Above & Beyond

In January, 1992, on Super Bowl Sunday, Pastor Ken Mahan threw a football into the audience seated in his living room, worshipping together for the first time as Above & Beyond Community Church.  That challenged about 50 of us to join him in beginning a new ministry based on reaching the youth and their families in Boca Raton, Florida through athletics, music and drama to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  

For many years we met in various locations all the while praying for a permanent location We started in a living room, moved to an office building, then a high school auditorium, next to a store front, then back to a middle school, and then to the Wayne Barton Center for 12 years.  In May 2009 Pastor Ken was called by God to take a job at a Christian University, and Pastor Austin Calder, Jr. became the senior pastor of Above & Beyond Community Church.  We continued to pray for a “real” church but God continued to teach us that we, the people, were the church.  During that time Pastor Regi Azevedo came on as our small group pastor and Pastor Ken returned to Boca Raton and stepped in as our executive pastor.   In September 2017, our lease ended at the Barton Center and we stepped out in faith.  We worshipped with another body of believers for 5 weeks and again found ourselves without a church home.  Many But One, the Christian Performing Arts Ministry we support, allowed us to use their facilities for a number of weeks until we found a location in North Boca Raton.  Although we were back in a store front, we were thrilled to be settled in to what we thought was our permanent home for Thanksgiving 2017.  However, God was not done moving and in March 2018, the elders of Suncoast called Pastor Austin to consider a merge with their church body, who had a great facility but needed a pastor.  Pastor Austin, Pastor Ken, Pastor Regi and the elders prayed and met together with the elders and administration of Suncoast and decided God was leading us to partner with this body of believers.  Palm Sunday, March 25, 2018 we held our first combined worship service and Easter Sunday, April 1, 2018 we officially dedicated this new body of believers as one family, to the Lord.  

We have waited and watched God move us from place to place over these many years and are delighted to see His hand of providence bless our church family with a wonderful facility.  We have no doubt this marriage of churches was completely ordained by the Lord Himself.  Although we are thrilled to finally be in this “Promised Land” we are more delighted at what He has done and continues to do through this union, in the lives of the families that attend our gatherings.  We have learned that His plans for us are so much greater, above & beyond, than anything we can imagine or orchestrate. Our mission statement says it all: “To know God and make Him known. Impacting Lives. Loving our community.” 

We have the most amazing body of believers who bring the church into this facility every week. We have an extraordinary team of pastors, elders, deacons, musicians, and teachers who serve the Lord with the gifts He has given them.  They love each other well and their love for the community is even stronger. It is our desire to reach the neighborhoods of Northeast Boca and Delray Beach for Jesus Christ, and to do it by loving each person who enters this place, with the love of God. You belong here!