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Whatever happened to ...

Faith, frustration mark 2005

Christian booksellers work their way back. A synagogue slowly takes shape. An ailing teacher finds assistance.

By SHERYL KAY and AMBER MOBLEY
Published December 30, 2005

Book merchants still have faith: Early in 2005, Bobby and JoAnn Tebo were feeling the wrath of Mother Nature and a string of misfortunes. A hurricane had stripped their store's sign off its mounting. The decades-old Christian Armory of Florida was engulfed in debt. JoAnn Tebo had lost both her parents, and her younger sister was paralyzed in a car accident.

Today JoAnn Tebo's sister is home from rehabilitation and the hospital, and the Tebos hope to reopen their store in 2007. "We're on track paying off what we're paying on," JoAnn said.

They continue to work at another Christian book and gift store, Living Word Christian Store, 1728 S Dale Mabry, where business was thriving during the holidays.

"Working here helps us stay in tune with the business end of (running a store) and helps this place grow," JoAnn Tebo said. "It's still not our store," JoAnn Tebo said about Living Word Christian Store, "but I feel like this is our ministry and what we're supposed to be doing."

Weather slows synagogue plans: It was with all good intentions that Dr. Mark Weissman predicted the doors would open at Temple Ohev Shalom of New Tampa sometime in late 2004 or early 2005. He qualified his optimism with a caveat that anything could happen with a busy hurricane season, and 2005 did not disappoint.

"People used to say it would take six to nine months to build a house here, but now they're saying nine to 12 months," said Weissman, president of the synagogue. "We keep hearing there's no cement, there's no drywalling, and there are no workers available."

The building has been in place, awaiting drywall and painting. Then come plumbing and electricity, followed by carpeting and furniture. Installing roof tiles, landscaping, and paving the parking lot are the last tasks, possibly occurring as the synagogue opens. Now Weissman predicts February, and the date cannot come soon enough.

In the past year, membership at Ohev Shalom, the first temple in New Tampa, has grown by close to 60 percent, with the congregation still meeting at the Compton Park Community Center. "It's been frustrating for everyone, and it has been frustrating for me," Weissman said. "I've been through building two houses, one condo and one building, and I don't think I've ever felt this frustrated."

Hunt served in October as liturgical artist for the installation of the first elected moderator for the national Metropolitan Community Churches, in Washington, D.C. "This was a great challenge and a wonderful opportunity for me to realize how far reaching our mission of welcome and inclusion has grown in just 38 years," she said. Locally, Hunt said that the fight against the recent antigay legislation enacted by Hillsborough County commissioners takes up a good part of her time, in addition to the tremendous growth at MCC, whose mission is to serve the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender members of society.

"It is almost as if we have a civilized form of ethnic and social cleansing here in Hillsborough County," said Hunt. "I do what I do because building a strong and diverse community involves respecting each other and recognizing that we are all different, and if we take the time to get to know each other we'll find that we have shared beliefs that can make us stronger as individuals and as a community."

Parishioners and pastors responded by staging a benefit concert in October. According to co-worker Rozie Gillette, the event netted more than $1,300. "She was overwhelmed that people cared that much about her," said Gillette, who reports that Blair is responding to her new medications.

The small North Tampa school has never been able to afford insurance coverage, but is now shopping for a plan. In the meantime, Blair is receiving some assistance from the Epilepsy Foundation.

[Last modified December 29, 2005, 08:40:09]