Our Call to Plant a Church
"The challenging and incredibly rewarding journey to Transformed Life Church all began with a Call from God to plant a church. I can still remember the series of encounters with God that led to this day and I trace the first experience to the summer of 1996 when the Lord spoke to me from Joshua.
“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them” Joshua 1:6 NIV
As I read this passage in my devotions, I knew that the Lord had called me to serve as a Joshua in my generation and lead persons into promise. I also knew that God wanted me to serve my church full time. As I waited for this move to materialize, I used what I had to bless those around me.
In February 1997, my wife and I began leading a Small Group at the church we attended. Leading this group was an important step for me. It helped to develop my pastoral gifting while exposing me to the issues and demands of varied personalities. The next year, while at a prophetic conference, the Lord reconfirmed His call to me to serve as a leader in church and by the end of 1998, I was on staff at my church.
Another significant step in the Call happened in April 1999 when the Lord spoke to me from Zechariah 3:6-7, "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here."
Through this encounter I knew God wanted me to plant a church but I didn’t know how much else. I continued to serve the Lord as faithfully as I could as I prayed through the call. For 12 years I remained at Swallowfield Chapel and held various roles, that, looking back, I am confident the Lord caused me to experience so that I would understand the full gamut of church operation and leadership in preparation for this move. In my season of waiting, God also continued to confirm the call to plant a church by sending people with prophetic words of encouragement. This helped to keep the vision alive and prompted me to continue to pray.
On 28 May 2011, Transformed Life Church (TLC) was officially incorporated with me and my wife, Joan, as the Founding Pastors. The rest, as we say, is history! This decision stretched our faith to new dimensions, but it is also one for which we are immensely grateful. We look forward with great anticipation for everything else that the Lord has in store. "
-Rev. Dwight Fletcher, Founder of Transformed Life Church
