Strength in numbers

[Times photos: Jamie Francis] Members of Without Walls, a Pentecostal church, join hands during the beginning of a service in Lakeland.

By SHARON TUBBS, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 12, 2002

Two prominent Pentecostal players in the church strike a deal, and the Central Florida spiritual landscape may never be the same.

LAKELAND -- If this were Wall Street, we might call what happened earlier this month in Lakeland a mega happening, like the marriage of AOL and Time Warner.

The uniting of Without Walls International Church and Carpenters Home Church -- two of the largest and best-known Pentecostal congregations in Central Florida -- is driven by mega ambitions: to spread the gospel from Florida's east coast to its west, making sure that no soul along the Interstate 4 corridor goes untouched.

The deal was set in motion four months ago. Without Walls, the trendy Tampa congregation that claims 15,000 members, was looking for a place to establish a second congregation in Central Florida. Their Tampa location would be the headquarters, while the second church would be a satellite. From there, they would target the Lakeland and Orlando areas.

In Lakeland, Carpenters Home was having some problems of its own. The church built a $12.5-million auditorium with 10,000 seats in 1985. But in the past 15 years, attendance dwindled to 2,000, barely a sprinkling of folks in their massive sanctuary.

At a recent conference, an idea emerged: What if Without Walls bought the auditorium at Carpenters Home Church?

And that's where they are now.

For the next six months, Without Walls will hold worship services in Lakeland every Saturday. About half the church's staff will carpool for the 45-minute drive, hoping to draw worshipers from Polk County and Florida's east coast for what is being advertised as "Saturday Night Ignite."

Depending on the turnout, Without Walls will buy the facility for an undetermined price. Carpenters Home, then, would build a smaller sanctuary of its own.

Tentative though it may be, the deal is being hailed as landmark by Christian heavyweights across the country, partly because Randy and Paula White, the pastors of Without Walls, as well as the Rev. Karl Strader of Carpenters Home, are high profile leaders in Pentecostal circles.

Bishop T.D. Jakes in Dallas, professed spiritual healer Benny Hinn and self-proclaimed prophet Kim Clement have predicted the partnership will have great spiritual impact in Florida.

On a brochure advertising the union, Bishop Eddie Long in Georgia is quoted asking the two churches to "rise up and take over the Central Florida area!"

The partnership came about as much out of necessity as spirituality.

The name Strader carries weight in charismatic circles. Strader, 72, has been pastor of Carpenters Home for 35 years and has ministered at various churches nationwide. A Pentecostal church under the Assemblies of God denomination, Carpenters Home has owned radio stations, hosted concerts and conferences featuring big names in Christianity, such as evangelist Rodney Howard-Browne, gospel singer CeCe Winans and Christian music artists Jars of Clay and Michael W. Smith.

But the past 15 years have also carried controversy. Some Assemblies of God leaders, including televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, have publicly questioned Strader's theological teachings, according to the Lakeland Ledger.

"We've been to hell and back," Strader said during a recent church service. About 800 of Strader's members left to form their own church in 1989, after a dispute over his leadership.

Then in 1994, Strader's son, Daniel, was arrested on fraud charges. He was convicted the next year and is serving a 45-year sentence in federal prison. A small number of fraud victims were members of the church, causing further tension. Strader said he believed his son was innocent and was treated unfairly by the system. But his son's appeals have been denied. Strader asked members of Without Walls to pray for his son's release, saying seven years behind bars was enough for a "white collar crime."

At one time membership rolls swelled to about 5,000. Strader and a jubilant congregation had the 10,000-seat auditorium built, believing that in time it would be filled to capacity. Instead, attendance dwindled.

Without Walls, an independent church with Pentecostal teachings, has not dodged turmoil either.

Two years ago, employees of a driving school that leased property from Without Walls were charged by a federal grand jury in Chicago with fixing more than 1,000 Florida truck drivers' license tests. The school was legally separate from Without Walls, but was one of several outreach ministries operating under an umbrella, nonprofit corporation set up by the church. The driving instructor is now in prison. The school lost its right to conduct road skills tests in Florida.

Without Walls leaders said they were unaware of any wrongdoing and that the church was never investigated for misconduct.

Unlike Carpenters Home, pitfalls proved only minor setbacks for Without Walls. Last year, Without Walls launched a national TV show, Paula White Today, and Paula White was asked to preach at Bishop Jakes' annual Woman Thou Art Loosed conference in New Orleans, which drew 60,000 women. Church services are broadcast on cable stations, and people from around the country send donations to the ministry or call its prayer line for counsel. A significant number of them live on Florida's east coast -- another reason to expand the church's outreach eastward, Without Walls leaders say.

Randy and Paula White, pastors of Without Walls International Church in Tampa, minister to the congregation during a recent service at Carpenters Home Church in Lakeland. Congregant Margaret Taylor, overcome, lies on the floor.

About four months ago, the Whites were at Carpenters Home where Jakes was speaking at a seminar. Strader didn't know them personally, but was familiar with their work.

"You folks need this church over in Tampa, don't you?" Strader said to them jokingly, looking out on the massive auditorium.

The Rev. Randy White, 44, might purchase the auditorium of the Carpenters Home Church in Lakeland as well as some adjoining land.

The Whites chuckled. But shortly after, they contacted some of Strader's associates and broached the idea of starting a satellite in Lakeland, Strader said. The pastors began talking and the partnership was established.

Carpenters owns about 100 acres, Strader said. Without Walls would buy nearly half that, including the auditorium, parking lots and some additional land if a deal is struck. Strader's church would build a smaller sanctuary on the land it would retain. The complete transition would take about 18 months.

In the meantime, Without Walls will pay Carpenters Home rent for using the auditorium on Saturdays. Church leaders would not disclose the rental rate.

Strader says he and his followers lacked the outreach skills to draw people from urban areas. Without Walls specializes in the concept, growing in 11 years from a handful of members who held services in a tent, to a diverse congregation. The church sends people driving pink trucks into Tampa public housing complexes where they conduct Sunday school-style programs.

"I didn't have the expertise. I didn't have the giftings," Strader said. "But you people are gifted. You're going to help us to reach Lakeland, to see everybody in town hear about Jesus."

The churches will also work together in promoting events. Several are planned in Lakeland in coming months, including the "Central Florida Miracle Crusade" with Benny Hinn on Oct. 12, and concerts featuring Christian music artists Donnie McClurkin, Kirk Franklin and Yolanda Adams on Nov. 16 and Michael W. Smith on Dec. 14.

Each church will maintain its identity. Both churches subscribe to Pentecostal doctrine, including speaking in tongues, the belief in divine healings and other manifestations of the Holy Spirit. But their styles are vastly different.

At the Saturday Night Ignite kickoff service in Lakeland, Strader is reserved in a dark suit, his graying hair parted and neat. Sitting alongside him is White, 44, whose blond hair is feathered and teased, his gray suit jacket fashionably long with about 10 little buttons.

As Strader put it, the partnership is like "wearing a Confederate shirt and Yankee pants!"

Indeed, the night's experience is foreign to those unfamiliar with Without Walls' unconventional style. As guest singer Vickie Winans sings an upbeat gospel tune, Without Walls teens in matching T-shirts and jeans turn the carpet in front of the pulpit into a dance floor. Other children and adults partake in a funky rendition of the electric slide.

Randy White stands to begin the sermon, but says the spirit is taking him in another direction. Instead of telling a Bible story, he asks the drummer for an American Indian beat. "Raaaiiin," White starts off, half singing, half chanting. "We want the raaaiiin . . ."

The crowd sings, too. They aren't talking about weather, but rather showers of the Holy Spirit.

The area has been in a drought for quite some time, White says during the service. The creeks and reservoirs were dry. But not long ago, God began to pour out his rain almost every day, he says. Now the water tables are rising.

"As it is in the natural," he proclaims, "so shall it be in the spirit!"

At one point, White asks the ill -- people with cancer, arthritis, high blood pressure, back pain -- to come to the pulpit. He moves from one person to the next, putting his hand on their foreheads and giving the Lord brisk, one-word mandates to act: "Touch!" "Heal!" "Deliver!"

At the brush of his palm, some begin to shake as if being electrocuted. Others go down peaceably, apparently felled by the spirit.

As the fervor wanes, White announces that the Lord is calling them to give a special offering to Strader. Long lines form in the aisles. People fill envelopes with their gifts; for some it is their third offering of the night.

White asks if some can give $1,000 apiece to Strader.

"We're a giving church," White says. "They call us the rich church and I receive it." Church leaders say Without Walls spent $75,000 for the kickoff ceremony, including expenses for Winans, an outdoor carnival before the service, wages for people to staff the equipment and the facility and the cost of renting the auditorium. Worshipers gave $51,000, about $12,000 of which they earmarked as gifts to Strader.

Service over, people linger in the foyer where information tables are set up and food boxes offered for those in need.

Harry and Diana Acevedo of Winter Haven say they plan to attend the Saturday services regularly and become members if Without Walls buys the property. "We're really excited about them coming to Polk County," said Harry Acevedo, 52.

Reginald Flowers came with his fiance, Sherika Ellison. The Tampa couple are not members of Without Walls. Ellison wanted to see Winans and to expose Flowers, who is Baptist, to a Pentecostal worship service.

"It was my first time witnessing stuff like that," said Flowers, 33, who went to the altar for prayer.

Carolyn Hennecy, 50, is the director of the singles ministry at Carpenters Home. She hopes that Without Walls can help her church reach more single people in the community. She enjoyed the kickoff service, Hennecy said, although she is used to more structured worship.

"This was more than I expected," she said. "One would expect a Bible to be cracked and Scripture to be read," she said. "But instead, God had the pulpit . . . It's a different level of intensity."

"It's like an explosion is about to happen," said Hennecy's friend, Linda McIntosh, 49.

Both women said they are excited about working with Without Walls.

"If it's God, we're all for it," Hennecy said. "And as crazy as this is, it must be God."

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.