Showing posts with label Northland Church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Northland Church. Show all posts

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Pastor Joel Hunter of Northland featured in CNN report

Florida Evangelicals a different breed of voter than brethren in Iowa, South Carolina
By John Sepulvado, CNN

(CNN) – Conservative Christian activist Ralph Reed has called the Bible Belt home for decades, but he grew up in Miami in the 1970s, when the city was emerging as a diverse megalopolis.

Among his middle school friends were Jews, Catholics and Methodists.

Then, at age 15, Reed's family relocated to the sleepy mountain town of Toccoa, Georgia, so his dad, a doctor, could take a better-paying job.

“It was very conservative,” says Reed, who now lives outside Atlanta. “At first – as would be true of any 15-year-old – I didn’t like it. I think it was a culture shock.”

Ultimately, the mostly evangelical residents of Toccoa shaped Reed’s faith, helping lead him to Jesus in his 20s. But in terms of his faith-based organizing, the well-known activist drew more on his experiences in hyper-diverse Miami.

"Later on in life, when I became a leader in the Christian Coalition, I had a greater appreciation [for] ethnic and religious diversification,” Reed says.

That could be good news for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor is looking to regain momentum from chief rival Newt Gingrich, after the former speaker’s upset in South Carolina, in Florida’s Tuesday primary.
A more centrist evangelicalism

As a percentage of GOP voters, there are fewer evangelicals in Florida compared to South Carolina and Iowa, where Rick Santorum won the presidential caucuses, according to CNN exit polls from 2008.

In that year, evangelicals accounted for 40% of Republican primary voters in Florida, compared to 60% in the Iowa caucuses and South Carolina primaries.

And compared to those other early primary states, Florida is much more religiously diverse. In the 2008 primary there, Catholics were nearly a third of the Republican vote, with other kinds of Christians, Jews and those with no religious affiliation each claiming a chunk of the vote.

Still, evangelical Christians claim a bigger share of the Florida Republican vote than any other religious tradition. There also are signs they may be more tolerant of a Mormon candidate than born-again Christians in the Bible Belt and Midwest.

In the South Carolina primary, Romney claimed 22% of the evangelical vote, compared to 44% for Gingrich, according to CNN exit polls.

Florida’s evangelicals are “more open” to the idea of a Mormon in the White House, according to Orlando area pastor Joel C. Hunter.

“Our nature, of being a fairly mobile state, with a lot of tourism and a lot of transcultural and transnational interaction really makes us boundary spanning, rather than sticking to our own affinity groups,” Hunter says.

He leads a congregation of 15,000 at Northland, a Church Distributed, a nondenominational megachurch of the kind that are more popular in Florida than in Iowa or South Carolina.

“For any independent church, you’re going to be open – necessarily open – to non-ready made boundaries, open to other religious groups,” Hunter says. “You’ll be more likely to partner with groups that aren’t necessarily like your own.”

The pastor cites his church’s partnerships with local synagogues and mosques to help local homeless children. For Hunter, teaming up with different religious traditions follows the example of Jesus.

“Jesus talked to the people, the religious leaders others wouldn’t talk to,” he says.

“As an evangelical, I should be ready to talk to a lot of people that aren’t like myself, because that’s what I see in the life of Christ, and I’m looking to build relationships.”
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Monday, April 13, 2009

Rev. Joel Hunter of Longwood FL with Obama connection


The Rev. Joel Hunter of Longwood's Northland, a Church Distributed, is greeted by President Barack Obama at the White House after the evangelical Christian pastor was appointed to the Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. (COURTESY OF THE HUNTER FAMILY / April 2, 2009)



Where Obama turns for spiritual advice: Rev. Joel Hunter of Longwood
By Jay Hamburg Sentinel Staff Writer
April 12, 2009

He doesn't thunder from the pulpit in righteous rage. He'd rather relay stories that make a moral point.

He has no catchphrases, fussy handlers or televised religious talk shows.

What the soft-spoken Rev. Joel Hunter of Longwood does have is an evangelical church of 12,000, a talent for building diverse coalitions and a prominent spiritual advisory role in the administration of President Barack Obama, a Democrat.

Not bad for a registered Republican who came to Central Florida in 1985 to take charge of a small flock that grew into one of the region's largest megachurches.

As Hunter delivers his three Easter sermons today at Northland, a Church Distributed, he holds a place in the national spotlight unmatched by any other faith leader in Central Florida.

But it wasn't something that seemed destined from the start.

The man who prayed with Obama on Inauguration Day lost his first preaching job when a United Methodist church in Indiana faced a crucial decision nearly 40 years ago: Should they buy new carpet or keep their youth minister, the motorcycle-riding evangelical called Pastor Joel?

New carpet won by a landslide.

"I wasn't that great a shakes," Hunter said.

But in the decades that followed, the hard-working pastor proved to be a formidable leader.

He has become a much-sought-after spokesman for a new brand of evangelicals who hope to tone down the rhetoric of culture wars while engaging in good works. Along the way, the 60-year-old pastor has sought alliances with Catholics, Jews and Muslims and irritated some traditional evangelicals, who worry that too much emphasis on social issues would nudge the Gospels to the sidelines.
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Where Obama turns for spiritual advice: Rev. Joel Hunter of Longwood

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Food bank begs religious leaders to help feed hungry

Food bank begs religious leaders to help feed hungry
Jay Hamburg and Kate Santich | Sentinel Staff Writers
November 20, 2008
Unable to keep up with the growing ranks of hungry people, a Central Florida food bank turned to a group of local religious leaders to issue an interfaith plea to the community: Give before the cupboards go bare.

As the economy declines, Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida has struggled to keep up with unprecedented demands. The nonprofit agency distributed 2 million pounds of food last month. That compares with 1 million in October 2007.

And the gap between supply and demand keeps growing, said Dave Krepcho, the food bank's president and chief executive officer.

"We need to close that gap, not only with food, but we need to close it with faith," Krepcho said Wednesday at the agency's first multi-faith forum on hunger.


During the event at Lake Eola Park, the group of Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders all declared it is the faithful's duty to the help the poor and hungry.

"What we need to do is issue a clarion call to the greater faith-based community to take responsibility," the Rev. Joel Hunter, senior pastor of Northland, a Church Distributed in Longwood.
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Thursday, July 31, 2008

After outcry, event to help Sanford's homeless moved to Longwood

After outcry, event to help Sanford's homeless moved to Longwood
Kate Santich Sentinel Staff Writer
July 31, 2008
First, Sanford officials decided they didn't want 200 homeless people flocking downtown for a daylong event that would offer them medical care, showers, meals, employment counseling and identification.

Then the city's mayor showed up Wednesday at the rescheduled event -- moved to Longwood's Northland church -- to show her support.

A mixed message?

"We're not really evil, mean and wicked," said Sanford Mayor Linda Kuhn, who, at the urging of the City Council, had asked if the event could be relocated. "I believe in what they're doing."
go here for more
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/seminole/orl-homeless31x08jul31,0,5971031.story

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Longwood FL church helps homeless

From haircuts to counseling -- event at church will help the homeless
Adrian G. Uribarri Sentinel Staff Writer
July 30, 2008
LONGWOOD-More than 150 volunteers will gather at Northland Church in Longwood today to help the homeless. Services will include showers, medical care, haircuts, employment opportunities, substance-abuse and mental-health counseling. Homeless Services Network of Central Florida is organizing the event, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 530 Dog Track Road. For more information, call 407-893-0133 or visit www.hsncfl.org

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/seminole/orl-b3report30_308jul30,0,4657931.story