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Without Walls In Lakeland Ready To Buy, Break Away

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By MICHELLE BEARDEN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 10, 2008

Updated: 03/09/2008 11:22 pm

TAMPA - Without Walls Central in Lakeland is poised to purchase the property there and break away from its founding church, Without Walls International in Tampa, church officials said Sunday.

"As in all real estate dealings, nothing is finalized until the contracts are signed," said Scott Thomas, senior pastor at Without Walls Central, in a written statement issued by its public relations company, Tucker/Hall Inc. "We are presently conducting our due diligence in efforts of securing this purchase in a timely manner."

The statement did not mention the cost of the potential deal, and church officials did not respond to further inquiries. However, Randy White, pastor of Without Walls, said last week that the property, which includes a 10,000-seat sanctuary on about 75 acres, was appraised two years ago at $27 million. Without Walls purchased the property from Carpenter's Home Church in 2005 for $15 million, which included cash and a building it owned in Auburndale.

Thomas said in the statement that White began encouraging him and his wife, Cindy, his co-pastor, toward autonomy about three years ago. If and when the deal is finalized, the ministry names would differ, but "we will continue to grow in Kingdom relationship with Without Walls International Church and Pastor Randy White."

No membership figures were available for the Lakeland branch. However, Thomas said the facility is "not in financial hardship nor is it a financial burden." He said the church is "more than able" to meet its financial obligations on a monthly basis.

'Smarter Than The Devil'

On Sunday, White told his congregation at the main campus, on 2511 N. Grady Ave., that Thomas and he had a "master plan" but were not ready to share it. "Sometimes you just have to be smarter than the devil," he said.

Charlie Lamberti of Zephyrhills attended Without Walls in Tampa for eight years. He said membership seemed to "flip over" every year and too many staff members were on "power trips." So he and his wife starting attending the Lakeland church about two months ago. He called his new pastors "awesome people" who have done great things building up the church.

"I'm so happy, I'm overwhelmed," he said. "I knew the way things were going that Pastor Scott was either going to leave and start his own church, or stay with the church here as an independent operation."

He said White should sell the property to Thomas for what he paid for it. "White always called Pastor Scott his spiritual son," Lamberti said. "The way to show gratitude and prove he truly meant that is to not make a profit and to sell it to Pastor Scott at the price he paid for it."

Last week, The Tampa Tribune reported that Without Walls, which is facing a U.S. senator's scrutiny for possible abuse of its tax-exempt status, had hired a real estate company to sell both of its facilities, in Tampa and Lakeland. The asking price for the Tampa campus is $30 million.

Neither White nor his ex-wife, Paula, the church's former senior pastor, responded to calls regarding the development. On the day the story ran, Tucker/Hall released a statement noting that the church's executive leadership decided that the "time was right to list both properties."

"The church could consider using the proceeds on a more focused, functional church facility to meet the needs of its congregation," the statement said. "Or it could decide to use any excess proceeds to continue and expand its many current community outreach programs."

At Thursday's church service, White said he has five "hard-core offers" at this time on the Tampa site. However, he also said one option was to use the cash from the Lakeland sale to pay off the main campus's debt and possibly to build a parking structure.

According to Hillsborough County records, Without Walls bought the property, site of the former Canada Dry headquarters, for $6.3 million in 1998. The church got a $12 million mortgage from the Evangelical Christian Credit Union on the property in December 2003, with the balance due in January. A spokeswoman said last week that the loan could be extended another five years.

Without Walls reported a $26.29 million debt in a 2006 audit, with annual revenue of nearly $40 million.

Sunday's announcement did not come as a surprise to Roger and Julie Underwood, who moved from Tennessee three years ago to join Without Walls.

The Tampa couple said they left the church a few months ago amid the turmoil surrounding the Whites' divorce and financial concerns, and because of teachings that put a constant emphasis on giving tithes and offerings.

"They're running it like a business, with the man acting like a rock star and not a preacher," Underwood said. "Now it sounds like he's ready to close up and go completely away."

Whites Had It 'Backwards'

His wife said they have gone through a lot of emotions - shock, anger and hurt - since the Whites announced they were splitting up in August.

She felt they both should have stepped down from ministry for a period to "get right with God" and is bothered they continued without a break for "restoration."

"I think pastors and staff are there to serve and care for the people," she said. "But they've got it backwards there. It's more about the money and how you can serve them."

Reporter Michelle Bearden can be reached at (813) 259-7613 or mbearden@tampatrib.com. Keyword: Without Walls, for more stories, videos and forums on Without Walls.

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