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Country Church In 'The City'

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By SUSAN M. GREEN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 15, 2007

Updated: 09/13/2007 06:11 pm

RIVERVIEW - For a quarter century, the Riverview Seventh-day Adventist Church snuggled in a tree-shaded pasture, several hundred feet down a quiet country road from bustling U.S. 301.

Eugene Steiner of Sun City Center remembers when cows used to peek in the windows of a mobile home that served as the congregation's first sanctuary.

Now the cows are gone, replaced by bulldozers and construction crews. Freshly paved, suburban-style streets wind around the little church, giving promise of clusters of homes to come. A residential subdivision, Avelar Creek, is springing up next door.

'It was really started as a very rural church,' recalls Steiner, 96, of the church he helped found, 'and now it's in the center of things. ... It's puzzling to me. We expected the population to increase in Riverview, but we never expected to see what we see today. It's already like a city.'

He and others say new neighbors may spell new life for the congregation, which some church members say had become stagnant.

Rodlie Ortiz, 27, who became pastor almost two years ago, said he believes the church is poised to bolster its community outreach efforts and recruit youngsters to carry on Adventist traditions.

'I think it's in a great, great spot,' Ortiz said. 'We're not going anywhere.'

Finding a place to worship has long been a challenge for Seventh-day Adventists, said Steiner, who came to Riverview in the 1950s from Toledo, Ohio. The cornerstone of Adventists' faith is observing a day of rest and worship on Saturday, the seventh day of the week, instead of Sunday, as is the tradition of many Christian denominations.

For fledgling congregations without a house of worship, finding meeting halls on Saturday mornings can be difficult, Steiner said.

For years, he traveled to Tampa to worship. In 1968, he helped found the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Brandon. At first, members worshipped on Saturdays in a church building of another denomination. Then a church was built on Victoria Street.

By the late 1970s, the Brandon congregation had swelled to about 300 and was outgrowing its sanctuary, Steiner recalled.

He was among church leaders who looked to Riverview for a new site, meeting first in a member's spacious workshop on Alafia Drive in 1981. A few months later, the church bought its current 2-acre site on Holland Road, which then had two mobile homes on it, Steiner said. Construction of the sanctuary began in 1982.

'We had our own place,' he said.

Over the years, the congregation added a pastor's study and fellowship hall, complete with a dining area, a kitchen, classrooms and a library.

'It was wonderful,' Steiner said. In recent years, however, 'things got kind of stagnant.'

Building A Congregation

Ken Boger, a retiree from Ohio, started attending the Riverview church shortly after he and his wife, Betty, moved to Sun City Center three years ago.

He volunteers his time to do yard work and landscaping around the church. He worries about the sandhill cranes that have raised chicks in the pasture every year and the owl that lost its favorite tree to the bulldozers.

But he agreed with Ortiz and Steiner that the subdivision under construction and other growth in the area could revitalize the church.

Boger said he hopes the church will continue trying to draw in more young people. The congregation's membership, though steady, is aging.

'When we first came here, it was all older people,' Boger recalled. 'There were no youth activities. There used to not be any kids. Now there are kids around.'

Ortiz said attendance fell off during the six-month period before he arrived in December 2005 because the church had no pastor. His wife, Iveth, gave birth in August to a son, Jonathan David, and Ortiz said he understands the needs of young families moving in around the church.

'We need to reach out to the community around us,' said Ortiz, who lives in north Riverview.

He said he would like the congregation to host activities such as free car washes or holiday gift wrapping that could help busy parents and also provide fellowship opportunities. Some members participate in feeding homeless people in Tampa, and Ortiz said he would like to encourage more service projects like that.

The sanctuary seats about 125 people, Ortiz said. If the congregation grows much beyond that, Ortiz may offer a second Saturday service that would feature contemporary music to appeal to a younger crowd. He would retain the traditional service, as well, which he credits with attracting a diverse church membership of people from various ethnic backgrounds.

The prospect of new houses next door has Boger thinking about an updated look for the church. He has started putting in new landscaping.

'We're trying to spruce up the outside a little bit,' he said.

The church sign blew down in a storm some time ago, Ortiz said. It has an outdated look, he said, and he hopes to order a new one soon.

Ortiz splits his time between the Riverview congregation and another Adventist church in Carrollwood. He said the congregation would have to grow to about 250 or so before a pastor could serve full time.

Boger and Steiner said they were drawn to the Adventist faith because of its emphasis on Bible teachings and strict adherence to commemorating the Sabbath with rest and worship. Seventh-day Adventists observe the Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown the following day.

'You want people who really read the Bible and really believe,' Boger said. 'Most of our members are really honest and sincere, and that's a good feeling.'

RIVERVIEW SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH

WHERE: 10401 Holland Road, Riverview

FOUNDED: 1981

MEMBERSHIP: 90

SERVICES: Sabbath school, 9:30 a.m. Saturday, followed by worship service at 11

CONTACT: Church office, (813) 677-6252

Reporter Susan M. Green can be reached at (813) 865-1566 or sgreen@tampatrib.com.

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