A century-old red brick church on the corner of Swann and Orleans
Hyde Park Presbyterian Church has stood on the corner of West Swann Avenue and Orleans in Tampa since 1914, a big red brick building two blocks from Hyde Park Village. The congregation was founded that year and has served the surrounding neighborhood for more than a century. Members describe themselves as a warm, multigenerational community of believers who enjoy spending time together, and the church's mission is to be the Light and Love of Christ in action for the community through worship, fellowship, service and learning.
Sunday morning worship at 10:00
Worship is held every Sunday at 10:00 AM in the sanctuary, both in person and as a live broadcast on YouTube. The service lasts about fifty minutes and blends traditional and contemporary music, with songs drawn from the hymnal in the pews or printed in the bulletin. Cheryl Cox, the church's organist, is joined by guest vocalists to lead the music. Visitors are not singled out, and dress is informal - whatever makes a guest comfortable. Offering envelopes and prayer cards sit in the pews for anyone who wishes to use them.
Children of all ages begin the service seated with their families. After a children's sermon, children from age four through sixth grade are invited to leave the sanctuary with the Children's Education director to spend the rest of the service in a separate room with singing, games, crafts and age-appropriate activities. Worship packets with crayons and coloring sheets are available for every child at the door and are kept in the room, marked with each child's name, for them to pick up each week.
A nursery for the youngest children
Cozy Corner Nursery is open for infants through age three, with a check-in procedure handled at the door. Parents leave a phone number so the nursery team can reach them if their child needs them during the service. All teachers pass a background check, receive Child Protection Policy training, and classrooms are monitored throughout the morning. The nursery is a peanut free zone, with snacks such as Goldfish, Rice Krispie Treats, Fruit Bars and graham crackers. Post-hurricane repairs have limited some of the nursery spaces, so families are encouraged to confirm current availability before their first visit.
The Hyde Park Thesbyterians
Older children in fourth grade through middle school are part of a program called the Hyde Park Thesbyterians, taught by Harriet Plyler. The students pore over the RSV Bible to study the language, discern speaking parts, and then write, cast, film and act out their own dramatizations of scripture stories. Recent productions have included "In the Beginning: One God, Two People, and the First and Last Ever Talking Snake," "Whither Thou Goest: Ruth Finds in Love in a Barley Field," and "Daniel in the Lion's Den." The current production in progress is described as "Moses and the Ten Commandments or a Church Picnic Gone Wrong!"
Adult Sunday school at 11:00
After the worship service, classes for adults and children meet from 11:00 AM to noon. The adult classes change regularly, with recent offerings including a dynamic series on the history of Christian art taught by Alex Nixon and a study called "Following Christ in a Divided World" led by Elder Kim Brannan and built around Jill Duffield's "Appreciate These Things" and Paul's letter to the Philippians. Adults may also simply stay for conversation and coffee. A summer adult class uses current news stories as a basis for discussion.
End 68 Hours of Hunger calls Hyde Park home
One of the most distinctive things about Hyde Park Presbyterian is its role as the Tampa headquarters and largest packing facility for End 68 Hours of Hunger. The all-volunteer program provides weekend meals and snacks to food insecure students identified by school social workers in more than thirty Hillsborough County schools, serving over 850 students and 200 families. Teams of volunteer packers assemble bags each week, and a separate group of volunteers delivers them to the schools, with additional pantries located in Bellamy, Mendenhall, Mitchell and Oak Park Elementaries and Plant High School. Donations of canned tuna or chicken, instant oatmeal, instant grits, canned fruit or vegetables, condensed soup and individually wrapped snacks are always welcome.
Thornwell's Building Families on site
Through a partnership with Thornwell, the church maintains office space used by the Building Families program, a ministry designed to equip, train and empower families to strengthen their relationships. The program is led by licensed therapists, including Cynthia Housenga-Brolsma, MA, AMFT, an EMDRIA Approved EMDR Therapist who serves as the Family Specialist on site. Cynthia earned a BA in Psychology and an MA in Marriage and Family Therapy and specializes in PTSD, trauma, and rebuilding trust and healthy attachment within families. Services are available in the office, in homes and via telehealth, and appointments at the church are offered on Mondays and Tuesdays from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
A wider circle of mission work
Beyond the two anchor partnerships, the Missions team supports a long list of local and international causes. Twice a year the congregation gathers to assemble frozen dinners that are given to people experiencing illness or other needs, a program called Feeding Friends. They collect underwear and socks for Clothes to Kids, which provides wardrobes to school-age children, and school supplies each summer for West Tampa Elementary. Manna bags filled with items for people experiencing homelessness are made and sold for $5.00 on Sunday mornings, with Breadcoins now included inside. Members also support Faith Cafe, Metropolitan Ministries, BethEl Mission, Meals on Wheels, Feeding America Tampa Bay and the Judeo Christian Health Clinic, and for several years the church has sponsored a nursing student in Haiti through the Haiti Nursing Foundation.
Presbyterian beliefs and a bottom-up form of government
The congregation is part of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and shares the historic Reformed convictions that flow from the writings of John Calvin: the sovereignty of God, the authority of Scripture, justification by grace through faith, and the priesthood of all believers. Members affirm that God is the supreme authority and that believers are called to share the Good News, invite others into the church, strive for justice, care compassionately for others, and walk humbly with God. Salvation through Jesus is understood as God's generous gift rather than the result of human accomplishment.
What distinguishes Presbyterians from other Protestants, the church teaches, is not belief in the sacraments of baptism and a triune God - those are shared with other Protestants - but a form of governance that is led from the bottom up by a combination of clergy and laity, men and women alike. Each congregation is governed by a Session of Elders elected within it. The Session sends representatives to a regional Presbytery, the Presbytery to a Synod, and the Synod to a national General Assembly. Lay members of the church are actively involved in every area of congregational life through a roster of ministry teams covering Administration, Buildings and Property, Congregational Education, Communications, Membership, Missions, Personnel, and Worship and Music.
A pastoral transition
Hyde Park Presbyterian is in a season of pastoral transition. Reverend Mike Peacock currently serves as the church's bridge pastor, guiding worship, fellowship and the life of the congregation as the Session, the church's elected governing body, works through the process of calling a permanent head pastor. The church is led between settled pastors by passionate lay leaders and a strong group of ministry teams who keep the work of the congregation moving forward.
Music that pairs organ with vocalists
Music is central to the Sunday experience. Cheryl Cox, a music education graduate of the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, New York, and a Master's degree holder from State University College in Buffalo, has served as supply organist and choir accompanist at Hyde Park Presbyterian for several years, following earlier organist positions in Florida and Western New York. She works alongside guest vocalists each Sunday, and the result is a service that draws from the church's hymnal tradition while making space for newer songs.
Getting to the church and finding a place to park
Hyde Park Presbyterian sits at 1309 W. Swann Ave., Tampa, FL 33606, in the heart of the Hyde Park neighborhood near Hyde Park Village. There is guest parking next to the Willow Avenue entrance, with regular attendees using the rest of the lot, the surrounding streets or several nearby lots. The church office can be reached at 813-253-0069 or office@hydeparkpres.com. Sunday morning announcements, the sermon archive, news, the church calendar and a giving portal are all available through the church's main site.