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Diverse Spiritual Leaders Remain Optimistic

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 2, 2008

PLANT CITY - Since December 2005, I have had the pleasure of interviewing more than 100 Plant City area pastors and community leaders for my question and answer columns.

The first column featured the Rev. Ron Churchill of First Baptist Church, and since that day I have discovered that Plant City is home to a diverse faith community. Equally evident is a spirit of unity that covers almost every variation in doctrine.

Few readers will be surprised to learn that Plant City is home to more Baptist churches than any other denomination. I talked with 14 Baptists in 2007, making 35 in two years. Most are part of the Southern Baptist Convention, but other Baptist churches abound.
Assemblies of God come in second, and to date, close to 20 denominations have been featured.

Plant City's spiritual leaders turn out to be remarkably diverse.

Hispanic, black and Caucasian; men and women; liberal, conservative and moderate; native Floridians and imports from the frozen north; ages ranging from 21 to 83.

From the Orthodox priest with gold vestments and a really cool black hat, to a Pentecostal pastor who preaches in jeans. From elaborate sanctuaries where thousands worship, to 11 faithful members struggling to get a new church on its feet.

Many observers say the Plant City community has enough congregations to spare, but the best information gleaned from demographic and anecdotal studies suggests fewer than 30 percent of residents attend church on any given Sunday.

So, with First Baptist planning a huge project south of town, new congregations popping up all over, and traditional faith communities such as St. Peter's Episcopal getting ready to celebrate 100 years of ministry, where should people go when they want to pursue their spiritual journey?

The bottom line is there are plenty of choices. Churches are as varied in personality as people, and I haven't talked to a single pastor who isn't interested in helping people grow in personal faith.

Every church in Plant City shares that goal.

In addition to being extremely busy, Plant City's ministers enjoy active recreational lives. They are NASCAR fans, football junkies, gardeners, gourmet chefs, card sharks, dedicated outdoorsmen, avid readers, antique aficionados and over-the-top grandparents.

To be honest, there's little more rewarding than spending an hour or so probing the heart and soul of this community's spiritual guides, and even difficult interviews turn into blessings.

Overall, Plant City's spiritual leaders are optimistic. They are all over the map regarding the details, but they are unified as to the big picture.

"God is on our side," they say; and that's neither a political nor a nationalistic point of view - it's theological.

Beyond outstanding spiritual leaders, Plant City is blessed with people whose work helps move this community forward.

But each and every story about the people who guide our community turns out, fundamentally, to be about spiritual leadership. Everyone I've talked to is motivated in some way by their faith. Anyone who says God is not welcome in the public schools has not been to Plant City.

Is there someone you would like profiled? Call Derek Maul at (813) 245-2304 or e-mail him at derekmaul @gmail.com.

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