Lead Pastor

The Lead Pastor for the Winter Garden Campus provides spiritual, strategic, and operational leadership for a dynamic, high-growth congregation in Central Florida. Reporting directly to Senior Lead Pastor Don Cousins, this leader serves as the campus’s primary pastoral platform presence, cultural architect, and organizational leader. Operating within Discovery's multi-site "Spider Plant" model, the role balances centralized global alignment with localized ministry flexibility to facilitate profound life-change. The position leads the campus through a historic transition, moving into a brand-new 20-acre facility with an 800 seat auditorium in the rapidly growing Horizons West area.

Requirements

• An organization-building leader who possesses the strategic capacity and leadership horsepower to direct multi-disciplinary staff teams, scale operations, and navigate a major facility relocation while maintaining organizational health.
• A Word and Spirit communicator who delivers authoritative, text-centered expositional teaching anchored in Scripture while remaining open and responsive to the gifts and presence of the Holy Spirit.
• A vision-casting galvanizer who inspires congregation members, business owners, and community leaders toward generous kingdom investment and missional engagement.
• A relational culture-builder who fosters a high-trust, non-performative "family feel" environment that develops staff and volunteers in their areas of calling and gifting.
• A humble, collaborative leader who thrives within a centralized multi-site framework, communicating with "humble confidence" without corporate polish or pretense.

Why We Love This Opportunity

This is a rare leadership opportunity to step into a healthy, debt-free, and highly relational church that is actively expanding through a $58 million faith initiative. You will lead a high-capacity staff and congregation into a brand-new 20-acre permanent campus facility while building on a deep local culture of authentic community and "hugs over handshakes". Supported by an experienced pastoral team, seasoned elders, and centralized operational systems, you are empowered to focus on your "Zone of Anointing" as an organization-building leader. Furthermore, you will help shape the future of a movement uniquely committed to being a Word and Spirit church where biblical truth and spiritual power operate together in full measure.

About Discovery Church (Winter Garden Campus)

In 1984, a small Baptist community church in Orlando was planted with a vision to help believers discover all that God has for them, adopting the name Discovery Church in 1993 as a non-denominational movement. Over the following decades, the church expanded into a multi-site model, launching its second campus in southwest Orlando in 2005 and its third campus in east Orlando in 2007. A significant milestone occurred when Discovery transitioned from its original three-acre site to a spacious 26-acre Ministry Center equipped with state-of-the-art technology to serve its growing community. Today, nearly 5,000 people gather weekly across three physical locations—Sand Lake, Alafaya, and Winter Garden—as well as an online campus. Under the leadership of Senior Lead Pastor Don Cousins, who joined the church after 17 years at Willow Creek Community Church and extensive national consulting, Discovery has clarified its disciple-making mission. The church operates with a healthy staff culture and a firm theological commitment as a "Word and Spirit" church where biblical instruction and the active gifts of the Holy Spirit operate hand-in-hand. Looking toward the future, Discovery is debt-free and actively engaged in a $58 million "LET'S GO" faith initiative to expand and build permanent facilities for its campuses. A primary focus of this expansion is the Winter Garden Campus, which is breaking ground on a brand-new 20-acre property in Horizons West featuring an 800 seat auditorium. Through its "Spider Plant" multi-site framework, Discovery is poised to continue multiplying disciples, developing leaders, and planting kingdom roots throughout Central Florida.

About Orlando Winter Garden and the surrounding Horizons West corridor in Greater Orlando

represent one of the fastest‑growing and most desirable regions in Central Florida. Known for its year‑round sunshine, vibrant lakes, and close‑knit neighborhood feel, the area offers an exceptional quality of life with top‑rated public schools, safe streets, and diverse housing options. Residents enjoy zero state income tax, world‑class dining and cultural venues, major professional sports teams, and immediate access to coastal beaches just 40 minutes away. Winter Garden blends the warmth of a family‑oriented suburb with the energy of an affluent, executive‑level community.