What Has Happened to Carpenter’s Home Church?
It is really fantastic what has happened!
Back in the early 80’s, we had about 7,000 people that called our church on downtown
Main Street in Lakeland their church home. The church seated 1800 people.
There was a well-known plot of land, over
700 acres, out just north of Lakeland’s city limits on I-4 between Tampa
and Orlando on 98#, the former Carpenter’s Home for retired carpenter’s which had been closed
down because its residents had either passed away or moved. The Mediterranean
style Home, built in 1929, the same year that I was born, was a concrete and steel
structure for three or four hundred retired carpenters. It had sat idle for
about seven years and, of course, was up for sale.
We were running five services a Sunday to accommodate the crowds at that
time. Naturally, we were interested in available land for a new location.
A deal was made and plans for a 10,000
seat building began.
In 1985, we moved into the new facility and began to
renovate the older building for an educational plant. You see, the congregation had promoted itself as a
transdenominational
church, taking advantage of the Charismatic move of God, which in 1985 was at its
peak. That Chaismatic Flow began its up-swing in the mid-1960’s.
About 1987 the Charismatic move began to wane.
At the same time, several TV personalities in the Christian world began to have
severe problems in their personal lives. Almost every one of these people
had helped in a year-long dedication of our facility.
We experienced a formidable
back-lash. Our congregation became restless. Then came along an out-and-out
insurrection. In 1989, one third of the congregation left the church and scattered
to other existing churches, not just in Lakeland, but in the region as far
away as Tampa and Orlando. Their departure left us with $100,000 a month payments.
We didn’t ever miss a payment, but we did have to refinance, plus we had to sell
some of our assets, including our radio station, WCIE, which covered about 70 miles
out from Lakeland.
In 1993 we experienced
a glorious move of God with Rodney-Howard Browne. It was a revival that reached
around the world in influence. It looked like we were going to regain some
of our losses.
Then, in 1995, our church
took another gigantic hurricane-like hit. My son, Daniel, went to prison for
45 years. More than 200 newspaper articles blitzed the area plus TV coverage.
He had come on economic hard times, and his investment business was said to have
violated securities laws involving about 65 people and three million dollars.
Because his father was a prominent pastor in this comparatively small town of 70,000
people, the media and the devil had a hay-day.
Finally, in 2005, because of the pastor’s age, adjustments had to be made.
His son, Stephen, and his son-in-law, Shane, desired to carry on the work; however,
it wasn’t feasible to keep the mammoth, 10,000 seat auditorium. Without Walls
of Tampa, which is said to be the second-largest church congregation in
America, made a reasonable offer, and purchased the complex. In the process, we, as
a congregation, gained a 3000 seat church in Auburndale, about 20 minutes away from
Lakeland. Part of the congregation went to Auburndale and part of the congregation
stayed in Lakeland.
Now, Stephen Strader
has been installed in a growing, thriving newly renovated building made into a church,
called, Ignited, on 98#, two miles north of I-4. Shane Simmons has become
the Senior Pastor at 581 Berkely Road in Auburndale in a growing, thriving new congregation, Auburndale Life Church.
Scott Thomas has become the new pastor at the former Carpenter’s Home Church building,
now called Without Walls Central, and that church is growing and thriving, also.
But, hear this! Carpenter’s Home
Church continues to exist under the name, Carpenter’s Home International Internet
Church. In November, we had over 40,000 hits for the month! It’s true we had 19 years of incredible growth, and
we had 19 years of incredible decline! Looking back now, I don’t think I had
much to do with either the growth or the decline. God has His reasons for
everything that happens to us, even if sometimes it’s like being on a roll-a-coaster.
My wife, Joyce and I, just went along for the ride.
I am grateful to God for His over-sight and His watch-care.
We have no regrets for the ugly things that have happened; we are very happy for
the beautiful things. We love everybody. We forgive everybody.
We have no complaints, nothing but praise and thanksgiving to a wonderful Lord Jesus.
We have nothing but adoration for God the Father. And the Holy Spirit is the
best friend any two people ever had. We love our God!
One thing I do know, if I don’t blow it, God has given me an
opportunity, even during my retirement days, because of modern technology, to reach
more people in the next five or ten years than all my 50+ years of ministry put
together! That makes me VERY happy.
Karl Strader
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