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From The Wreckage Of A Minister's Plane, Love Rises
Photo by KEVIN HOWE
Members of Bell Shoals Baptist Church and guests make their way into the church’s new Worship Center to pray for senior pastor Forrest Pollock and his son Preston, who died in a plane crash.
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Published: May 15, 2008
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Forrest Pollock
Preston Pollock
BRANDON - They came by the dozens, then the hundreds and finally, the thousands, filling their new 3,400-seat sanctuary and spilling over into the lobby.
Typically, a Wednesday night service at Bell Shoals Baptist Church would never command such a crowd.
This time, though, the congregation was taking its first collective step in what will be a long healing process, as they deal with the sudden deaths of their popular pastor of five years and his 13-year-old son.
"We don't grieve like the world grieves," said Gary Payne, a church minister. "We grieve with hope. We know where Forrest and Preston are. They're with Jesus."
The Rev. Forrest Pollock was flying his single-engine Piper aircraft early Monday morning from North Carolina to Little Rock, Ark., when it crashed in rugged, mountainous terrain outside Asheville, N.C. Searchers found the bodies of Pollock and Preston, his only passenger, on Tuesday after picking up the signal from the plane's emergency locator transmitter.
The father and son were on their way to a Christian networking conference in Texas. They had gone to North Carolina to visit Pollock's mother on Sunday, leaving 14-year-old daughter Brooke with her grandmother.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash.
News of the plane's disappearance, then the discovery of the wreckage, spread fast throughout the church community, by e-mail, text messages and phone calls. The congregation had just moved into the new sanctuary - under construction for more than two years - a few weeks ago. A dedication ceremony is planned for June 1.
Church leaders took turns sharing stories about Pollock and Preston, offering biblical words of comfort. They said they couldn't answer the "why" their leader and mentor was taken so quickly. But in the absence of that answer, they could turn to one thing.
"We know who is in control," said Scott Odom, a youth minister. "Tonight we can't look at our strength, because our strength is feeble." The strength has to come from "the sovereign Lord."
Absent from the praise-and-worship service were the surviving members of Pollock's family: wife Dawn and their other five children.
A Celebration of Life service is set for Pollock, 44, and Preston at 11 a.m. Saturday, to be followed by a fellowship reception. A "gathering of friends" will precede the service, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Interment will be next week in Oklahoma City, Okla., where Pollock was born.
With about 7,000 members, Bell Shoals Baptist is one of the Bay area's largest churches. But the congregation considers itself more of a big family than a megachurch.
"Families handle things. Families stick together through good and bad times. This is a bad time, but we'll get through," Brenda Strickland said. She's been a member for 19 years, back when average attendance was about 500 on a good Sunday.
For most of that time, she's been a volunteer greeter at Sunday services, making newcomers and old-timers feel welcome.
"All I have to do is smile and hug," she said. "Who couldn't do that?"
Wednesday night, she had to hold herself together, staying strong as some red-eyed mourners came through the doors. She said one particular Scripture kept her focused:
"To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord," she said. "We stand by that."
Evangelical Christians like to say that time on this Earth is a temporary phase. They're just passing through. The journey ultimately leads to heaven, where they will spend a joyous eternity with Jesus.
"The grave is just a doorway to heaven," Payne told the crowd, which includes pastors and supporters from the community. "This building is beautiful, but it's temporary. I'm looking for a city with foundation whose architect is Jesus Christ."
He got a standing ovation.
Reporter Michelle Bearden can be reached at (813) 259-7613 or at mbearden@tampatrib.com. Keyword: Bell Shoals, to see video, photos and stories or to sign a guest book.
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