Tuskawilla Presbyterian Church sits along State Road 426, the Oviedo thoroughfare that locals still call Aloma Avenue, midway between the Central Florida Greenway and Tuskawilla Road. From that stretch of road, the church is a familiar sight to commuters heading east past the Publix shopping center, with parking in the front, on both sides, and at the rear of the campus, marked guest spots out front, and accessible spaces in front and along the east side. The congregation that gathers there describes itself as a welcoming and affirming community that seeks to touch hearts and change lives through the love of Christ. What sets Tuskawilla apart from many of its neighbors is not a single program but the sheer breadth of what happens on its campus every week: a blended Sunday service for English speakers, a Korean-language worship gathering at one in the afternoon, a preschool that serves more than 130 families, Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts in the fellowship hall, two twelve-step recovery meetings on Friday night, a long roster of small groups, and a year-round slate of mission work that reaches from Oviedo to Madagascar.
Sunday Morning at Tuskawilla
A visitor arriving at 9:30 on a Sunday morning will find classrooms already in session. Sunday school runs in three adult classes at 9:15 a.m.: Christian Lifestyles, led by Sundi Bales, meets in the Fellowship Hall and works through topics tied to living out God's Word; the Open Forum class, led by Ed Peterson, uses a video-and-discussion format in the McDonald conference room; and the Seekers class, led by Marilyn and John Salter, follows the PC(USA) Standard Lectionary in the library of the Administration Building. Nursery care is available throughout the adult Sunday school hour for the youngest children. Middle and high school youth meet for Sunday school in the Youth Room from 9:15 to 10:15 with a curriculum that shifts according to youth interests and current events.
At 10:30 a.m., the congregation gathers for the weekly blended worship service. The order is a blend of traditional and contemporary elements, drawing on the work of Co-Music Director Lisa Jones Langston, Organist Sylvia Gray, and Praise Team Leader Mark Lewis. Children are welcome throughout the service, and a Children's Time is offered for ages three through second grade; after the children's message, those young worshippers leave the sanctuary for a lesson and craft. The service typically lasts about an hour, and afterward the congregation shares light refreshments and fellowship before heading home or staying for the afternoon.
A Korean-Speaking Sister Church at 1 p.m.
At 1 p.m. each Sunday the same campus hosts Bansok Church, a Korean-language congregation that shares Tuskawilla Presbyterian's facilities. The arrangement is one of the more visible expressions of the church's openness to its Central Florida neighbors and reflects the diversity of the wider Oviedo and Orlando region.
The Preschool Cottage, a Ministry That Began in 1983
TPC Preschool is housed in its own Preschool Cottage on the church campus and has been part of the church's identity for more than four decades. It began in October 1983 as Mother's Morning Out, started as a mission for the young mothers of the church who wanted a day to themselves. The program opened with a single teacher and three children. Today it serves over 130 families from many communities across the Orlando area, drawing from varied social, religious, and economic backgrounds. The preschool does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national or ethnic origin, and enrollment is offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
The school is state-licensed and follows the Creative Curriculum, supported by Conscious Discipline, with weekly lesson plans developed by teachers and reviewed by the director. Classrooms serve one-year-olds through kindergarten readiness, with a Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) program and a Transitional Kindergarten class for five-year-olds who would benefit from another year before entering kindergarten. School hours run 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., with Early Care from 8:00 a.m. and Extended Care until 2:30 p.m. for ages two through VPK. Soccer Shots and Zen Life Martial Arts are available for an additional fee as after-school enrichment.
Chapel is offered weekly and led by Senior Pastor Chris Kirwan, with Bible stories, songs, and a special prayer each week. Music is offered monthly and is designed to get children moving with ribbons, beanbags, instruments, and song. The school year is dotted with parent-and-child traditions: Donuts with Dads, Muffins with Moms, Grandparents Day, Music with Mar, a Halloween celebration and Hat-O-Ween parade, a Thanksgiving Feast, a Holiday Shoppe, an Art Show, Mother's Day Teas, and a January Transportation Parade. Two directors guide the program: Clara Dawkins serves as Administrative Director, and Morgan Woodruff serves as Program Director. The preschool's main line is 407-671-2225, separate from the church office.
Children, Youth, and the Week That Follows
Children's Ministry at Tuskawilla is overseen by Teesha Kirwan, who serves as both Children's Ministry Coordinator and Nursery Coordinator. Sunday school is offered for children of all ages, with a nursery for the littlest members of the congregation and classes for preschool and elementary children that include crafts, coloring, and storytelling. Children's Time during worship is open to children from age three through second grade.
The Youth Ministry gathers middle and high school students in two Sunday slots. The Sunday school hour runs from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. in the Youth Room, where the curriculum shifts according to youth interests and topics that feel relevant at the time. On Sunday evenings, the same students return from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. for Youth Group, which centers on fellowship, relationship-building, games, and service. On the same Sunday-evening slot, children in kindergarten through fifth grade are invited to Music Makers, a musical journey with Lisa Jones Langston that introduces them to music they can love and appreciate.
The youth group has built a strong service identity. In recent years the youth have led a congregation-wide Youth Sunday, hosted a 30 Hour Famine lock-in with World Vision materials, and assembled and handed out lunches at Lake Eola through #HashtagLunchbag. The older youth have also traveled to North Carolina and Tennessee on summer mission trips, working on homes damaged by hurricanes and on roofs and siding for families in need.
Adult Education and the Calendar of Small Groups
TPC's adult programming operates on the principle that fellowship, membership, and community are central to Christian life. Alongside the Sunday morning classes, the church hosts a steady rhythm of weekday and monthly groups. Band of Brothers, a men's Bible study and fellowship, meets every Wednesday from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. at Perkins restaurant on University Boulevard near Forsyth Road, with Jerry Clement as a contact. The group was founded with the involvement of longtime member Ervin Frazier, who was among its founding members.
Women's programming includes a Coffee Connection that meets in person with Susan Baccus as a contact, a monthly Book Club that gathers on the fourth Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. and is coordinated through Helen Daly, and a Women's Bible Study that meets on the first Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. in the McDonald Conference Room. Recent studies have used the Presbyterian Women curriculum, including Eugenia Anne Gamble's Love Carved in Stone: A Fresh Look at the Ten Commandments, led by Sue Peterson.
For older adults, LARKs - Life After Raising Kids - is a senior fellowship that meets on the third Tuesday of each month at 11:30 a.m. for lunch at restaurants around the area. Reservations are required, and meals are dutch treat. The Prayer Shawl Ministry knits and crochets prayer shawls and blankets to share with those in need of comfort.
Two Friday-Night Recovery Meetings
The fellowship hall and the McDonald Room stay open on Friday evenings for two twelve-step groups that meet at 8:00 p.m. Alcoholics Anonymous gathers in the Fellowship Hall, and Al-Anon, the support group for family members of those struggling with alcohol addiction, meets in the McDonald Room in the Church Office Building. Both groups are open to anyone seeking help, regardless of church membership.
Scouting on the Church Campus
Tuskawilla Presbyterian is the charter organization for BSA Troop 631. Boy Scouts meet weekly on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. in the fellowship hall, with Robyn Edwards serving as Committee Chair and Jeremy West as Scoutmaster. The troop maintains a year-round schedule that includes monthly campouts, adventure outings, and merit badge opportunities. Cub Scouts hold their den meetings on the second and fourth Mondays at 6:30 p.m. in the fellowship hall, with Rob Chaligoj as Committee Chair and Scott Kunkle as Cub Master. Two Girl Scout troops are also chartered through the church, led by Jennifer Ward and Erin Mangold. The arrangement makes TPC a working scouting hub for families across the area.
Mission and Service, From the Pantry to Madagascar
Mission and Service is one of the most visible rhythms at TPC. Each Sunday, members bring non-perishable food donations for the food pantry that supports the Christian Sharing Center and Hope Helps in Oviedo. On the second Sunday of each month, a 5 Cents per Meal offering is collected to fund hunger-relief projects. TPC covers two Meals on Wheels routes in the Casselberry area on Thursday mornings, an effort that member Ervin Frazier supported for years. Volunteers serve noon meals at the Christian Service Center's Daily Bread program in Orlando one week per year, and the church donates food for a Christmas meal and gifts for homeless and needy families in South Seminole through Christmas in the City.
Other ongoing offerings include Adopt a Kettle at Christmas with the Salvation Army, an annual Heifer Project collection to purchase livestock for families in need, seasonal gleaning trips to a local farm whose produce is donated to families in need, and adult and youth mission trips that have taken teams to hurricane-damaged homes in North Carolina and Tennessee. The 2018 team spent a week repairing a roof and siding in Westmoreland, Tennessee, and the 2019 team traveled to Rose Hill, North Carolina, for hurricane-recovery work.
The church supports a wide network of partners through prayer, funding, and volunteers: the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and its Mission Agency, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the Pentecost, Peacemaking, Christmas Joy, and One Great Hour of Sharing offerings, missionaries Elizabeth and Dan Turk in Madagascar, the Christian Service Center, Hope Helps in downtown Oviedo, Edgewood Children's Ranch for youth ages 6 to 18, and New Life Children's Home, a rescue center in Haiti for disabled children abandoned after the 2010 earthquake.
Pastoral Care, Prayer, and the Deacons
Deacons at Tuskawilla Presbyterian are elected, ordained, and charged with making sure those who are vulnerable do not fall through the cracks. Each Deacon is assigned a group of families in the congregation and is available to respond with assistance that is both material and spiritual. The active Deacons are Cyndy Clemens (Moderator), Helen Daly, Maureen Mulock, Audrey Bihary, Kathy Vogt, and Betty Little. Prayer is supported through a prayer team that receives requests submitted online or on paper forms in the sanctuary, and the prayer form offers the option of being contacted by the pastor, a Stephen Minister, or a deacon.
Senior Pastor Christopher J. Kirwan is the spiritual leader of the congregation. He leads chapel for the preschool each week, preaches at Sunday worship, writes a regular column that has responded to community moments of grief such as the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting and the Las Vegas tragedy, and has spoken publicly about how faith is grown, cared for, and shared. His sermons are archived on Vimeo and the church's YouTube channel, mytpctv, and recent services can be watched online.
Beliefs, Worship, and PC(USA) Identity
Tuskawilla Presbyterian is a member congregation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The church's published statements of belief draw on the Reformed tradition, describing God as one in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and on the PC(USA)'s Book of Confessions. Sacraments are understood as Baptism and the Lord's Supper, instituted by God and commended by Christ, signs of the real presence and power of Christ in the church. The church practices infant baptism as a witness to God's grace, with parents and the congregation promising to nurture the baptized child in the Christian faith.
The church reads Scripture as the Word of God written, witnessing to God's self-revelation, and treats serious Bible reading as central to Christian worship. Presbyterians, the church teaches, take the Bible seriously while reading it in context - within the genre, audience, and purpose of each book, and against the broader sweep of biblical teaching. Sin is understood as a condition of the heart and a falling short of the glory of God; salvation is understood as a gift of grace received by faith, not a right to be earned.
The church's statement on the end of the world is characteristic of its tone: "Only God knows, but God has given us important work to do in the meantime." Members are encouraged to live ready for Christ's return without being fearfully anxious about timing, and to work for a world where loneliness, pain, poverty, sickness, injustice, and death no longer mar creation.
Leadership and Governance
The Session, the church's governing body, is led by the elders, with Pastor Chris serving as Moderator of the Fellowship committee. Standing committees of the Session include Building and Grounds (Brett Mulock and Sundi Bales), Christian Education and Youth (Barbara Wood and Jodi Keyek), Finance (Jeff Meert), Mission and Service (Ann Mowery), Personnel (Benita Meyer), and Worship (Lynn Frazier and Alice Hickey). Benita Meyer serves as Clerk of Session.
Music leadership is shared. Lisa Jones Langston is Co-Music Director, daughter of the late Jim Jones, who directed the TPC choir from 2013 until his death in March 2024 and whose memorial fund supports special music and worship initiatives at the church. Sylvia Gray is Organist, and Mark Lewis leads the Praise Team. The Music Ministry combines members with professional-grade musical skills and welcomes players from the broader community.
Practicalities for First-Time Visitors
The church is at 3600 Aloma Avenue, Oviedo, FL 32765, just east of Tuskawilla Road. From the Central Florida Greenway (State Road 417), take SR 426 west; the church is on the right just past the Publix shopping center. From Tuskawilla Road, take SR 426 east; the church is on the left about half a block past the road, and drivers are asked to continue to the first light, make a U-turn, and then turn right into the campus. Parking is available in the front, on both sides, and at the rear of the church, with marked guest parking in front and accessible spaces in front and on the east side.
The church office is open Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and on Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The main phone line is 407-671-4173, with a fax at 407-671-9808. General inquiries can be sent to TPCinfo@mytpc.org, and the pastor can be reached at pastor@mytpc.org. Online giving is available through the giving page, and the church's calendar, event registration, and announcement forms are all accessible from the main page. Visitors are welcome to fill out a prayer request online, schedule attendance at a Sunday service, or simply show up on Sunday morning and ask anyone for help finding their way around.