About Core Church
Dr. Greg and Lesa Phelps are the lead and founding pastors of Core Church
In 2013, God led Dr. Phelps with his entire family to plant a ministry and Church that would bring healing and Christ’s salvation to the Tampa Bay community. Core Church has always been about the people and the spiritual growth of God’s Church.
Core Church exists for These People, This Place, and This Purpose!
These people.
No matter what was going on, Jesus focused on the people. In Matthew 15:32, Jesus declared, “I have compassion for these people…I do not want to send them away hungry…” Core Church is about loving and caring for people.
The very first time I came to Tampa, I walked into a Panda Express and began a conversation with a young man who was lost and seeking meaning in his life. I understood then that planting this church would always be about these people! I believe Core Church is going to be about never sending people away hungry for God and His life.
This place.
I recently heard about two different magazine articles that talked about Tampa. They both rated Tampa number one but in various categories. One of them ranked Tampa as the vainest city in America, and the other rated Tampa as the most depressed city in America. These two conflict with each other. How can we be the vainest and the most depressed city at the same time? The same force drives both conclusions: focusing on the outside of a person while ignoring the inside or spiritual aspect of someone.
Tampa Bay must see that the answer is not in looking or acting better but in becoming better. Only God can change our hearts, and that is what Core Church is about seeing God change hearts from the inside out so that we can become better in our lives, families, and communities.
This purpose.
I love the quote from Elton Trueblood, "We have made at least a start in discovering the meaning in human life when we plant shade trees under which we know full well we will never sit." The actual reality of the sense of this statement can only be seen in the meaning of human life as it pertains to our relationship with God.
The purpose of Core Church was to plant a church that will continue to grow to provide ever more excellent spiritual shade and growth for those who do not even understand the meaning of that tree. Our purpose was to plant so that in years to come, what we planted would grow into a place where many continually embrace God's love and grow strong in a real relationship with him.
“Wonderful people, sermon and worship”
— Andrew Adams