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Letter to the editor

Fellowship goes on amid flux

A longtime Baptist congregation's buildings linger in foreclosure.

By WAVENEY ANNE MOORE, Times Staff Writer
Published January 30, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - Six months ago, members of Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church rejoiced at being back in their old sanctuary.

A judge had ruled in their favor in a dispute with a pastor they considered a usurper.

But now it's back to square one. The church, founded in 1946, went into foreclosure in October and was put up for public auction on Jan. 3. Although no one showed up to buy the Jordan Park neighborhood church, the congregation had to find a new place to worship.

Ruth Johnson-Williams, who built 36 years of memories at Pleasant Grove, says she and other members are undeterred.

"We are hoping that everything works out, and we are praying that it's God's will. But we're always going to be together as a church," she said.

The problems at Pleasant Grove began in 2003, when the pastor of 45 years, the Rev. Joseph Gordon, decided to hand the church over to his grandson, Gordon Morris Curry.

A majority of the congregation objected, citing Curry's arrest record.

They later said the election that put Curry in the pulpit was rigged, and many left to form a new church. A few key members remained to keep an eye on Curry, who renamed the churchGreater King David International Church.

Last summer, a Pinellas County judge agreed that Curry's election had been improperly conducted.

Even as congregants celebrated and returned to the property, they struggled to raise money to pay off the mortgage Curry had taken out on the property at 2550 Ninth Ave. S. They owe $720,823.50.

Church leaders say Curry, 31, drained the congregation's accounts and mortgaged the previously paid-off property. They accuse him of stripping the buildings of everything but the pews. At one time he put the church on the market for $3.5-million.

Speaking on the matter for the first time, the Rev. Joseph Gordon, 75, defended his grandson.

"I think he was good for the congregation. Of course he made some mistakes. I admit that," he said during a telephone interview.

The schism was bad for church finances, Gordon said.

"When they sort of split up and went in a different direction, they encouraged some of the people, some of the biggest paying tithers, to hold their money back, and that's how things got out of hand. The insurance got out of hand. The bills got out of hand," he said.

Gordon denied that his grandson's election was rigged. He said Curry is holding services in downtown St. Petersburg, but he declined to say where.

Members of the now-renamed New Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church are temporarily worshiping at St. Mark Lodge No. 12, 1210 Union St. S.

Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this article. Waveney Ann Moore can be reached at 892-2283 or moore@sptimes.com.

[Last modified January 29, 2008, 23:19:10]