Logos Dei Community Church

In the News

By JANIS D. FROELICH

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 3, 2008

Updated:

SOUTH TAMPA - If Sam Hestorff wants to work out after church, no problem. The church he helps lead is at the Interbay-Glover Family YMCA.

Logos Dei Community Church has been at the YMCA since January. It looks as if the partnership is sticking.

"I see us staying here," said Hestorff, a client associate for Wachovia Securities.

"That's the beauty of this church," said his co-pastor, Nancy Burke, a teacher at Doby Elementary School. "We aren't focused on a building campaign. Instead of asking for money for that, we're hands-on in our ministry."

Logos Dei's goal is to grow from its current 50 members, many formerly associated with the large Bayshore Baptist Church, to about 250 and then start another branch.

"Our goal is to be in the community," said Hestorff, relaxing in jeans after playing guitar and preaching at Sunday's service.

The gathering is nondenominational, although the church offers communion and baptizes members. Singing is accompanied by two guitars and drums with the words flashed on a screen in the YMCA's mirrored aerobics room.

Before and after the 10 a.m. service, children play basketball in the gym. The YMCA's nursery is available for younger children.

Logos Dei (Latin for "word of God") pays $3,000 a month to lease space for Sunday mornings until the YMCA opens at noon. Outdoor areas also are available for the congregation to hold a monthly picnic.

George Sorensen, the YMCA's associate director, said he has been approached by other churches in his three years at the 30,000-square-foot branch, 4411 S. Himes Ave.

"But we felt like this was the group we wanted to team up with," he said.

He likes that Logos Dei's approach isn't "go to church then go home."

Sorensen said church members are partnering with Interbay-Glover's outreach program on projects such as cleaning a yard or painting a house for ElderLink.

The outreach puts emphasis on the Christian aspect of the YMCA.

"They are definitely into giving back," Sorensen said of Logos Dei members.

Part of being at the YMCA is a solution to finding lots of space in an urban environment, Hestorff said.

The church was founded in October 2006 by Hestorff, a former youth minister at Bayshore Baptist, and Burke, a former Christian education leader at Bayshore Baptist. The first meeting was at the Renaissance Tampa Hotel International Plaza, and the first service was at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in South Tampa in November 2006.

In January 2007, Logos Dei was incorporated as a church by the state.

At St. Mary's, Burke said, the Sunday service had to be at 5 p.m., "and South Tampa likes to go to church Sunday morning."

Don Fuller was a member of Bayshore Baptist, 3111 W. Morrison Ave., from 1962 until joining Logos Dei at its inception. He said he had to switch from being a horn player at Bayshore to relearn the guitar to play for the smaller audience at Logos Dei.

"I had to get my calluses back," he said.

His wife, Marlene, a retired teacher, said, "We mostly like the size of this church. We all know each other and what's bothering everyone individually."

Sue Rose, a teacher at Dover Elementary, was a Bayshore Baptist member for 30 years.

"I like this smallness," she said.

She would like Logos Dei to have its own place, though: "It would be easier because now we have to set up and take down."

Among the jump-ropes and yoga equipment, Hestorff preached from the Old Testament's Book of Judges about Gideon. It's a story about overcoming odds with small numbers.

"God uses an ordinary person to do things that usually he wouldn't be able to do," he told the congregation.

Hestorff does his daily workouts at the YMCA and said he inquired on a whim about using the facility for Logos Dei.

"The Y had some needs, and they were already hoping to find a partner," he said.

"The Y really wanted to underline the 'C' in their name."

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