Three Sunday Mornings and a Quiet Vespers
Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church sits on West San Jose Street in the Palma Ceia neighborhood of South Tampa, across from H.B. Plant High School, and has been rooted at that corner since 1927. On any given Sunday, worshippers can choose among three very different services before the day is done.
At 8:30 a.m., a Traditional Service opens in the Sanctuary, with hymns led by the Chancel Choir from the Presbyterian Hymnal. The same order is repeated at 11:00 a.m. In between, at 9:00 a.m., the Connection service gathers in Covenant Hall (the church's gym and multipurpose room) for a relaxed contemporary hour with the Praise Band and a pastoral message. At 6:00 p.m., Vespers offers a half-hour of scripture, prayer, reflection, and communion in the Sanctuary, a small and quiet close to the day. Both the Traditional service and the Connection service are livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel.
A Hundred Years on San Jose Street
Founded at its current location in 1927, Palma Ceia Presbyterian has grown up alongside the surrounding neighborhood. The church grounds sit directly across the street from H.B. Plant High School, a relationship that has shaped decades of community life. Today the congregation numbers more than 2,000 adults and 300 children, plus many friends and community participants drawn to its programs.
The congregation is a member of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and of the Presbytery of Tampa Bay. A $10 million Centennial Campaign is currently underway to strengthen the Sanctuary, Connection Worship Space, Fellowship Hall, and other facilities for the next generation, alongside already-completed infrastructure work on the Preschool Fence, Fire Suppression System, and HVAC. A steeple bell plays hymns at 6:00 p.m. every day.
Children, Choir, and the Chapel on Sunday Morning
Children from birth through fifth grade have a full Sunday morning at PCPC. Parents check in at one of three tablet stations located outside the chapel, the nursery, and the gym, then join the 10:00 a.m. Faith and Fellowship Hour. Pre-K 3 through fifth grade gathers in the Chapel for singing and the day's Bible story, then breaks into age-level classrooms across the Eastminster and Westminster wings at 10:15 a.m. Children birth through Pre-K 2 are cared for in the Nursery, where staff trained in CPR and First Aid share a Bible story and music with the youngest children. Diapers, wipes, and a change of clothes are on hand if anything is left at home.
For children whose parents stay for worship, Godly Play is offered for Pre-K 3 through second grade during each of the three Sunday morning services. Children are dismissed after the Time with the Children for a Bible story, a small feast, and time to work creatively with what they have heard.
Midweek, children have even more options. Music and Movement, led by Anna Shuford, welcomes infants through Pre-K 3 on Wednesdays from 5:10 to 5:50 p.m. for songs, rhythmic rhymes, and instrument play. The Joyful Noise Choir (Pre-K 4 through first grade) rehearses Wednesdays at 5:00 p.m., and the Junior Choir (second through fifth grade) gathers the same evening under Ashley Greenfield and Stephanie Taylor. All children's choirs perform in worship throughout the year.
Youth: Wednesday Nights and Summer Mission Trips
Middle and high school students are folded into the life of the church through a packed weekly schedule and summer mission travel. The Youth Director is Jodi Lekanides; the Youth Chaplain is the Rev. Dr. Ken Hubbell.
Middle School Youth Group meets Wednesdays from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. in the gym, with a Sunday morning LIFT class at 10:00 a.m. High School Youth Group meets Wednesdays from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. in the Youth Room, and Sundown, a high school Bible study with devotionals and prayer, gathers Mondays from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Couch Room. Children's Mentor, a chance for older youth to serve alongside younger children, meets Sundays at 10:05 a.m. in the Chapel during the program year.
Summers bring service and travel. Disciple Now Service Week fills twenty service hours over five days for rising seventh through ninth graders. Middle school students can attend a week at Southwind, the Presbytery's overnight camp. Older students join summer mission trips organized through the church's Witness and Service ministries.
The Wednesday Family Table
Wednesday Night Dinners are a long-standing tradition at PCPC. Each Wednesday during the school year, between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m., the church sets a family table in Fellowship Hall with a lovingly prepared meal. All are welcome, no reservations are required, and the cost is $10 for adults, $5 for children, or $25 maximum per family. Payment is available online.
Wednesday evenings build out from that table into the rest of the week. Children's choirs, Music and Movement, Youth Groups for middle and high schoolers, and seasonal adult classes such as Cultivating Compassion all meet on Wednesdays. It is, by design, a night to arrive hungry and stay for fellowship, study, and song.
Adults of Every Decade
Adult Faith Formation is woven through the week. On Sunday mornings at 10:00 a.m., classes such as Loving One Another in a Complicated World meet in person in Bel-Mar Room CH311 or on Zoom. Mondays at 11:30 a.m. bring Followers of the Way, a Bible study that opens with lunch ($5) at noon and runs until 1:00 p.m. The PCPC Theology Book Club gathers on Zoom at noon on Wednesdays. Faith & Fiction meets on the third Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m., in person in Room EM 310 and on Zoom, reading works that surface questions of faith. Two lectionary podcasts, A First Look at the Lectionary and Living with the Lectionary, extend the conversation beyond the building.
Young adults and families are organized into small groups with fellowship and Bible study opportunities. Older adults gather through Silver Connections, whose weekly Silver Fitness class meets Tuesdays at 2:00 p.m. in Westminster 202, led by a certified YMCA coach. Stephen Ministry, a Prayer Shawl Ministry, and other Congregational Care programs support members through seasons of illness, grief, and need.
Music holds a central place. The Chancel Choir sings for Traditional services and welcomes new members. The Trinity Handbell Choir rings for adults, with a Junior Handbell Choir for nine-to-eleven-year-olds. The Praise Band leads the Connection service. Choir, organ, and bells are shared gifts that move between Sanctuary and Covenant Hall each Sunday.
A Faith That Reaches Tampa Bay and Beyond
Mission and outreach at PCPC are organized in three rings. Within its own walls, the church provides pastoral care, prayer requests, Stephen Ministry, a CD Ministry for homebound members, a Prayer Shawl Ministry, and a variety of support groups.
Within the wider Tampa Bay community, PCPC supports ministries of the Presbytery of Tampa Bay, including Beth-El Farmworker Ministry and Cedarkirk Camp and Conference Center, as well as a wide range of local non-profits working in homelessness, human trafficking, food and clothing, mentoring and tutoring, health care, emergency shelter, refugee assistance, affordable preschool, domestic violence, mental health, and addiction. PCPC's Feeding Every Disciple (FED) Ministry, for instance, provides monthly supplementary groceries and emergency help for fifteen children in seven families connected to the former North Boulevard housing project.
Beyond U.S. borders, the church maintains partnerships in Haiti, Uganda, Honduras, and Poland, and contributes to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance when relief is needed. Special Offerings are collected four times a year to support both PC(USA) programs and local ministry partners.
The Preschool, Casa Bel-Mar, and a Neighborhood Presence
The Palma Ceia Presbyterian Preschool has served South Tampa families for more than thirty-five years as a fully inclusive Christian early education program. It shares the church's campus under the direction of the Rev. Meg Pabst.
That same commitment to neighborhood presence lives on in Casa Bel-Mar. When Bel-Mar Presbyterian Church merged with PCPC, proceeds from the sale of the Bel-Mar property were placed in a fund now managed as the Bel-Mar Corporation. Casa Bel-Mar itself stands on that former site as 100 units of affordable housing in South Tampa, and the Bel-Mar Committee distributes grants each year to 501(c)(3) organizations whose work aligns with PCPC's mission. Between January and March, applications are accepted from PCPC members and committees on behalf of partner non-profits.
What Presbyterians Believe Here
Palma Ceia Presbyterian's beliefs trace back to the Protestant Reformation and to John Calvin, whose writings shaped Reformed Christianity. The church holds to the sovereignty of God, the authority of Scripture, justification by grace through faith, and the priesthood of all believers. Salvation through Jesus is understood as a generous gift rather than the product of human accomplishment, and the work of sharing that good news belongs to ministers and laypeople alike. The congregation is governed by a session of elders, a pattern that runs through every level of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Joining In
Hospitality Sessions are held monthly on Sunday mornings for anyone interested in learning more about the church and its ministries. Susan Frost in the church office can provide the next scheduled date. Giving is available online, by text to 833-225-9311, or by mail to the church office, and the church's facilities can be reserved through an online request form reviewed within one to three business days. A little before sunset, the steeple bell rings out across the neighborhood, the same call to prayer that Palma Ceia Presbyterians have been hearing for a hundred years.