have faithfully served the Lord in leading our church to
where it is today; a light unto the world, a beacon of hope for our neighbors.