Northoftampa: Church to use land next door to expand

Church to use land next door to expand

The pastor of First Baptist had his eyes on the vacant lot next door for years before the church bought it.

By BILL COATS, Times Staff Writer

The pastor of First Baptist had his eyes on the vacant lot next door for years before the church bought it.

LUTZ -- The 22 acres sat vacant and for sale for years.

"I remember telling my deacons," said the Rev. Charles White, "I believe God's holding that property in abeyance for us."

White is pastor of First Baptist Church of Lutz, which sits next door to the site and finally made its move in February.

The church bought the land for $320,000. Combined with 10 acres First Baptist already owned, the new property clears the way for a larger church, which White hopes to complete within five years. Half the land is swamp, leaving the church with about 16 acres for construction.

First Baptist Church, an institution in Lutz since 1940, sits at the northwest corner of Crystal Lake Road and U.S. 41. But its facilities gradually have spilled southward across Crystal Lake Road.

The future worship hall will sit just west of an angle on U.S. 41 where the CSX Transportation railroad tracks cross the highway.

White said architects are working on site plans, competing for the design job.

With expansion plans, First Baptist joins a happy fraternity of Lutz-area churches that are growing to accommodate an ever-larger population:

-- Idlewild Baptist Church plans a groundbreaking this year on one of the largest church complexes in Florida, including a 5,400-seat sanctuary off Van Dyke Road, east of N Dale Mabry Highway.

-- St. Timothy Catholic Church is completing a 38,000-square-foot church building off Van Dyke and Lakeshore roads.

-- First United Methodist Church of Lutz, the community's oldest church, has approved a master site plan for a new campus at Lutz-Lake Fern Road and Merry Lane, and is in a three-year capital campaign to pay for the project.

-- University Evangelical Presbyterian Church is seeking rezoning for an eventual 1,000-seat church with a day care center on U.S. 41, just south of County Line Road.

Although First Baptist is in Lutz's older, slower-growing region, the church overlooks U.S. 41, a six-lane commuter route for thousands of Pasco County residents.

"I'm expecting explosive growth to take place," White said. "We want to be prepared for that growth. We've drawn people from as far away as Spring Hill."

Already, he said, "When we have banquets and things like that, we're just absolutely stacked like a bunch of sardines."

In planning its destiny, First Baptist has wavered between the traditional and the contemporary, White said.

About five years ago, the church conducted different types of services each Sunday ranging from traditional to "ultra contemporary," to a blend. White now believes First Baptist suffered an identity crisis that cost the church some members.

Since then, it has settled on a contemporary style, with amplifiers, drums and other musical instruments. That's an attempt to appeal to people who weren't raised in a traditional church culture, White said.

Likewise, First Baptist's new 1,200-seat worship hall will reflect "a blend of a contemporary approach and something clearly delineated as a church," he said.

"It won't be white, brick, square with columns in the front," White said.

-- Bill Coats can be reached at (813) 269-5309 or coats@sptimes.com.