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Pasadena Presbyterian marks 50 years

The pastor of the church asks: "What is God's plan for our next half-century and beyond?''

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE
Published October 11, 2006

	[Times photo: John Pendygraft]
	Lynne Wolf, 44, who has attended Pasadena Presbyterian Church since she was 4, says instead of bowing for a blessing, she looks up so one can rain down on her.

ST. PETERSBURG - Jim Wilson found a wife and faith at Pasadena Presbyterian Church.

For Alan Campbell, the church has just always been a part of his life. His parents were among its founding members and he and his wife, Barbara, made it an important part of their two sons' lives, too.

Last weekend, Wilson, 68, and Campbell, 72, joined past and present Pasadena Presbyterian members to celebrate the church's 50th anniversary.

"It was so nice to see so many people there," said Mary Watson, 67, a charter member. "People who had moved to Spring Hill and other places in Florida, they came back for the weekend, and two of the former pastors came from South Carolina. Another one came from Orlando."

Watson was 16 and living in the Park Street neighborhood when her parents joined others to start a new church for people on the beaches and the Pasadena area. The congregation was sponsored by First Presbyterian in St. Petersburg's downtown, said Watson, who now lives in Pinellas Park.

The new church held services at St. Petersburg College before moving to 100 Pasadena Ave. N. Watson, a retired dental hygienist, said she remembers when the church had close to 800 members. These days, average attendance at two Sunday services is 280, said the Rev. Carl Crawford, 52, who has been at the church for less than a year.

"What is God's plan for our next half-century and beyond?" Crawford asked his new congregation in a recent newsletter. Pasadena Presbyterian, he said, should take the gospel to the world "rather than waiting for (and hoping) the world will somehow 'drop in.' "

Mission work has been a large part of Crawford's ministry since 1980, when he and his wife, Donna, spent a year as volunteer missionaries in Zaire. Later, the pastor, who has a doctor of ministry degree in pastoral care, worked with an organization called Global Missions Fellowship that allowed him to serve in seven countries on four continents.

At Pasadena Presbyterian, he said: "We're hoping that we will use the relationships that we have to help introduce people to Jesus and salvation in him. And we want to re-engage our community. We want to be a servant to our community."

Wilson and his wife, Jan, were the first people married by Crawford at Pasadena Presbyterian. Wilson formally joined the church more than a year ago after Jan invited him.

Wilson said the congregation is a welcoming one and adheres to its motto: "Where it feels like family when you walk in the door."

"The people are remarkable. They are such loving people," he said, mentioning particularly Sunday school teacher Bob Chick, who took him under his wing "as a baby Christian." Chick and his wife, Peggy, headed the church's anniversary committee.

Campbell, a former deacon and elder, said the congregation's friendliness and caring have kept him and his wife faithful members of the church.

"We just love it," he said. "I hope that the church will be growing more and that we could spread the gospel to more and more people and help more and more people that are in need, both spiritually and financially."

[Last modified October 10, 2006, 19:51:40]