April 10, 2023
Six months after Hurricane Ian devastated portions of Florida, the recovery effort continues. “There are short-term victories, and there are long-term challenges,” said Gary Cox, teaching pastor at First Christian Church in Fort Myers, Fla. . . .
January 30, 2023
Charlie Russell’s recovery from COVID-19 and multiple attendant health challenges during weeks of hospitalization in 2021 has gone better than expected—much better. . . .
October 22, 2022
Christian churches in Cape Coral and Port Charlotte, Fla., are scrambling to help their congregations and communities recover from Hurricane Ian.
October 18, 2022
Gary Cox has been in Fort Myers, Fla., for 33 years. He’s been through a handful of hurricanes. But he’s never seen anything like the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. “This is just widespread devastation,” said the co-lead pastor of First Christian Church in Fort Myers. . . .
October 3, 2022
Much of Florida is recovering from a direct hit by Hurricane Ian last week. Here’s a sampling of what some Christian churches and agencies in Florida have posted on their websites and via Facebook in the past few days. (We are continuing to update this article.)
January 26, 2022
Rusty Russell thought his son, Charlie, would recover quickly when his boy was hospitalized with COVID-19 in August. That wasn't the case. Rusty, who preaches in Florida, traveled back and forth to Tennessee weekly to help during Charlie's long ordeal.
September 20, 2017
As Hurricane Irma spun through the Caribbean, Floridians boarded up houses and businesses, filled sandbags, and prepared for the worst. Some evacuated. Many prayed. New Day Christian Church in Port Charlotte, which is on the Gulf Coast, prepared to serve their community in the name of Jesus. “We have a relationship with the county,” said Rusty Russell, lead pastor at New Day. “They basically took over our building as a shelter for oxygen-dependent patients.” Charlotte County provided a big generator so that the people who require electricity for their lives and well-being could be cared for. Russell said, “We have
March 22, 2009
 By Darrel Rowland  On Long Island, fledgling True North Community Church is readily shelling out more than $2 million for a three-year-old building on four acres. In northeast Ohio, historic First Christian Church in Canton is meeting the payments for a $25 million relocation project from three years ago””for now. Along Florida”s Gulf Coast, rechristened New Day Christian Church faces an uncertain future because of its struggle to pay for a $5.5 million facility built about four years ago. While America”s economic woes are unquestionably hitting churches across the country, the varying experiences of this trio of growing
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