We are in the heart of the City of Jacksonville witht he city in our hearts. Forest Hills Church of the Nazarene (New Dimensions Cathedral of Faith) is the first predominately black organization in the North Florida District. Our initial involvement began back in 1973 when a number of the original members went out on a neighborhood visitation program. It was during this visitation exercise that th
e Davis Family accepted the invitation to visit the service the following day and has remained active. It was during this interim period of our regular attendance that the Church’s Doctrine was evaluated. We were given the right hand of fellowship and became full-fledged members. The neighborhood in the area was transforming from an all white community to predominately black community. This transformation caused a severe impact on the Church. Membership in the church was dwindling, the Davis’, the Roberts’ and a few others were voted into every office excluding the Pastor’s. Giddens remained the pastor of Forest Hills Church through the next election year. In 1975-1996, Forest Hills Church of the Nazarene was led and guided under the leadership of Brother Roberts, who was called to be with the Lord in 1996. The Church and everyone in the community that knew him were deeply sorrowed. We have suffered a great loss, but as the words of a well known song says, “Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal.” Therefore, we continued to go forward by the grace of God. One of Brother’s Roberts favorite verse; “And I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none. Our prayers and hopes and prayers are still in accord with the first portion of that verse in that we may appoint a full-time pastor meeting those qualifications. Within the following year and during his interim ministry, our Brother Gideon O. made a devoted effort to supply Spiritual Guidance. He completed the required course of study in Nazarene Doctrine, met all qualifications and had been ordained and appointed as Pastor of Forest Hills Church of the Nazarene. He served as Pastor until December 1999, at which time; he resigned to start Hope in Christ Compassionate Ministries. Upon Brother Charles’ resignation our District Superintendent, at that time, Dr. D. Moody Gunter appointed Brother Natheory Foster, Jr., to serve as Lay Leader to oversee the Administration of Forest Hills until a Pastor was called. On August 6, 2000, the Reverend Jesse Mills of Oakland, CA was elected as Senior Pastor of Forest Hills Church of the Nazarene. During the first year under his leadership, there were numerous applications toward growth and improvement. In the second year, the vision continued to grow stronger as we planned to build a Family Life Center. In 2003, the church membership voted to change the name to New Dimensions Cathedral of Faith Church of the Nazarene. In 2006, we relocated to our present location. Through constant prayer and faithfulness, New Dimensions Cathedral of Faith Church of the Nazarene will overcome all obstacles and be a lighthouse for this community. We at New Dimensions Cathedral of Faith Church of the Nazarene, pledge our utmost support of God’s work. We will continue to live by Faith, worshipping and praising in accordance with God’s Holy Word henceforth and forever more.
