TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Church Has New Mission

Tribune photo by LOIS KINDLE

Members of Sun City United Methodist Church prune plants and clear away brush in the butterfly garden at the Gibsonton United Methodist Church mission. Formerly occupied by Daystar, the buildings and grounds of the mission need sprucing up to be used once again for community outreach. Gibsonton United Mehtodist has too small a congregation to support itself as a standalone church, so its sister churches in South Shore volunteered to keep it alive as a mission. From left are Marie Novak, Nancy Moon and Jan Ring.

ADVERTISEMENT

By LOIS KINDLE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 17, 2008

GIBSONTON - In a gesture of brotherly love, the United Methodist churches in South Shore have begun a project to help an ailing sister church and partner with the community surrounding it.

About 70 members of South Shore and Sun City Center United Methodist churches wielded axes, paint brushes and other tools Aug. 30 for their first work day of a project aimed at refurbishing property owned by Gibsonton United Methodist.

At the end of May, the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church and its South Central District office determined that the Gibsonton UMC congregation was too small to support its growing overhead and could no longer operate as a standalone church.

"It's getting harder and harder for smaller congregations to survive," said the Rev. Warren Langer, pastor of Sun City Center UMC, adding that other small churches have been closed throughout the state.

Langer said closed church properties are usually sold, but his church and South Shore UMC, its satellite, asked if they could have the Gibsonton property and address the human needs of the Gibsonton area by starting a mission.

Under this arrangement, the Gibsonton UMC pastor, Wayne Kato, and members of that congregation could continue meeting at the sanctuary on Murillo Avenue in Gibsonton, even though it is no longer officially considered a church.

The property across the street includes a church-owned site formerly occupied by Daystar Faith Center, a private organization that provided food, clothing and sometimes shelter to the community's poor and homeless. In June, Daystar was asked by Sun City Center UMC, which now owns the property, to vacate it for two reasons: the nonprofit group had failed to provide proof of insurance and other required documents, and Sun City Center UMC had decided to operate a mission from the site. Because the Methodist Church would provide insurance for the property, programs operated at the mission would have to be overseen by the church.

Langer said the idea was to broaden the scope of the mission to include other services, such as adult education classes, including instruction for the General Education Development diploma. The mission would also offer a free children's health clinic and a shelter from cold winter nights.

"We felt the needs of the community were much more than food, clothing and shelter," he said.

"We're not here to rescue others," said the Rev. John Legg, pastor of South Shore UMC. "We're here to learn how the church can partner with the community to meet its needs."

During the work day, volunteers cleared brush; spruced up a butterfly garden; tilled a vegetable garden; painted furniture, rooms and the parsonage; tore out floor tiles and bathroom fixtures for future replacement and built a kickball backstop. They also pruned trees, laid mulch and repaired drywall.

"This is just the beginning," Legg said. "Our next work day is scheduled for Sept. 27. We hope to be finished by the beginning of the year so we can begin applying for grant money."

Jan Ring worked with three of her fellow Sun City Center UMC congregants - Nancy Moon, Mim Quast and Marie Novak - in the butterfly garden.

"I have been around the world on church mission trips," the registered nurse said. "On the last one to Nicaragua, I broke my leg and have been reluctant to leave the country again.

"This work day seemed like a good alternative, even though it wasn't medical. I love to garden, and I think we made a good first start. I'm looking forward to going back."

Legg said the United Methodist Church is hoping to partner with county agencies such as the Children's Board of Hillsborough County and the Hillsborough County Health and Social Services department to have them operate their programs out of the Gibsonton mission.

Before that can be considered, though, the facility must be renovated and a community needs assessment completed. South Shore UMC volunteer Judy Sheppard, a licensed clinical social worker, will coordinate the assessment, with a board made up of 12 members representing five UMC churches in South Shore.

"We want to empower people in the community to be self-sufficient," she said. Although South Shore UMC will initially be the site manager, "Ultimately, the idea is that people in the community will start volunteering and running the center with their own board," Sheppard said.

She said the assessment will include interviews with church leaders and officials at Gibsonton area schools, door-to-door canvassing and community meetings within a two-mile radius of the project site. Eventually, she said, the center would offer services to others in South Shore.

"We don't want to limit ourselves, Legg said. "The mission will be a resource center for whatever the Gibsonton area needs, not only for people who are economically disadvantaged."

Those needs could include counseling for spousal abusers and their victims or offering residents the opportunity to come to the center to improve their parenting skills.

"Economics does not necessarily mean you're a good parent or a bad one," he said.

"With the area growing so quickly, we need to address its human needs or we're going to have a lot more problems down the road," Langer said.

GIBSONTON UMC MISSION BOARD

The Rev. Warren Langer, Sun City Center UMC

The Rev. John Legg, South Shore UMC

The Rev. Wayne Kato, Gibsonton UMC

The Rev. Julian Graham, Sun City Center UMC

Robert Massey, South Shore UMC

Carolyn Richter, South Shore UMC

Judy Shepherd, South Shore UMC

Ruth Phillips, Sun City Center UMC

Jim Crossley, Sun City Center UMC

Matt Gray, Ruskin United Methodist UMC

Paul Williams, Gibsonton UMC

Phil Fowler, Big Bend United Methodist UMC

Reporter Lois Kindle can be reached at (813) 865-1553 or lkindle@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT