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Bell Shoals Baptist Looks Forward

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By TOM BRENNAN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 23, 2008

BRANDON - For members of Bell Shoals Baptist Church, May was the cruelest month.

It held such promise when more than 5,000 worshipers celebrated Mother's Day in the church's glittering new 3,450-seat sanctuary.

Within weeks the church's beloved pastor, the Rev. Forrest Pollock and his 13-year-old son had died in a plane crash after taking off from a rural North Carolina airport where the pair had flown to visit Pollock's mother.

"We had such intense grief but we able to comfort each other with the comfort we ourselves had received from God," said the Rev. George A. Thomasson, Bell Shoals senior associate pastor.

The congregation was also helped, Thomasson said, by Pollock's example and the church's organization.

Thomasson said Pollock loathed inaction and always wanted to be moving forward.

"We will always miss our pastor, but he would tell us not to be in neutral," he said. "Each week, our people are gaining more equilibrium and emotional strength.

"When we stay busy and active we are OK. It is when we stop that we remember our loss. We are healing and it is a beautiful thing to see happen."

Some of the shock of losing their pastor was eased by the way Pollock had organized the church, Thomasson said.

Pollock had created a senior pastor program and a system of administrative assistants.

Thomasson has assumed most of the preaching duties.

"Forrest was a one-of-a-kind communicator, but we have preachers on our staff that can communicate ably," he said. "The congregation knows I loved Forrest and he loved me and we have the same vision for the church."

Thomasson also credits the way Bell Shoals is organized into 70 Bible fellowship groups with easing the loss.

"We have an organization in place so everyone has someone to talk to, to pray with and to minister to you," he said. "That is what makes a large church seem small."

Pollock and his son Preston died May 12 when the single-engine Piper aircraft Pollock was piloting crashed before dawn into the mountain terrain outside Asheville.

He was a charismatic leader who oversaw major physical and spiritual growth in the church at 2102 Bell Shoals Road.

Thomasson said the church has also begun the task of replacing Pollock. He said it will be a national search.

"Churches as large as this one require a different type of leader," he said. "It requires a lot of leadership, extreme vision and experience. It also must be a good fit for the congregation.

Thomasson said church bylaws require a seven member search committee: four members from the church's administration and three from the membership at large, along with two alternates.

Thomasson said he has asked members to nominate candidates for the at-large positions. He said he hopes to have the search team selected by Sept. 28.

"I am not sure how they will proceed, but I am sure there will be a questionnaire for the congregation," he said.

Thomasson said potential pastors will have to share Bell Shoals' missionary vision.

"It is not a church that turns inwards and tries to meet its own needs," he said.

"This church has a heartbeat for the world," he said.

"We will be looking for someone who doesn't want to create a kingdom at this corner, but to build God's kingdom around the world."

Reporter Tom Brennan can be reached at (813) 657-4528 or tbrennan@tampatrib.com.

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