Our History

Our History

The Story of Coquina Presbyterian Church

In 1984 two couples met in the worship service of Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Deland. They had recently moved into the Daytona Beach area from other parts of the country, and were committed to forming a new congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) in the Daytona Beach area. They had both been active members and lay leaders of PCA congregations in their former home towns.

They secured the assistance of Immanuel’s pastor, Rev. David Boxerman, and also the Central Florida Presbytery’s Mission to North America Committee to form Coquina Presbyterian Church.

Rev. Lauris Vidal was called to plant the church, which began in private homes but quickly moved into rented facilities. Within six years the congregation had purchased its present 5 acre property and constructed two general purpose buildings as phase 1 of a city-approved building plan that included, in phase two, a sanctuary structure for worship. Rev. Vidal left in 1992, and Rev. Robert Orner was called as Coquina’s pastor. In 2001, our current Pastor the Rev. Neal Ganzel, was called to Shepherd Coquina Presbyterian Church.

During the first ten years of its start-up and initial development, Coquina members and financial support seeded the formation of two other nearby PCA churches: Spruce Creek Presbyterian Church in Port Orange, and Grace Presbyterian Church in Palm Coast. Today all three churches have entered new stages of their existence as we contend with the waining dedication to godly life through godly families.

Coquina Presbyterian Church, in particular, is in the process of reforming and refocusing its original plan on:

Leading non-Christian members of our community to embrace Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord by:
  • The example of our church’s Christ-Centered worship;
  • The example of our congregation’s loving fellowship and service to others in need, and;
  • Our clear, relevant verbal communicating to them of the “good news” of Jesus’ death on the cross for the sins of His people and also His lordship over all of life.
Discipling individuals, families and households immediately surrounding the church location who, while already Christian believers, have not grown very much in their knowledge and application of Jesus’s teachings and commandment to life, with a special focus on:
  • Young and middle aged-households that are struggling to more deeply understand how faith and worship interact with self-identity, marriage, parenting, career, and wider human culture.
  • Building a discipling “educational outreach” to the burgeoning population of retired men and women moving to, or already living in, our area whose experience with Christianity has left a desire to more deeply understand the faith and its purposeful application to all of life.
  • Building meaningful cultural interaction with non-Christians outside the Christian faith in the neighborhoods surrounding the church by way of educational and benevolence ministries that serve them in various situations of human need.
  • Advancing in our community a more precise grasp and appreciation for the historic “Presbyterian & Reformed” understanding of the Christian Faith.
Continuing its “church-planting” history with the intention of forming new PCA congregations around the periphery of its location as opportunities can be cultivated in those areas.
Building out its original master plan on the current property to include a new sanctuary and expanded Pre-School and Christian Education/Discipleship ministries.
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The principal and adequate reason of all divine worship is what God is in Himself.

Coquina Presbyterian Church: A Discipleship & Family-Focused Church of the Presbyterian Church in America

2085 West Granada Blvd. Ormond Beach, Florida 32174