Meet The Pastor
David Peay
Pastor Tony A. Taylor is a native of New Haven, Connecticut. There he was born and raised and spent all of his childhood and young adult life. Through the earnest prayers of a praying mother, family, and friends, Pastor Taylor was encouraged to enroll in Oakwood University in the city of Huntsville, AL in the year 1979. Initially his desire was just to experience the benefits of a Christian education and follow the career in Sociology or the Social Sciences, not knowing that in his sophomore year the Lord would lay upon his heart a deeper commitment of service to others, and call him into the gospel ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. In 1984 Pastor Taylor graduated from Oakwood University with a BA in Theology and a Minor in Social Work. Later that year he was asked to join the pastoral staff of the Northeastern Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Pastor Taylor served Northeastern Conference first as an assistant in the Conference Office in office management and as an associate pastor at the Linden and Springfield Gardens SDA Churches in Queens N.Y. Later, he was assigned as senior pastor of the Solid Rock SDA Church in Queens in 1986 to 1989.
After receiving a Masters of Divinity Degree at Andrews University in 1991, he pastored the following churches from 1991 to 1996; Victory Temple SDA Church in Buffalo, NY and the Trinity Temple and Beacon SDA Churches in Poughkeepsie, NY.
In January 1997, Pastor Taylor received a call by the Southeastern Conference of Seventh-day Adventists to pastor in the Gainesville and Lake City district. While in Gainesville the first transitional home for former male inmates was established in the Southeastern Conference and named “Shelter from the Storm” in November 2001. He also pastored the Mt. Zion and Poinciana SDA Church in the Kissimmee and the Alpha Agape and Lebanon Churches in Miami. From 2008 to 2016 he pastored the North Orlando Church in Orlando, FL and the Winter Garden Mission. Under his leadership the Winter Garden Mission secured a church building, liquidated its mortgage in just 3 years, and in 2016 the Mission was organized into the Winter Garden SDA Church in Winter Garden, FL.
Under his leadership the Winter Garden Mission secured a church building, liquidated its mortgage in just 3 years, and in 2016 the Mission was organized into the Winter Garden SDA Church in Winter Garden, FL.
Pastor Taylor is married to the former Laura J. Berg of the beautiful Island of St. Thomas, in the US Virgin Islands. She is also a graduate of Oakwood University and is a Social Worker in the Healthcare profession. To this couple God has given two wonderful young men, Tony Jr. and Talik .
Pastor Taylor is convinced and a firm believer that a growing church is a church whose members make soul winning the top priority of the church program. Pastor Taylor has often said, “The church is God’s agency in saving souls. If we are to endure the pressure of these last days soul winning must be the passion that drives ministry. As we become more and more a service to the community, as we strive to meet felt needs, people will be retrained to be receptive to the gospel of Christ, and many will be saved”.