Flowers Temple Church of God

Flowers Temple Church of God in Christ was the first “sanctified” church in WinterPark. Ms. Fannie White started the church (initially named Church of God in Christ until the late 1960s) in her home. Ms. White eventually donated the church’s first piece of property on Lyman Ave. The congregation was the first to hold meetings under a tent until their first tin building was constructed by the second pastor, Elder Harris. Today, the church uses this building as their dining hall. The church’s third pastor, Elder Joseph Flowers, built the second church building in 1934. The building was constructed with the scraps from Mr. Carroll Ward’s old home after it was demolished.

The next year, 1935, there was an issue with the distribution of money by the estate of William Courson, intended to fund churches in Winter Park. Initially, Flowers Temple was excluded from receiving the money because they needed to prove they were a bona fide denomination. Bishop Neabitt’s argument and evidence won the church an allotment that was “just as much as the other churches … the amount was $7,711.” With this money, Flowers Temple purchased the land where the third building was built in 1935. This is where the church now sits.

Elder Flowers served as pastor until his death in 1964. The overall structure of the church has not changed much over the years. The wood floors and hand-lain wooden ceiling are the same as they were in 1935.