Patmos Chapel: An Urban Center of Influence
We became a ‘seven-days’ Adventist Church by moving from our traditional church building in an upscale city into a 107,000-square-foot warehouse near an impoverished working-class community.
When the Patmos Chapel Seventh-day Adventist Church relocated from Winter Park to Apopka, Florida, in 2019, many church members didn’t realize that the congregation was changing more than its address. The new location proved to be a gateway to new avenues of ministry.
The congregation, under the leadership of Pastor James Doggette, moved from a traditional church building in the upscale city of Winter Park to a warehouse complex near the borders of South Apopka, an impoverished working-class community.
The Setting
Gone was the conventional sanctuary. Patmos was now housed in a 107,000-square-foot athletic center complete with tenants that offered basketball, volleyball, indoor soccer, and gymnastics, and a mentoring program for kids with behavioral problems. Patmos became more than a church, it had become a landlord, and its doors were now open every day. We had become a ‘seven-days’ Adventist Church.
Blessed with two large gymnasiums, a restaurant, and enormous space, the facility had an established reputation as a place where some college and professional basketball players practice. Johnathan Thompson, who played professionally in Europe, recently held a basketball camp for youth; and Adidas, the athletic apparel brand, staged a photoshoot on campus. But aside from the buildings’ numerous amenities, its most exciting asset is the 24,600 people who visit the building each month. In short, Patmos’s mission field was right within its walls. The question is how to reach them.
First Steps
The first order of business was to change the building’s name to The Well Activity Center, a reference to the story of the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4). The name sends a message to visitors, letting them know that they’re not just coming to a gym, but to a space where they can find physical and spiritual renewal.
Next steps were building relationships with business owners, providing a friendly presence, and assuring children and parents that the Well is a safe place, free from smoking, drugs, profanity, and violence. While the tenants offered fee-based training programs and well-structured sports teams, Patmos opened the doors for free access to its basketball courts.
With all the children and parents coming to the Well, Patmos’s situation is now laden with opportunities for relational evangelism. One initiative implemented was The Bridge, in which church members became greeters, opening doors for visitors and offering them bottles of water. Signs were placed around the building, inviting people to submit prayer requests via a QR code. Later in the evening, a short prayer session was held over the requests.
Mobile Food Drive
Patmos Chapel has a long history of food distribution in Winter Park going back to the 1980s. But when the church moved at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, the need for food exploded. On a typical morning of the food drive, more than 100 cars can be seen flooding the parking lot, several coming as early as midnight. By closing time, more than 200 cars have come through the line.
Through the mobile food giveaway, Patmos feeds 500 families twice a month. The church’s walkup pantry serves about 250 families a month. In 2025, the church distributed 841,028 pounds of food (or 700,857 meals) according to Second Harvest Food Bank, Patmos’s main food supplier. The operation is staffed by a core of more than 30 dedicated volunteers, many of whom are not Adventists. Sometimes the volunteers are supplemented by groups from a hospital, supermarket, or other businesses. There’s no telling who might supply the next group of volunteers.
In addition to these initiatives, a group of Patmos members serves 300 unhoused men at the Central Florida Commission for the Homeless shelter in Orlando each month. Volunteers prepare food, serve meals, and clean up.
Summer Camp
For the past three years, the church has organized the “Kids at the Well” summer camp. From small beginnings in 2024, camp registrations doubled each consecutive year. In 2026, 160 campers registered for the seven-week program. The enormous influx of students took the staff by surprise. The campers came from 17 cities across Central Florida. Three children came from Coral Springs, more than 200 miles south of Apopka. Estimates are that only 60 percent of the children came from Seventh-day Adventist homes; around 40 percent came from families that are not Adventist.
Staffed with certified teachers, the camp targets kids aged 4–14, and features an expanded curriculum, including leadership training, entrepreneurship, graphic design, computer programming, robotics, social media readiness, along with traditional math and science, sports, and character-building lessons. Support for the camp comes from registration fees, donations from church members, and a grant from AdventHealth. The health system also supplied 15 computers for the program.
Patmos en Español
After serving at Oakwood University for seven years and recruiting 400 Hispanic students to campus, Isaac Ibarra, previously a pastor of a Cuban-Puerto Rican congregation, envisioned a lively, celebration-style worship experience. He discovered several Spanish-speaking people who liked Patmos’s style of worship. In 2025, under Pastor Ibarra’s volunteer leadership, Patmos Chapel started an afternoon Spanish-speaking worship service, Patmos en Español.
In an effort to bond with new attendees and members, Patmos initiated a twice-a-month luncheon. New members take part in many church activities, and some of them have been appointed to church office. Since its beginning, Español has generated 15 baptisms. And since January 2025, Patmos’s total baptisms are 61, all without conducting a public evangelistic campaign.
Sharing Your Story
When a church actively provides vital services for its neighborhood, such as a food drive or summer camp, it’s important to invite community leaders to witness the church at work and at worship. Senior Pastor James Doggette has developed relationships with a city mayor, county supervisor, police chief, hospital president, and several city, county, and state representatives. The Well has served as a venue for community forums and a town hall meeting.
Getting Started
While Patmos Chapel has a unique ministry as a result of God opening a door, there are many doors and windows that God wants to open for your church. To get started, survey your community door-to-door to find out what the perceived needs are. Survey your church to see where your resources are and see if you can match them with community needs. Advertise your program and get feedback. Seek support and advice from community leaders and look for opportunities to collaborate with them.
Teach your members how to effectively engage their non-Adventist clients with low-pressure, friendship evangelism. Constantly evaluate your project and be willing to adapt.
Carlos Medley is the Patmos Chapel Church Communication Director. Senior Pastor James R. Doggette contributed to this article.