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Pastor Joins Energetic Congregation

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By DEREK MAUL

Tribune correspondent

Published: August 27, 2008

SEFFNER - On Aug. 16, the Rev. Loli Ros Reiter stepped to the pulpit at the Presbyterian Church of Seffner to begin her ministry to the small but enthusiastic community of faith.

Reiter, 34, brings experience from a variety of ministry positions to her role as pastor. The new job promises challenges she is eager to accept.

"I go between excited and realizing there's a lot to learn," she said. "I came here to preach a couple of times, and it felt very comfortable. It just feels right. It's a God thing. We're going to go far and learn together."

Reiter said congregants come from every walk of life.

"God created us so differently, and if we're all created in God's image, then those differences express a more realistic shot at how we can best serve God," she said. "The good Lord Jesus Christ holds us together, and this church seeks after God's heart."

She nurtured her appreciation for diversity beginning as a child in Puerto Rico, where her father pastored a nondenominational church. "We went to Costa Rica as missionaries when I was 8, then moved to Tampa when I was 10."

Reiter's family lived in Virginia from 1988 to 1990 but returned to Tampa in time for her final two years at Chamberlain High School.

Her father, the Rev. Ramiro Ros, serves as chaplain at the Beth-El Mission in Wimauma.

After high school, Reiter studied social work at the University of West Florida in Pensacola and threw herself into ministry. She worked at Cedarkirk Camp and Conference Center, a Presbyterian camp in Lithia, and as youth director at Brandon's First Presbyterian Church.

"After graduation, I worked as mid-high director and in family counseling at Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church in Tampa," she said.

She married John Reiter of Brandon in 1998, and the couple moved to Virginia, where they studied at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond. They earned master's degrees in divinity and Christian education.

In 2002, Loli Ros Reiter was ordained as minister of word and sacrament at the First Presbyterian Church of Rock Hill in South Carolina. She served as associate pastor until late 2006, when John was offered the director's job at Cedarkirk Camp, where the couple met.

Reiter knew she wanted to return to the Brandon area, but she didn't anticipate that would happen so soon. "People have been very gracious and understanding and welcoming and respectful," she said.

Her family is excited, too. Her 4-year-old daughter, Isabel, "especially likes the church cat, C.K.," she said. "It's a lot of change for our family, but God is wonderful and orchestrates everything to work together for God's purposes. God has proven that time and time again."

In characterizing her calling, Reiter quoted Mother Teresa. '"Christ has no hands in this world but our own.' What did Christ do?" she said. "Christ healed. Christ taught. Christ set free. This is a church of ministers, to see what God's call is, then share that with the world around us."

Reiter's installation services will be held at 2 p.m. Sept. 28 at the Presbyterian Church of Seffner.

MEET REV. LOLI ROS REITER

Pastor, Presbyterian Church of Seffner, 1906 S. Lenna Ave.

BORN: Puerto Rico, 1974

MOVED TO FLORIDA: 1984

EDUCATION: Chamberlain High School, Tampa, 1992; University of South Florida, 1997; Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Va., 2002

MARRIED: John Reiter, 1998

CHILDREN: Isabel, 4; Olivia, 19 months

CONTACT: (813) 689-4412

NOTABLE QUOTE: "The church is God's church and God is a big God; there's a lot of space in here for all of us."

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

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