First Baptist Church of Dade City is a growing and dynamic church in the Center of Dade City, Florida (the Pasco County Seat) and near the Tampa Bay area. Music Ministry and Events: The current Music ministry includes an adult choir, a Prime Timers (Senior Adult Choir), seasonal children’s choirs, a Praise Team and an orchestra. The church is known for large pageants and we currently have full-scale Christmas and Easter Pageants each year and participation in a large community-wide Patriotic musical each Independence day. We are also one of the host churches for the annual “Church Street Christmas”—a local event that includes various music and performance events during one full week in December along Church Avenue—a nostalgic tradition that makes Dade City such a great small town.
Music Style: The style of music is blended-contemporary. There are a few hymns each Sunday Service along with more contemporary praise and worship music. The Praise Team also performs at special events. At Easter, they performed “Eyes of Faith” (a Moore and Clydesdale Production) and this past Christmas they performed “Season of Joy: (both ensemble musicals coordinated with a DVD and drama). Choir selections are diverse and have included new arrangements of popular contemporary selections such as “I can only imagine,” “Who Can Satisfy?”, “Lord of Heaven and Earth” and other more traditional standards including “Majesty and Glory of Your Name” and traditional hymns that have been rearranged for a more contemporary flavor.
Services: The Minister of Worship leads worship in two Sunday morning services (9:15 and 10:45) along with a Sunday evening service.
Leadership: Over the last couple of years, our ministry team has been completely rebuilt. Our Senior Pastor, Dr. Ed Kuffel, just completed his first year of ministry this past Easter. The Children’s Minister, Dan Trippie, is nearing the completion of his first year, and the Youth Minister, Chad Zeller is about six months into his first year. The Minister of Prime Timers and Senior Adults, Steve Wright, has been serving double-duty for quite some time as he also continues as the Interim Minister of Music. With these new appointments, the energy of the church has increased significantly. The new innovations created in the Children and Youth ministries have begun to generate more visits to the church. Under the leadership of our new pastor, we have also seen an increase in decisions and Baptisms. God is doing great things here.
Direction: One of our largest focus areas is an upcoming relocation of the church. We have purchased and paid off a 59 acre plot of land about 3 miles from our current location and are in the process of finalizing permitting and plans for the Phase I Construction (approximately a $8 Million Dollar building Effort). We will relocate to this new property within the next two years.
