Victory’s story is three decades in the making, beginning when our Lead and Founding Pastors Pete and Debbie Leal returned from their ministry responsibilities in South Carolina. In 1987 they heeded the prompting of the Holy Spirit to begin a work in their native region of Middletown, Connecticut.
Shortly after returning to Connecticut, Victory was born as a weekly bible study with just one individual in a living room. Victory quickly outgrew the living room and a small legion hall was rented while the church prayed, believed, and prepared for the land the Lord had promised.
After seven years of waiting, the land became available and Victory obtained the site on which we currently reside and operate. This was not without its challenges as the church labored for two and a half years to fund and transform the property from its battered state into the beautiful building we have today!
Since the first services were held at our current facility in January of 2000, we have enjoyed the blessings and faithfulness of God as the church has grown to the point where bigger facilities are necessary. At the start of 2024, after years of prayer and prophetic promises, Victory purchased the adjacent sections of land to the east and south of the current building as the Lord made it clear that the time to expand had arrived.
Believing for an unmistakable move of God, Victory Church has embarked on a fundraising effort to bring in the finances needed to expand our current building and renovate existing parts to accommodate the growth that God has brought. This fundraising effort is done with an eye toward the future of the families that the Lord will bring in, and the effort has been named "Building for Generations."
Beginning on Palm Sunday of 2023, our church family joined in as part of our Building for Generations campaign to pledge to give the amount they decided on for the coming three years. Since that time, Victory has worked closely with Church by Daniels, a company whose expertise is in taking churches from the beginning to the conclusion of their building projects.
Much progress has been made with the experts at Church by Daniels since embarking on our journey together. We are excited to break ground in the very near future and see the Lord's supernatural provision as we build this new building for His glory and for all of those (or all of the individuals and families) that God has in His heart to bring to Victory to connect with Christ, family, and purpose.
For more information or to get involved in the Building for Generations campaign, click here.
Pastor Pete and Debbie continue to this day in serving, impacting, teaching, and leading our church family and now oversee over 200 churches and ministries in many nations around the world. They are also joined by both of their children in the ministry where Pastor Petey Leal Jr. functions as an Associate Pastor and Amy Grant operates as our Worship Director.
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
On September 29th, 2019, our very own Pastor Peter Leal Sr. was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity Degree from Kaleo Institute for his lifetime of achievement as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. With only three other recipients to receive this degree in the school's history, we cannot think of a more deserving servant of God to be presented with this honor.
We are so thankful to have him as our leader here at Victory, and we know even with his 35+ years of ministry-related accomplishments, he's only scratched the surface of what God has planned for him. Congratulations Pastor, Dr. Peter Leal Sr.!
