The Lord Jesus Christ commanded his disciples to "go into the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15)
The southern Florida Keys are an especially needy part of that world which must be addressed in special ways. Keys Evangelistic Ministries (KEM) exists to assist the people of God to fulfill their responsibilities of insuring that the Gospel is preached clearly, consistently and regularly throughout the world and especially among the vacationers and temporary residents who frequent the city of Key West and the Florida Keys south of Marathon.
KEM is the successor organization of Welcome Home Ministry (WHM) which was founded in 1975 as an evangelical Christian ministry of mercy and outreach in Key West. By 1989 WHM had become more particularly focused on evangelizing the southern Florida Keys, and WHM’s director had become the pastor of New Life Presbyterian Church of Key West which was a member congregation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, an evangelical denomination founded in 1936 and embracing the same “Reformed” expression of evangelical Christianity as WHM’s director.
In 1994, a partnership was formalized between WHM and New Life Presbyterian Church. At that time the two organizations pooled their resources to purchase and remodel a former business property at 1000 Coppitt Road on Big Coppitt Key with the help of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church Loan Fund. The property then became known as Keys Bible Center, which served as a meeting place for the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, a ministry base for WHM’s operations, and a residence for the pastor of the church who also happened to be the director of WHM. It was at that time that New Life Presbyterian Church changed its name to Keys Chapel, and WHM changed its name to Keys Evangelistic Ministries.
KEM carries out its ministry responsibilities as a non-