Working Towards a Better Tomorrow

New Life Assembly of God began in the 1960's as Chapel By The Sea under Reb O'Dell and Martha Jones.  They began and led this small congregation of about 25 people while working as teachers locally. During those days people in the church would pay their tithes by giving a tenth of their catch that they got from the sea and give it to the pastor. The Jones' were always well fed with the best in grouper, snapper, turtle, stone crab, and lobster. After serving here for a few years, the Jones' left for the foreign missions field and are now Missionaries based in Springfield, MO. 

After a number of years without a pastor and a viable work, in the middle of the 1970's Reverend David and Shirley Martz came to Marathon to begin the work over again. The Martz family stayed about 5 years ministering to the youth and children and families of the commercial fishermen of Marathon and made great inroads into the community.  Under their leadership the church grew and prospered; even though they were still a church without a home. After about 5 years, the Lord decided to move the Martz family to New Caledonia on the foreign mission field. 

For quite some time, the church that was left had no pastor to lead and they had dwindled down to about 5 members. Around 1985, along came Larry and Ann Kling.  Larry and Ann had done missions work as laymen, but soon began to have a burden for the ministry in the Marathon area. The congregation of 5 asked Brother and Sister Kling if they would consider being their pastors and the Kling's accepted the position. During this time they also began to wok on getting their ministerial credentials with Assemblies of God.  Under their dynamic leadership New Life Assembly of God was born and became a growing, living, organization that reached out to the people of Marathon like never before.  They also led the congregation to have a vision for and to save funds for the purchase of their own building. Finally, in 1988, they purchased and old metal building that was once a car lot and lumberyard and remodeled it for use as a church building. Under their tenure, the church grew to an average of 50 members and at one time hit an all time high Sunday attendance of 122 people! In 1992, Revs Larry and Ann felt God calling them to Naples, Florida to begin new work where they started Eagles Nest Worship Center. 

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In July 1992, Reverend Jeff and Kathy Rudolph, who were assistant pastors from First Assembly in Clearwater were elected to serve as pastors. Under their 8.5 years of stable leadership, the church continued to grow and prosper and at one time they had an all time high of 210 people attend the two Sunday morning services. Their years of leadership provided an opportunity to launch the new children, music, and youth ministries.  They saw hundreds come and know the Lord as their Savior.  It was through their tenacity and vision that our Preschool, Kreative Kids Christian Academy, was born. Under their ministry and direction, at that time, our school became one of the premier and largest preschools in all of the Florida Keys! The Rudolph's also began the process of looking ahead concerning the anticipated future growth of the church and school.  Under their leadership, New Life began to look into the possibility of a building or relocation project.  But, in December 2000, the Lord asked them to move to Bethel Assembly of God in Manchester, NH to begin a new chapter of their ministry life. 

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In 2001 Pastor Keith and Debbie Lafountain, along with their children Adrienne and Brandon moved to the Keys.  Pastor Lafountain had been a youth pastor for 5 years and associate pastor for 9 years as Seminole Assembly of God in the Clearwater area. The congregation, at that time, had 25 in attendance but quickly great to attendance upwards of 200 people within a couple of years.  Church walls were removed to accommodate the growth. New Life Church currently offers services every Sunday at 8am and 10am. Youth ministry, children's, ministry, prayer group and weekly Bible Study. Our preschool, Kreative Kids Christian Academy, offers a Christian perspective and community service for many parents in our local area.  Under the leadership of Pastor Keith and Debbie, and with God's blessings, the mortgage for the church was paid of in a few years and remains debt free. The church was completely remodeled after Hurricane Irma in 2017 to repair the damage from the storm and structural damage from prior storms. New Life Church is presently building a new sanctuary which will be completed as monies are received in keeping with the plan to stay mortgage free.

New Life Church also now offers ministry in a digital format, livestreaming both the 8am and 10am Sunday Services on our Facebook page. Pastor Keith also offers a daily 5 minute devotional video on the page along with daily prayers from our members and our Zoom Bible discussion group. 

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We are so thankful for everything God has done during Pastor Keith and Debbie's 20 years of ministry at New Life Church and look forward to a future blessed with great opportunities.