TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Gibsonton, Church Working On Trust Issues

ADVERTISEMENT

BY YVETTE C. HAMMETT

yhammett@tampatrib.com

Published: March 2, 2009

GIBSONTON - Methodist church officials want to provide the services that neighbors here need.

Neighbors, however, don't want a repeat of the last church mission in their area - one that brought in homeless people who hung out all day, urinated in front yards and cursed at children.
Church officials plan to open a new mission at Gibsonton United Methodist Church on Marilla Street, west of U.S. 41, and say they are working to gain back trust.

DayStar Ministries, which previously rented space there, drew unwanted strangers to the residential area with a program that offered daily meals for the homeless, said Bob Minthorn of Concerned Citizens of Gibsonton.

Whether the mission will get support remains to be seen, Minthorn said. "It depends on which direction they go."

About 70 members of South Shore and Sun City Center United Methodist churches took the tiny Gibsonton church under their wings last summer after the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church determined that Gibsonton UMC was too small to support a stand-alone church.

Now, it's time for a new beginning, said the Rev. John Legg, pastor of South Shore UMC.

The churches are compiling the results of a community survey that asks what types of services people would like to see offered at the mission. A report should be complete by the end of March.

"We would be much more intimately involved in designing this new mission," he said, adding that there will be greater oversight this time around.

"At this point, we're not saying no to anything, but it doesn't look like it's going to be a daily feeding program or other homeless ministry," he said.

The mission likely will offer services for jobseekers and ways to help people navigate signing up for government benefits, Legg said.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT