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Landowner, church see eye to eye
By EILEEN SCHULTE © St. Petersburg Times, published April 28, 2001 CLEARWATER -- For years, builder and land developer Jerry Custer tried to sell his overgrown, weed-strewn property on Woodlawn Street. He and his wife were getting on in years and no longer wanted to deal with it. Several interested parties stepped forward, including members of the Church of Scientology, the city of Clearwater and a non-profit organization, he said. But no agreement was reached. Meanwhile, members of the Woodlawn Church of God, across the street from the property, were spending weeks in prayer, asking God to help them expand the church. On the 40th day of prayer, Custer, a religious man, felt a strong, inexplicable urge to ask Woodlawn's pastor, the Rev. Randy Morris, if he would like to buy the land. Morris, who had had his eye on the property for years, leaped at the opportunity. Now he has a contract to purchase the property for $550,000. Custer plans to donate the condo on the land and an adjacent parking area to the church. Morris intends to build an amphitheater for concerts and build a larger worship center. The expansion will require the purchase of three houses that surround the church. "I just know one day I felt strongly to ask him if he wanted to buy that land," Custer said. "God definitely had this land reserved for the Woodlawn Church of God." The church's plans for the condo have brought questions from some community members. Morris said he wants to offer at least one unit to the Good News Jail & Prison Ministry so participants -- some of them ex-convicts -- who have found Jesus Christ and want to turn their lives around can use it as a place to stay after they are released from prison. Morris is quick to point out that it's not a prison ministry. "That's a fraction of what we're (planning). We don't know how it's going to play out," he said. Years ago, the sandy plot of land was dotted with greenhouses and served as a nursery, Custer said. On one side, there was a small house. Neighbors know it as an old swamp area. Now, the 7-acre tract on Woodlawn Street in the Greenwood area of Clearwater attracts drug users and prostitutes, who conceal themselves in the thick vegetation, said community activist Lois Cormier, a member of the South Clearwater Citizens for Progressive Action. Which makes the area a good candidate for life-changing work, Morris said. "We want to reach the unchurched and turn them into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ," said Morris, pastor of the 350-member Woodlawn Church of God for 16 years. Custer has owned the land for 35 years. He acknowledged that there have been problems, but said they are handled by the police. When he bought the property, he planned to build up to 76 condominium units there, but he stopped at one eight-unit condo. Units in the building would probably be used by missionaries on furlough and members of the congregation who are in crisis situations and require emergency housing. Cormier initially opposed the plans. But after receiving assurances from Morris, she supports them now. "I told Lois "Whether you like it or not, they (ex-convicts) are coming back to the community,' " Morris said. "You can't keep them in jail forever." And he wants to make sure that when they get out, they have a better chance of living a life without crime. Through services to the poor and others, "we do nothing but elevate the community," he said. Natalie Weppler, who works in the Clearwater Parks and Recreation Department's accounts payable division and lives two blocks from the church, said she isn't worried about the prospect of ex-convicts moving into the neighborhood because she trusts Morris. "I know the pastor," said Weppler, a one-year resident of the community who sometimes attends the church with her husband, Jade. "He has explained to me there is a screening process. He said they're under strict supervision. They have to be involved in prayer groups and other things." The neighborhood, Weppler said, "isn't the best neighborhood to live in . . . it's not like Countryside." But the church is a friend to it, she said. "I think they're really conscious of the neighborhood, but they don't like to impose," Weppler said. It offers free outdoor concerts and other "outreach stuff, free barbecue, hamburgers and hot dogs. I think it's great," she said. Cormier agrees. "I don't feel he'll hurt our neighborhood," she said of Morris. "He never has."
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