ACV is a unique, comprehensive retirement community, offering a continuum of care and diverse housing options. It is a community offering an elaborate network of social, recreational and medical services. There is no entrance fee required to become a member of Advent Christian Village.
Advent Christian Village was founded in 1913 and is the oldest retirement community in Florida. It was founded by and maintains close ties with the Advent Christian denomination. However, ACV does not discriminate along the lines of religious affiliation. All faiths are welcome, and eighteen different denominations are represented among the regular attendees of the Village Church.
Advent Christian Village is located in Dowling Park, Florida. Dowling Park is in north-central Florida about 15 minutes west of Live Oak along a scenic bend in the historic Suwannee River. We are roughly equidistant from Jacksonville, Gainesville, and Tallahassee, Florida and Valdosta, Georgia in the part of Florida informally known as “Original Florida.”
ACV is made up of over 800 residents and members and serves an additional 300 people in the surrounding community of Dowling Park. The Village is the third largest employer in Suwannee County, with more than 450 employees. It is large enough to have ample opportunities for making friends, yet small enough to have a hometown atmosphere.
ACV was originally founded as an orphanage and home for retired pastors and missionaries. This mission of ACV remains in keeping with the spirit of its founding:
To express Christ’s love by providing compassionate care and quality comprehensive services for senior adults, families with special needs, and children, in a secure, supportive residential setting and in the surrounding communities.
On-campus Village members enjoy security and safety through an emergency call system in each dwelling, certified EMTs, telephone reassurance, a sheriff’s deputy, and a certified volunteer fire department. Membership includes access to the Copeland Community Center—a complete fitness center, hourly on-campus shuttle bus transportation, a weekly Village newsletter, access to view the Village TV station, case management through the Social Services department, and access to Village services. Members receive discounts on other Village amenities, such as the annual Live! At Dowling Park Artist Series, meals in the Phillips Dining Room, special events and shopping or sightseeing trips to surrounding areas.
The new W.B. Copeland Medical Center (opening November 2006) is a state-of-the-art medical facility housing a medical clinic, a pharmacy, an outpatient rehab center, and a dental office. Our physician, who lives on campus, and a nurse practitioner take medical appointments Monday through Friday. After hours, certified EMTs are on call to respond to medical emergencies.
Also available to members is ACV Homecare, a licensed and Medicare/Medicaid certified Home Care Agency, providing skilled nursing care and personal care to residents in their homes. Home Care Agency License # HHA29991013.
When the need arises for a specialist or a non-emergency trip to the hospital, ACV offers medical transportation to and from medical facilities in surrounding cities.
Being a rural community, don’t the residents feel somewhat secluded and have difficulty finding necessities?
Advent Christian Village is really a self-contained community, with the Village Square offering a small grocery store, bank, a branch of the U.S. Post Office, beauty salon and barber shop, a thrift store, an arts & crafts shop and a cafe.
If a desired item is not available in Village shops, the weekly shopping trip to Live Oak transports residents to grocery stores, discount stores and pharmacies. Trips to larger cities with shopping malls are offered once a month or so.
The hub of the Village, Phillips Center houses Rumph Dining Room, which offers 3 meals daily, and more casual dining at the Lopin’ Gopher Deli. Other amenities located in the Center are the Village Library, a computer lab, meeting and activity rooms and the Information Center.
A variety of regularly scheduled activities such as ceramics, pottery, tennis, fishing, bridge, line-dancing, swimming, water volleyball, aerobics, hiking, biking, billiards, nearby golfing, Village forums, Bible studies, shopping trips, nature walks, and movie matinees, as well as numerous opportunities for volunteering are illustrative of the many occasions for making friends and staying active. Advent Christian Village can provide some sporting equipment, such as basketballs and footballs, but some equipment, such as tennis rackets and balls, are not available.
The annual Live! At Dowling Park Artist Series brings theater, music, dance and drama to Dowling Park. Among past featured performances are the Jacksonville Symphony and the US Marine Corp Band.
Copeland Community Center is a hub of activity with its fitness center, heated indoor pool and Jacuzzi, learning center and computer lab, and an array of classes and support groups promoting wellness.
A vital part of the community is the Village Church, which blends traditional and contemporary worship, and is a mosaic of Bible-believing Christians from many denominations. The church features a sixty-five-voice Chancel Choir, vocal groups, handbell choirs, youth and children’s choirs, drama and intergenerational programs. The Church and a full-time youth minister serve area young people through special programming and a community youth center.
ACV Personnel Office
(386) 658-5592
Copeland Medical Center
(386) 658-5300
The Village Church
(386) 658-5344
Village Lodge
(386) 658-5200
1-800-371-8381