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Church Courts Wary Neighbors In Gibsonton

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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT

yhammett@tampatrib.com

Published: March 11, 2009

GIBSONTON - While some community members cast a wary eye, church officials who plan to open a new mission here say they are working to gain back trust.

A previous ministry that rented space from Gibsonton United Methodist Church - DayStar Ministries - drew unwanted strangers to the neighborhood who littered, urinated in yards and cursed, said Bob Minthorn of Concerned Citizens of Gibsonton.

The church is on Marilla Street, west of U.S. 41.

Neighbors say they don't want a repeat.

Whether the mission will get support remains to be seen, Minthorn said. "They've asked for our support. It depends on which direction they go."

About 70 members of South Shore and Sun City Center United Methodist churches took the tiny Gibsonton church under their wings last summer after the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church determined that the Gibsonton UMC was too small to support a standalone church.

Those members have since helped the Gibsonton congregation refurbish the property.

Now, it should be a fresh beginning, said the Rev. John Legg, pastor of the South Shore UMC.

The churches sent a survey into the community asking about the types of services people would like to see offered at the mission. A report on the surveys should be complete by the end of this month, Legg said.

They also held a community gathering Feb. 21.

"We had several families and kids from the area come by and spend time for us to get to know each other," Legg said.

Community members are connecting DayStar with the Methodist church, but they shouldn't, he said. DayStar just rented space.

"We would be much more intimately involved in designing this new mission," he said.

Greater oversight will take place this time around, he said. And there are no immediate plans for another homeless ministry.

"At this point, we're not saying no to anything, but it doesn't look like it's going to be a daily feeding program or other homeless ministry," Legg said.

Instead, the mission likely will offer services that can help people get jobs or improve their financial status and navigate through the red tape of signing up for state health insurance and other government benefits.

One of the biggest concerns in Gibsonton is a lack of space for government agencies to set up shop to reach people in the community with services they are eligible to receive, he said.

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 865-1566.

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