Pastor Mike Glassburn of the River’s Edge Baptist Church on Bonita Drive off U.S. 301, just south of S.R. 674, Is seeking permanent quarters so the congregation can continue to grow. Penny Fletcher photo.
By the time they’re 69 years old, most people have worked at many different jobs. But no matter what else he’s done, Mike Glassburn has preached the Christian Gospel.
“I felt I was called at 19, but I actually became a pastor at 21,” Glassburn said Aug. 13, during an informal interview at his rented church building on Bonita Drive, south of S.R. 674, just off U.S. 301.
Although he’s preached in Washington State, West Virginia, and Virginia; gone on missions; and worked on start-up groups in Hardee County and Arcadia; he says he knows he’s in the right place to continue his ministry.
“We [he and wife Donna] started this congregation in our home seven years ago on Mother’s Day,” Glassburn said. The couple lives in Fort Lonesome and right away pulled people from Brandon and the eastern part of the county.
“Then one Sunday, we had 49 people in our living room, and we realized the congregation had outgrown our house,” he said. “So we moved to the Masonic Park. Then gas went to almost $4 a gallon, and our people just couldn’t drive that far.”
The congregation shrunk at first, but gradually began to pick up new people in that area. “We stayed at the Masonic Park a long time, but then we got the chance to move here,” he explained.
The congregation moved to the rented mobile home on Bonita Drive, which is easier to drive to from Sun City Center, Wimauma and other South County communities.
Now, with about 28 to 35 people each service during the summer, and bursting full during the winter snowbird season, Pastor Mike says he knows they have to move to grow.
They own 6.4 acres on Sumner Road, but he says he realizes it would cost way more than they can afford to build a church there from scratch.
“We’re looking around in Ruskin and have talked to people in the area [about] the St. John the Divine building,” he said. “The people in the neighborhoods around there seem to be very interested in there being a church there again.”
St. John the Divine Episcopal Church was founded in Ruskin in the 1960s on the corner of 9th St. S.E. and S.R. 674, The congregation built a new church in Sun City Center several years ago and has since put the Ruskin site up for sale.
“That site would be really good for us,” Glassburn said. “We want a place for young people, babies, young children, young adults. We want to grow a large intergenerational congregation. We want to save souls.”
So far, Glassburn has not been able to get all the information he needs to make an offer.
“I hope maybe someone can help us,” he said.
Perhaps another locale near communities with young families could also be offered to rent or sell, he said.
People wanting to find out more about the church may write to P.O. Box 569, Sun City Center, FL 33571 or call 813-598-3480 or 813-633-7274.
