Peninsular Florida District

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The Peninsular Florida District Council is one of fifty-eight districts that make up The General Council of the Assemblies of God. It was formed in 1925, when the Southeastern district was disbanded and replaced by several new districts following state lines in the region. In 1929, the state of Florida was broken into two districts: the South Florida district and the West Florida district. The record shows 28 churches and missions were members of the district. In 1961, the South Florida District was renamed "Peninsular Florida" due to the fact that more than half the district was geographically located in the northern half of the peninsula. In 1974, the largest church in the district was Miami Central Bible Church with an average Sunday school attendance of 950. In 1980, First Assembly of God in Lakeland was the first congregation to show an average Sunday worship attendance of more than 1,000.

Fourteen superintendents have served the district from Jepthat Webb to Terry Raburn. Howard S. Bush led the district from 1942-1960. During his tenure, Southeastern Bible College was moved to Lakeland, and a new campus was constructed on Lake Bonny in conjunction with the district offices. Superintendent Bush left the office when he was elected to serve as the assistant superintendent of The General Council of the Assemblies of God. J. Foy Johnson was elected district superintendent in 1966 and led the district until 1990. He built a new district office on Lake Parker. In addition, he provided oversight to the construction of two camp facilities: Camp Alafia and Masterpiece Gardens. Under his anointed leadership, the district experienced dramatic growth in the numbers of ministers, churches and adherents. The present superintendent, Terry Raburn, was elected in 1996.