Our Story

Cape Coral is one of the fastest growing cities in Florida.  With a growing population comes the need for more gospel-centered churches.  Greg Wilburn and his family became interested in planting a new church in one of the vibrant coastal communities of Florida.  After visiting Cape Coral, Greg and his wife sensed the Lord calling them to this community.  In January 2022, a core group of believers began to form and dream of the possibility of planting a new church in the Cape.  After several months of meeting together and casting vision, Awakening Church launched regular public church services in February 2023.

Our Church Name

Awakening is a powerful word that describes a deep spiritual need of human beings.  Before coming to know Jesus, we remain spiritually asleep or spiritually dead.  We need God to wake us up to the beauty of Christ and our need for His grace. 

Even as we progress on the Christian journey we need various moments of awakening in our lives.  We can become spiritually sluggish, sleepy, and unaware.  That’s why Paul writes, “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Eph. 5:14).  Our eyes need to be opened to more of who God is and more of who He made us to be.  We can get comfortable and stuck in our ways and live unaware of what is going on below the surface in our lives.  What is driving us?  What is shaping us?  We can live unaware of our relational, spiritual, and emotional unhealth.  We can live unaware of our story, our personality, our gifts, and who God made us to be as His unique image bearers. 

The name, “Awakening Church,” teaches us that we all need to experience spiritual awakening.  Like waking to a beautiful sunrise over the water, we all need to be awakened to the beauty of Jesus and the light He wants to shine upon us.

Pastor Bio

Greg Wilburn Lead Pastor

Greg is the lead pastor of Awakening Church in Cape Coral, FL.  He and his wife, Dawn, have four children.  Greg grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and after college moved to Louisville, KY to serve as a college pastor.  He met his wife in Louisville and they served in ministry overseas for five years.  After serving in pastoral ministry for a few years in the Louisville and Indiana area, Greg sensed God calling him to plant a church in the growing community of Cape Coral.  He and his family love exploring nature together, taking day trips to the beach, and travelling.