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With over 8,000 members, Bell Shoals Baptist Church has been classified as one of several megachurches in the United States. The first campus in Brandon, FL started over 50 years ago, and there are now four other campuses: Congregación Hispana, Apollo Beach, Palm River and Riverview. According to the Brandon campus’ senior pastor, Dr. Stephen Rummage, their vision is for “one church multiplied to transform West Central Florida with the Gospel”. The mission statement of Bell Shoals Baptist Church is to “Follow Jesus. Love People. Make Disciples”. As a church, they value the authority of the Bible, the example that Jesus Christ set on how to live, discipleship and sharing the gospel.

Beliefs
Bell Shoals Baptist Church is a part of the Southern Baptist Convention and teaches the basic beliefs (which are inspired by the Bible) that members of this convention agree on. The reason that this church and its many campuses follow the Bible closely is because they believe the Bible was inspired by God. In other words, they believe God is the author of the Bible; man just wrote down God’s words. Like most other Christian denominations, this church teaches that there is only one God who is triune – God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They do, however, hold some unique beliefs that some members of other denominations do not:


 * Salvation is a free gift from God to those who have faith, not to those who solely perform good works.
 * Once someone has received salvation, it cannot be taken away from them.
 * Only men can be pastors.
 * Christians should submit their lives to God.
 * There is sanctity in all human life.
 * Church and state should be separate.

History
Bell Shoals started as a handful of 17 men who would meet at Stowers Funeral Home in February of 1961. Shortly after, in March of 1961, they acquired two acres of land to build their sanctuary and 80 members joined. There are now 8,000 members and four other campuses. One of their campuses, Bell Shoals Baptist Apollo Beach, started with 12 members and now has over 400 members.

Dr. Stephen Rummage is currently the pastor of this church. The previous pastor, Forrest Pollock, was killed in a tragic plane crash in 2008. Pollock was president of the Large Church Roundtable and a member of the Resolutions Committee, Committee on Committees and the Southern Baptist Council on Family Life. Before Pollock, John Russell was the pastor. Before coming to Bell Shoals, he preached at West Haven Baptist Church in Tennessee. He went to Troy State University, Samford University, and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

Pastor
Stephen Rummage holds a M.Div. from Southeastern Seminary and a Ph.D. in preaching and theology from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminar. For over 7 years, Rummage taught as the professor of preaching at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest. Before coming to Bell Shoals, he preached at Hickory Grove Baptist Church, which has 16,000 members, so he was not subdued by the idea of teaching in front of Bell Shoals’ 8,000 members. Rummage has a wife and a son; he worked alongside his wife to create a prayer devotional, has written his own textbook, and has his own radio ministry. He has also been the president of the Florida Baptist State Convention since 2016.

Ministries
Bell Shoals has children, youth and adult ministries. They emphasize the importance of small groups so that people can connect. Discipleship is also highly valued at this church; they believe that Jesus commands people to go and make disciples. There are hundreds of volunteer opportunities at Bell Shoals, from tech support to child care. Lastly, community engagement is very important to Bell Shoals Baptist Church. They have partnered with and created several ministries:


 * Hearts and Hammers is a Bell Shoals ministry that does home repairs for those who are physically unable to do so on their own.
 * Real Hope Ministries is a Bell Shoals ministry that opens a food pantry to the community every Wednesday.
 * HOPE Ministries is a special needs ministry at Bell Shoals.
 * Celebrate Recovery has several classes at Bell Shoals for people struggling with addictions.
 * Morning Glories is a Bell Shoals ministry for widows.
 * Bell Shoals has partnered with Give ‘em Heaven Ministries, Good Samaritan Mission, Manna on Wheels, Metropolitan Ministries and several other organizations

Global Outreach
Bell Shoals Baptist Church has sent missionaries all over the world. Every year, Bell Shoals hosts a Global Outreach Celebration to spread awareness about different places that people can go and share their faith. In 2018, missionaries from Toronto, Haiti, Cuba, Central America, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa were a part of the conference. For 15 years, teams from Bell Shoals have been traveling to Curitiba, Brazil to partner with Projeto Vida, a group of traveling missionaries.

Events
Bell Shoals is well known for hosting concerts and large Christmas productions. In 2013, Bell Shoals hosted a concert featuring Natalie Grant and Grammy Winner Sandi Patty. In December of 2017, Bell Shoals hosted its animal Christmas production, which featured Mac McConnell, a 175-person choir and a 35-piece orchestra. In February of 2018, Bell Shoals held a concert featuring American Idol finalists Scott MacIntyre and Jeremy Rosado to raise money for the devastation in Puerto Rico caused by Hurricane Maria.

Politics
Bell Shoals Baptist Church has hosted several candidates forums. In 2014, candidates’ answers to questionnaires that Bell Shoals sent out to voters raised controversy. While some politicians saw this as a violation of law, Bell Shoals claimed that they were not endorsing any candidates, just educating voters on the political stances of their candidates.