Our Story

Our congregation was started on Feb. 27, 2000 under the leadership of our founding pastor, David Ford. From February 2000 to March 2023, our congregation was called New Town United Methodist Church.

From the beginning, New Town was to be a church in the Wesleyan tradition, going back to roots in the Methodist movement in the First Great Awakening. Our goal was to be Spirit-filled, which can mean a lot of things in different churches. This was to be a church that believes in the gifts of the Spirit, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, prayer, and the healing power of God.

God has been extremely faithful to us as a church in Williamsburg since 2000. We have had the great joy of serving Williamsburg and the surrounding area with the love of Jesus, and we have been blessed by our friendship with other churches in the community. God has also raised up many individuals for full-time ministry from our congregation, and we launched a school (now independent) that has taught well over 1,000 students over the years.

We've been privileged to support long-term missionaries to Paraguay and then Spain, and short-term missions in Cuba, Brazil, Paraguay, Nicaragua, Trinidad, Ukraine, Spain, Thailand, South Korea, Mexico, and England. In the US, we've sent numerous groups to Appalachian Service Project, countless trips with Jeremiah Project in Virginia and West Virginia, and various other youth trips in the US.

In the fall of 2022, our congregation voted with a 94% majority to depart the United Methodist Church. We were unable to leave the UMC with our building, but God has been so faithful to provide resources and meeting places for us to gather and worship. We are extremely grateful to all of the churches in the Williamsburg community who helped us in a time of great transition.

Our first worship service as a new worshiping community (eventually to be called Daybreak Church) was on March 26, 2023. We voted to join the Global Methodist denomination in July 2023.

We are so thankful for the many friends that we have made over the years who have come to know life and hope through Jesus Christ. We are a community who loves God and loves to do life together. We are excited to see the future that God has in store for us as we seek to be faithful to Him! Come be a part of our story and help us write the next chapters of our future together!