Cobaris is a regular visitor to the White House.
Kelvin Cobaris has been the pastor of New Life Church International for three years. Over more than 30 years in ministry, he has pastored churches across Florida, served as Director of Evangelism and Missions for the Church of God, Cleveland, TN, and traveled internationally to open orphanages in churches in Africa, the Bahamas, Jamaica, and other countries.
“My vision for New Life Church International is to be the church that never sleeps,” Pastor Cobaris said. “To be the full-service church that meets the needs for the community. Being a community church, not just a four-walls Sunday service, but being involved and engaged in Plant City, and being a part of this fine, Bible-belt community to help enhance it and the families with various resources.”
Going out beyond the four walls of his church extends to the White House. “In 2018, there was a Charlottesville incident that created another racial war, and I am a bridge-builder. I hate hatred. I hate division. So, I always try to find a way to bring people in a room, and, ‘Let’s heal. Let’s work through our differences.’ So, Paula White’s chief of staff, a pastor friend of mine, and I had a deep conversation. From that conversation, he heard the pain of a black man and said, ‘You need to meet Pastor Paula.’ She heard that same story, and from the story she said, ‘You need to go to the White House. You have a voice for the nation.’”
“I said, ‘For what?’”
“She said, ‘Go there and you need to speak.’”
“I said, ‘Am I just going there to speak to evangelicals?’”
“She said, ‘Yes, you will be speaking to evangelicals,’”
“I said, ‘Will I get an opportunity to speak to President Trump?’”
“She said, ‘I don’t know.”
“So, the next day I consented to go,” Cobaris said. “I was a bit hesitant, because I knew at that time the black community did not like President Trump very much, and whoever went to see him, they were canceled. But I felt I heard a peace from God speak to my spirit that said, ‘This is my doing. Go for it.’ I went, and lo and behold, President Trump calls us out of that meeting into the Oval Office my first day at the White House, and I got to address him about the Charlottsville incident, and pray over him. As all the rest of the clergy were leaving, he looked up to me. He said, ‘I’ll never forget your voice. Your voice is powerful.’”
After that meeting, the administration asked Cobaris to be a part of the White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative. During the first Trump presidency, Cobaris took part in shaping some national policy such as prison reform and pro-life initiatives.
“Fast forward to his second administration,” Cobaris said. “Now he creates the White House Office of Faith. I was there on the initial inauguration day of that in the Oval Office this year. I prayed then for that inauguration. Then we had the National Day of Prayer, and I prayed in the Rose Garden with him. On Easter, we had Easter in the White House for the first time. There were about 30 of us clergy invited. I sat across from President Trump, and I was able to give words and pray over him. So, I have had various opportunities to go in and out of the Oval Office, praying and speaking to the president. When he left office, we didn’t want to stop our work, so we started the National Faith Advisory Board (NFAB) to continue to work with clergy to keep those policies working. So, when he got back, we picked up where we left off. Now the White House Office of Faith is Paula working from the White House, but the National Faith Advisory Board is us clergy working from outside of the White House to carry out those policies that are sent down from the White House and government leaders to implement them in our communities, and to call clergy collectively to work together to engage the community, to pray for the President, to fight for religious freedom, to stand with Israel, to fight for the family, and fight for America. That is what we are all about. So, I got to the White House by being an African. I got to the White House by being outspoken. I got to the White House by having courage. It opened the door for me.”
Cobaris has paid a price for his connection to Trump. At the time the met, he pastored a Church in Orlando. “I came back home to a church that was disgruntled about it, and lost my whole membership. They basically walked out because they wouldn’t follow a man who prayed for Trump. They wouldn’t follow a man who would stand with the likes of Trump.”
For the NFAB, Cobaris travels the U.S. and speaks several times a month, presenting the platform of the organization and inviting clergy and other faith leaders to join with this cause. He also consistently speaks in Zoom meetings. NFAB has grown to thousands of pastors. He tells the price he paid to make a stand for the country and for his community, and urges them, “To move beyond their four walls and to make a difference in their community; make a difference in their state; make a difference in their country, and not to see Church and State as separate, because we misinterpret that. Church and State have to work together, because without Church, there is no State. We need to be engaged in discussion at the table. We have a President right now that fully supports the faith agenda. We’ve got to take advantage of this moment, highlight that, and get people involved.”
New Life Church International takes action to be involved and engaged in Plant City. After the devastation Hurricane Milton wrought on so many people, Cobarissaw to it that supplies came to Plant City. “Whatever resources we have up there, I try to make sure it gets here. Hurricane stuff was on its way to Tampa, but I took a truck from Tampa, and said, ‘I want it in Plant City.’” From the parking lot of Plant City’s American Legion Post 26, people from the church gave out those supplies, and supplies from two other trucks.
New Life Church International is a Pentecostal church where Cobaris preaches sermons to inspire people in their faith and in civic and community engagement. The church meets at 10:00 a.m. at the American Legion Post.
