Like Father, Like Son

According to the Family Business Review, family run businesses encompass eighty to ninety percent of all the business enterprises in the United States. Family run businesses require one generation to so motivate and integrate the successive generation, that the enterprise transforms from “theirs” to “ours”. However, only forty percent of these family run businesses will be passed on to the second generation and a measly three percent will make it to the fourth. It appears as though a family run business ignites one man’s dreams and stifles another’s.

Consider the world of ministry. According to a study by Dr. Richard J. Krjcir, seventy percent of pastors consider leaving the ministry on a regular basis. Thirty-five to forty percent of pastors do leave, many after only five years. Another report recorded that eighty percent of pastors’ kids surveyed were dealing with depression.

My point is, if the odds are against a family run business from surviving to the next generation, what about a Church? However, one man and his son are defying all odds.

Dale Golden has been the pastor of one church for thirty years (awesome). In the late 1960’s, he quit his sales job and moved from Rochester, New York, to Mulberry, Florida, to begin seminary. While taking care of five kids and working a full-time job, Dale finished seminary and was asked to be the missionary pastor of Bethel Baptist Church in the 1980s. He took the pastorate and never left. About four years ago, Pastor Dale realized the church was only catering to a specific culture: church people (you know, the “ultra-religious” type). He felt compelled to reach the sorts of people Jesus did, those who the church usually regards as the enemy.

Dale’s son, Bryant Golden, began questioning the traditions that ultimately ran the church. Dale struggled to answer Bryant’s prodding questions. Committed to what his dad was trying to accomplish, Bryant worked fulltime at KForce in Ybor City, took seminary classes, and began working at the church part time for free. After several years of volunteer work at the church and in the midst of several promotions and a six figure raise on the way from KForce, Bryant quit his job and came on fulltime with Bethel. In 2009, Centerpoint Church was birthed out of the corroboration of these two men: a church bent on removing all of the petty distractions that keep people away. They created “an alternative to church as usual”, a welcoming environment for people from all different backgrounds.

July 4th 2010, Dale gladly and humbly handed the reigns to Bryant, who was named Lead Pastor of Centerpoint Church. Bryant preaches bluntly from the Bible, since he is passionate about reaching the city of Brandon with the hope of Jesus Christ. You can hear his podcasts at http://www.centerpointfl.org/. Pastor Dale serves as Associate Pastor with Bryant and continues to have a vibrant ministry.

On any given Sunday at Centerpoint, you will see ripped jeans, flip flops, and piercings. However, you may also see white hair, skirts, and collared shirts. Centerpoint is a multi-generational, multi-ethnic church made-up of a group of people who are in love with Jesus and the Bible. They aren’t judgmental because they understand the angst of trying to heal from a past you wish wouldn’t define you. Consequently, the church has nearly doubled in size over the past seven months. The services incorporate various forms of multi-media, a full band, straightforward preaching, and genuine creativity. Centerpoint is a church that makes it easy to reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a safe place whether you believe in Jesus and are a faithful church-goer or you don’t buy the “Jesus thing” but are willing to investigate.

I love my husband and I love my church.