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Pastor, Son Given Joyous Farewell

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By MICHELLE BEARDEN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 18, 2008

BRANDON - It was just the sort of celebration their gregarious pastor and his fun-loving, guitar-playing son would have enjoyed.

Saturday, the church family at Bell Shoals Baptist, with an outpouring of support from neighboring churches, came together with broken hearts but joyous spirits to say goodbye to the Rev. Forrest Pollock, 44, and Preston, 13.

They died Monday when the single-engine Piper aircraft Pollock was piloting crashed just before dawn into a North Carolina mountainside, in rugged terrain outside Asheville. A preliminary report on the cause of the crash is expected this week from the National Transportation Safety Board.

"In one bright, brilliant, shining moment, Forrest and Preston stepped into the presence of God," said the Rev. Tom Elliff, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention and the pastor who married Pollock and his wife of 17 years, Dawn.

Those who came to pay their respects began filling the new $24 million sanctuary's 3,450 seats an hour and a half before the 11 a.m. service. Then they filled rows and rows of folding chairs in the massive lobby, watching the 2 1/2 -hour memorial from mounted television screens.

They were not alone in their journey toward closure of a grief-stricken week. Dozens of churches in the Tampa Bay area dispatched volunteers to help with parking cars, get the guest books signed and assist with seating.

"We're all part of the body of Christ," said Joyce Heaverin, who signed up immediately when she heard Bell Shoals needed help with the logistics of putting together a massive funeral in a short period of time. "God doesn't promise that the road will be easy. He just promises to be with you. And we want to be with them, too, in this difficult time."

Pollock's family - which included his widow and five surviving children - were the last to enter the sanctuary. In one of the service's most touching moments, 15-year-old Courtney, the eldest, sang "His Eye Is On the Sparrow."

Friends and fellow pastors spoke eloquently of Pollock, a native Oklahoman who left a successful career in multimedia production to follow a spiritual calling 18 years ago. They recalled a man who fell in love at first sight with Dawn Allen, then proposed to her on their second date.

When he died, Pollock was working on his third book: "Storybook Marriage."

"No man on the face of Earth pursued a woman so fervently, so ardently, so rapidly," Elliff recalled.

Pollock Loved Motorcycle Ministry

Pollock got his pilot's license in 1995. But Dawn put her foot down about him riding a Harley, so he was just an honorary member of the Bell Shoals chapter of the F.A.I.T.H. Riders, a Christian motorcycle group.

Member Bill Sauer said Pollock loved the motorcycle ministry because "we take the Lord wherever we go to people who aren't used to hearing about him."

Cyclists in black leather attire came from around the state Saturday to help with parking. This summer, they will ride as a group at the Brandon Fourth of July parade in honor of Pollock.

"He oozed the love of the Lord and he challenged all of us to do the same," Sauer said. "So the best way to honor him is to keep on keeping on. He's passed the torch to us now."

Pollock's devotion to his congregation and his family were common knowledge at Bell Shoals. A four-minute video tribute with a montage of vacation and holiday snapshots spoke volumes about the close-knit clan.

For years, Pollock carried around a set of plans for a dream home. As the children came - Courtney, then Brooke, Preston, Hope, Blake and Kirk - the plans kept expanding as well. After coming to Bell Shoals from his previous assignment in Baton Rouge, La., Pollock brought those plans to builder Mike Chadwell.

He wanted to put down roots here because "it was the first time he felt at home," Chadwell said. The two men would spend hours together, talking privately or hanging out with their combined brood of nine children.

Pollock, who was working on his master's degree from Harvard University, "was the smartest guy in the room. But he still listened and valued my opinion," Chadwell said. "As a friend, he is irreplaceable."

Song For Preston

The prank-loving Preston, whose guitar was propped up on the altar next to his portrait, was his daddy's shadow. He loved to fish and shared his father's passion for flying. But most of all, the young teen loved writing and playing Christian music with his group, S.O.S. (Suspects of Sin).

Three of his band mates, clutching handwritten notes, shared their personal remembrances of their friend. Caleb Clark said Preston had a real thing for the sleek DeLorean sports car. "He's probably driving one right now in heaven," he said. Grappling with their grief, the boys did what musicians do best to sort out their feelings. They wrote a song to Preston called "See You Later."

"You always made us laugh," said A.J. Wellman. "We know we'll see you again ... but just in case, save us a seat."

Pollock, a print and broadcast journalist in his life before ministry, never lost his love for drama. Congregants shared stories of him portraying biblical characters to illustrate a sermon and teach a scripture. They remembered his love of good suits and charismatic appeal from the pulpit and one-on-one with his members.

Some believed he had the talent and the character to one day hold a leadership role in the Southern Baptist Convention, which oversees some 42,000 churches in the United States. His vision helped grow Bell Shoals into one of the country's 100 biggest churches, with some 7,000 members.

But his personality kept the atmosphere homey and personal, they said.

"His laugh was loud and his smile was bright and magnetic," said worship Minister Simeon Nix. "I told him he was so pretty that I needed to throw a little dirt on him to make him real."

The congregation laughed. If their pastor was anything, members agreed, it was authentic. They said it's too soon and too raw to think of who will replace him. He will be a tough act to follow, Andrea Hall said.

"You looked at his countenance and he looked like an angel," she said. "He was one of God's angels. And now he and Preston are home."

Reporter Michelle Bearden can be reached at (813) 259-7613 or mbearden@tampatrib.com.

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