Bell Shoals Baptist Church

Bell Shoals Church is a part of the Southern Baptist Convention and teaches the basic beliefs that members of this convention agree on. The reason that this church and its many campuses follow the Bible closely is because they believe the Bible was inspired by God. In other words, they believe God is the author of the Bible; man just wrote down God’s words. Like most other Christian denominations, this church teaches that there is only one God who is triune – God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.[4] They do, however, hold some unique beliefs that some members of other denominations do not:

• Salvation is a free gift from God to those who have faith, not to those who solely perform good works.
• Once someone has received salvation, it cannot be taken away from them.
• Only men can be pastors.
• Christians should submit their lives to God.
• There is sanctity in all human life.
• Church and state should be separate.[4]

Bell Shoals started as a handful of 17 men who met at Stowers Funeral Home in February 1961.[5] Shortly after, in March 1961, they acquired two acres (0.81 ha) of land to build their sanctuary, and 80 members joined.[5][6] There are now 8,000 members and four other campuses.[2] One of their campuses, Bell Shoals Baptist Apollo Beach, started with 12 members and now has over 400 members. [7]

Tim Wilson was the first pastor of this church. He left after a very successful tenure to become an itinerant evangelist. Since that time, Bell Shoals has had four additional senior pastors... Forrest Pollock, a very beloved pastor and third pastor to serve since Wilson departed, was killed in a plane crash on May 12, 2008. His son Preston, who was 13 years old, was also killed in the accident. Pollock was on his way to his mother’s home to visit her on Mother’s Day and planned to go to a preaching engagement with a friend in Texas. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma and had a master of divinity and doctor of divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Before serving as the pastor at Bell Shoals, Pollock was the pastor at Istrouma Baptist Church and Rosen Heights Baptist Church. He was also the president of the Large Church Roundtable and a member of the Resolutions Committee, the Committee on Committees, and the Southern Baptist Council on Family Life.[8]^[1] Dr. Stephen Rummage was the latest pastor of the church. He has since resigned to take a church in Oklahoma.

The church recently called Dr. Corey Abney as senior pastor.

Bell Shoals has children, youth and adult ministries.[9] They emphasize the importance of small groups so that people can connect.[9] Discipleship is also highly valued at this church; they believe that Jesus commands people to go and make disciples.[10] There are hundreds of volunteer opportunities at Bell Shoals, from tech support to child care.[11] Lastly, community engagement is important to Bell Shoals Baptist Church. They have partnered with and created several ministries:

• Hearts and Hammers does home repairs for those who are physically unable to do so on their own.
• Real Hope Ministries opens a food pantry to the community every Wednesday.
• HOPE Ministries accompanies adults and children with special needs while their care-takers attend church.
• Celebrate Recovery has several classes at Bell Shoals for people struggling with addictions.
• Morning Glories is a ministry for widows.
• Bell Shoals has a Disaster Relief Ministry with over 100 members who are trained and certified in areas such as food preparation and emergency response.
• In their community, Bell Shoals has partnered with Give 'em Heaven Ministries, Good Samaritan Mission, Manna on Wheels, Metropolitan Ministries, the Community Issues Council, Friends of Internationals, LifeCare Network, Tampa Port Ministries, Inc. and Workplace Paracletes.
• In Florida, Bell Shoals has partnered with Florida Baptists Children’s Homes, SEND Miami and Word to Works.[12]

Bell Shoals has also brought the community together by hosting concerts and large Christmas productions. In 2013, Bell Shoals hosted a concert featuring Natalie Grant and Grammy Winner Sandi Patty.[13] In December 2017, Bell Shoals hosted its annual Christmas production, which featured Mac McConnell, a 175-person choir and a 35-piece orchestra.[14] In February 2018, Bell Shoals held a concert featuring American Idol finalists Scott MacIntyre and Jeremy Rosado to raise money for the devastation in Puerto Rico caused by Hurricane Maria.[15]

Bell Shoals Baptist Church has sent missionaries all over the world. Every year, Bell Shoals hosts a Global Outreach Celebration to spread awareness about different places that people can go and share their faith. In 2018, missionaries from Toronto, Haiti, Cuba, Central America, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa were a part of the conference.[16] For 15 years, teams from Bell Shoals have been traveling to Curitiba, Brazil, to partner with Projeto Vida, a group of traveling missionaries.[17]

In 2007, protests gathered around Bell Shoals Baptist Church and accused the church of discriminating against gay men and woman. At the time, Forrest Pollock was pastor. He denied these claims and invited the people to attend church.[18]

Bell Shoals Baptist Church has hosted several candidates forums. In 2014, candidates' answers to questionnaires that Bell Shoals sent out to voters raised controversy. While some politicians saw this as a violation of law, Bell Shoals claimed that they were not endorsing any candidates, just educating voters on the political stances of their candidates.[19]