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New Pastor Follows His Calling To Seffner Church

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 13, 2007

SEFFNER - Interim pastor Alex Stevens thinks of his role as the 'good friend' who helps keep things on-track and grounded between serious relationships. He is the 'good friend' at The Presbyterian Church of Seffner.

'I see this as a time of discernment for the church,' Stevens said, 'getting a handle on who they are and where they are going.'

The 165-member congregation has met at 1906 S. Lenna Ave. since merging with the Mango Presbyterian Church in 1934.

Stevens has been on site since July 1.

'This congregation is a delight,' he said. 'They're a very bright, fun-loving group who really take their faith seriously.'

The members have a sincere interest in spiritual development, Stevens said.

'There's a core of people who are experiencing a holy restlessness, a sense that there's more to ministry,' he said.

A second-career pastor, Stevens spent the bulk of his professional life working as a sheet-metal craftsman in Atlanta.

'I grew up in Aiken, South Carolina,' Stevens said, 'but did not feel called to ministry at that time.'

Instead, he studied psychology at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C.

'I worked in psych hospitals about four years,' Stevens said, 'but the net result was I decided my own mental health was a big enough project.'

Stevens married Joan Attaway and found a new direction, learning the trades of stainless-steel sheet metal and cabinet-making. He worked two decades in custom fabrication and eventually ran his own business.

'I developed a market niche for renovating the inside of elevators,' he said.

Meanwhile, he said, God influenced him to make a career change.

'We got involved in a Presbyterian church,' he said. 'We realized, Jesus is real, he is our Savior, he is our Lord and we're following him. ... We knew we were searching for something and finally realized we had found it.'

Stevens started a men's group and was active in church life.

'The pastor asked me to pray about professional ministry,' he said. 'My reaction was 'Me? At my age?' I thought it was a bunch of baloney. But the more I prayed and the more I talked with Joan, the more excited we got. We attended a seminary fair and just came back on fire - both of us.'

The couple packed their bags and moved to Princeton, N.J., graduating from Princeton Theological Seminary with matching master's degrees in 1999.

After completing his degree, Stevens took a call to Anniston, Ala., while his wife pursued clinical pastoral education with the elderly and worked as a hospice chaplain. Next came a stint in Oxford, Ga., 35 miles east of Atlanta.

The fire, Stevens said, is still very much there. He sees 'second career' ministry as an ongoing adventure.

'When we made the decision for full-time professional ministry,' he said, 'we knew it was not just a calling from God but an adventure, and we've held on to that image.'

Stevens said his credo can be summed up in a few phrases.

'We need to develop a sense of who we are,' he said, 'a greater sense of whose we are, and to whom have we been called. I don't believe the church exists for its own benefit.'

Stevens' invitation reveals a lot about his role.

'Come looking for an adventure,' he said, 'but be patient about it. The discernment process is not something that happens overnight.'

As an ongoing student, Stevens enjoys reading Henri Nouwen and Eugene Peterson.

'But my best personal discipline is that of Scripture,' he said.

The pastor's best experiences are relational.

'My trips to Guatemala profoundly affected me,' Stevens said. 'The profound spiritual depth of what it means to be brothers and sisters in Christ. To stand and worship and pray together, to work together side by side - an intimacy with people beyond language.'

For his Bible hero, Stevens picked Joseph, and his favorite verse is Romans 5:8: 'But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.'

Seffner Presbyterian's new pastor said he loves the outdoors and enjoys playing bridge, 'but that's been replaced here with a poker club.'

More than anything, Stevens is glad he made the career shift.

'Ministry is something that I can't not do,' he said. 'It feels so real and so right.'
ALEX STEVENS
BORN: Delaware, 1949

RAISED: Aiken, S.C.

EDUCATION: Wofford College, 1971; Princeton Theological Seminary, 1999

MARRIED: Joan Attaway, 1979

NOTABLE QUOTE: 'I take my faith very seriously, but I try not to take myself too seriously.'

Derek Maul can be reached at DerekMaul@gmail.com.

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