Shekinah Glory Cathedral, Church Of God In Christ, Inc. hosted a Back 2 School Carnival at Snowden Park, 1702 Waller St., Saturday to provide hundreds of book bags to the local community.
Associate Pastor Sidney Crespo of Shekinah Glory Cathedral said the church has been called by God to expand into another location. The church is based out of Tampa, but last year felt led to expand to Ruskin. They continue to work with Metropolitian ministries and serve that community. Crespo said now the Lord is calling them to Plant City.
The church annually provides this service to its local youth and Crespo said they were honored to be able to get to know the community they hope to soon serve full-time. This is the first event they have held in Plant City and they said they plan to do many more as their roots begin to grow in town.
Shekinah Glory Cathedral, led by Senior Pastor A.D. Shaw, does events nearly every quarter, Crespo said. Some of their larger events include the book bag giveaways, a Thanksgiving Food Box giveaway and the Christmas Toy Drive.
“A.D. Shaw is our senior pastor and he is the one that is bringing us to the Promised Land right here in Plant City,” Crespo said. “That’s how we look at this, this is all promised location. So we thought it was going to be in Ruskin and we were there soaring for years, but the Lord sent us here.”
Crespo said this event helped them get a feel for the people in need in the area and he said he hopes it will plant the seed of relationships between his volunteers and the community.
During the event the attendees received free book bags, school supplies, food and refreshments. PDQ donated food for the event and Lowe’s Home Improvement provided approximately 50 pallets of water for the attendees.
They also were able to meet with agencies and get connected to resources in the community. The League of Women Voters of Hillsborough County was there to talk about the upcoming election and register eligible attendees to vote.
Plant City’s Suncoast Credit Union was also onsite. Its volunteers gave out free bags and let attendees know about the services it provides. Wellcare, a local health care company, also was available to chat with interested attendees.
Kaotic Streetz Church, a ministry that focuses on bringing the church to the public, set up a booth with merchandise and talked to interested parties about the gospel.
“We are like Joshua, going to the Promised Land and seeing what the Lord has planned for us,” Crespo said. “And oh the Lord is sweet. Look around you. Do you see these wonderful people that are here today?… It’s like the 5,000 loaves. It just keeps multiplying and people keep receiving.”