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Center Feeding More Than Souls

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By JEFF SCULLIN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 21, 2008

ZEPHYRHILLS - True Life Center opened its Harvest Food Bank on Allen Road on Thursday, giving the small church's outreach efforts a more permanent beachhead.

The food bank will give away food from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Thursday. In time, the church hopes to serve 25 to 50 families each week, said its pastor, Randy Lawrence.

The early response has been good. Volunteers started filtering in even before the food bank opened, Lawrence said.

"People face a genuine need in their life," he said. "There are families in this community that are in need and are hurting financially.

"God has a heart to help people in a tangible way, not just a spiritual way."

That's where Lawrence found himself about 10 years ago - hurting and in need of help. He was selling drugs, drinking and sleeping around. In 1996, after getting arrested a second time for drunken driving, he decided the party lifestyle had gotten old and he turned his life over to God.

A week after accepting Jesus, Lawrence, now 38, walked into First Baptist Church of Indian Rocks in Largo, where he had been a few times with his mother. There, he found his first real church home. By 2001, he was working with the church's international ministry. In 2005, he graduated from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., and then returned to First Baptist, where he was ordained. He went on to serve as a staff pastor and single adults minister at the church before leaving in 2006 to start True Life Center.

First Baptist gave Lawrence a new direction, and he wants to make sure his church is there for others who, like him, may be ready for a change but don't have a church background. That's why you'll find him in jeans and a pullover shirt on Sunday mornings. It's why you'll find a contemporary mix of music and a welcoming attitude at True Life.

"You can come as you are because God accepts you as you are," Lawrence said. "A lot of people are out there that don't have a background with God, church, Christ - any of that."

The church started meeting about a year ago, first in an office and then in the Lawrences' home. On March 30, the church held its first service at the Allen Road location, a former day care center. At 2,500 square feet, the building offers enough space to accommodate the church's 50 members, plus areas for the children's and youth ministries.

True Life is a nondenominational church. It's Bible-based but casual and includes a contemporary music style featuring a guitarist, Lawrence's wife, Sara Jo, as the worship leader, and a little prerecorded music to fill out the sound. You might even see people moved by the spirit and shouting things out, though Lawrence says the church is not charismatic in the speaking-in-tongues sense. Members simply try to worship Jesus "in spirit and in truth."

The church's outreach started at Christmas, when members delivered presents and food to 20 families living in mobile home parks in south Zephyrhills. They followed up in March and April and, now that the food pantry is up and running, plan to seek out those needing help each month.

Church members also invite people to open their lives to God.

"A lot of the situations, they're involved with alcohol or drugs or not the right relational situations. ... So we try to help them or counsel them or offer them the direction they need to take the right steps," Lawrence said.

"We want to, first and foremost, help these people make that primary connection with God and to experience the freedom that he has for their life and then take the steps toward making the improvements in their life."

The church is reaching out in other ways, too. People can sign up for free weekly inspirational phone calls on the church's Web site. About 50 have so far.

Lawrence also will be recording weekly 15-minute spots that will be broadcast each week on WZHR, 1400 AM. His first broadcast will be at 10:30 Thursday.

TRUE LIFE CENTER

WHERE: 3719 Allen Road, Zephyrhills

WORSHIP: 10 a.m. Sundays

FOOD BANK: 4909 Allen Road, open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursdays

CALL: (813) 788-5433

ONLINE: www.truelifecenter .com

Editor Jeff Scullin can be reached at (813) 779-4614 or jscullin@tampatrib.com.

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