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Hispanic Church Has A Moving Story To Tell

CANDACE C. MUNDY/TAMPA TRIBUNE

lf to rt) Dave Sheen, with Kalemeris Construction, along with John Kraus, Jesse Brady and Justin Holliman, with Hanlon Acoustical Ceilings, Inc., go over the plans for the Missionary Church Assembly of God which is under construction at 10651 Anderson Roa

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By ANGELA DELGADO, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 15, 2007

Updated: 09/15/2007 03:11 pm

TOWN 'N COUNTRY - In 2004, when state officials told staff at the Iglesia Missionera Assembleia de Dios that their land was needed to make room for the Interstate 275 expansion, their reaction wasn't one of gloom, but of gratefulness.

The 5,000-square-foot church on Lemon Street was built in 1965 to hold 180 people, but with the church's growing popularity, by 2000 it was having trouble accommodating its 500 members and would never fit the 1,000 people attending the Sunday worship services today.
Church staff was approached by the Department of Transportation and told they would be compensated for the loss of their land. The money they received made the new church at 10651 Anderson Road possible. The mostly Hispanic church is known in English as Missionary Church Assembly of God.

'Eventually we would have left anyway because the church was experiencing major growth,' said church Treasurer Jose Reyes. 'It was a blessing we were able to have funds to relocate the church with the money that we got from the government.'

For the past three years, the Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal M.I., 5800 N. Church Ave., has allowed Iglesia Missionera to use its location temporarily, but staff and members are more than ready to move into their new home.

Construction of the 35,000-square-foot church, with its blue roof and cream-colored exterior, began in July 2006 and is almost complete. Currently it's a painted shell, but soon the downstairs worship hall will be filled with pews to seat the 1,000 Sunday service attendees, and the stage will be decorated. The second-floor classrooms will be filled with tables and books. The classrooms will house the Sunday school.

The church sits on 5 acres, and crews recently began paving the parking lot. The construction's completion date could be the middle of this month, Reyes said.

'We felt this was the place,' said Ricardo Rodriguez, pastor of the congregation. 'Anderson has a lot of traffic. There are no Hispanic churches around here, and we weren't too far from the Lemon Street location. We didn't want to go outside the city so we could be close to the community that needs our services.'

The scheduled date for the inauguration isn't set, but once the church is ready, a weeklong celebration will be held, Rodriguez said.

The celebration will have singers and preachers, and all in the community will be invited to participate. Once it opens, the services will go from two a week to four.

Iglesia Missionera mainly has Hispanic members - who come from as far away as Wesley Chapel, Clearwater and Plant City - but provides English-speaking attendees headphones for audio translation. Rodriguez said that once they move into the Anderson location, they may offer an English worship service.

The church funds 13 missionaries in Latin America and has a youth ministry, a young adult ministry, men's and women's ministries and boys and girls ministries. The boys and girls ministries are similar to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, except the boys are called Royal Rangers and the girls The Missionettes. Rodriguez said they want to start more ministries when they open the new location.

The church also plans to open Angels Academy, a day care center with capacity for 100 children. In the more distant future, their goal is to open a school for children in grades one through eight.

'We're euphoric' about the new church, Reyes said.

'I'm about to jump up and down,' Rodriguez said. 'It's an ambiance of happiness. It's an ambiance of mercy. It's an ambiance of love. It's an ambiance of understanding. We want to receive people and make them feel welcome.'

AT A GLANCE

WHAT: Iglesia Missionera Assembleia de Dios

WHERE: 10651 Anderson Road, north of Linebaugh Avenue

WORSHIP SERVICES: Tuesday, prayer service at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, worship service at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, youth service at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, Bible school at 10 a.m. and worship service at 11:15 a.m.

CONTACT: (813) 289-3002

OPENING NEW CHURCH: In mid- to late September

Reporter Angela Delgado can be reached at (813) 865-1501 or adelgado@tampatrib.com.

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