Church History
Pastors and Milestones
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March 1959 - Lutz Methodist Church organized by Dr.L.D. Patterson. Rev Jennings Neeld interim pastor
1959 - Rev William Tiffin is first full time pastor
1959 - Property for church purchased by Tampa District
1961 - Sanctuary dedicated
1962 - Rev T. Gerald Williams pastor
1963 - Rev Lee Strother pastor
1966 - Rev Paul Watts pastor. Parsonage completed
1968 - Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren churches merge as United Methodist church. Lutz Methodist renamed Patterson Memorial United Methodist Church
1970 - Rev Doug Clewis pastor
1973 - Present property purchased in Land O Lakes. Church relocates as First United Methodist Church of Land O Lakes.
1974 - Sanctuary dedicated
1975 - Rev Terry Thompson pastor
1977 - Rev Wayne Vaughan pastor
1977 - Parsonage completed and dedicated
1982 - Rev Charles Boggs, Jr. pastor
1984 - 25th anniversary of the church
1986 - Rev Fred Ball pastor. Purchase of adjacent property.
1990 - Rev J. William Talbot pastor
1991 - Rev Tom Ettinger pastor
1994 - Rev Dan Campbell pastor
1998 - Rev Kent Crow pastor
2002 - Spiritual Life Center built and dedicated
2006 - Rev Guy Weatherly pastor
2008 - Rev Peter Cottrell pastor
2015 - Rev Ivan Corbin pastor
2018 - Rev Jordan Kassabaum pastor
2019 - 60th Anniversary (March 1959-March 2019
2019 - Rev Keith Holcombe interim pastor (April-June)
2019 - Rev Kevin Grills pastor (pictured below)
In February 1959, the Lutz Methodist Church was organized and then officially started on March 29, 1959. In 1968 when the Methodist Church and the United Evangelical Brethren Church merged to create the United Methodist Church, the United Evangelical Brethren Church of Lutz was renamed the First United Methodist Church of Lutz and the Lutz Methodist Church was renamed Patterson Memorial United Methodist Church in honor of the organizing pastor, Dr. Lorenzo Dow Patterson.
In 1972 Patterson UMC was given the opportunity to move north to Land O Lakes because Lutz couldn’t support two Methodist churches. So, in 1973 Patterson Memorial UMC moved to our present location here at 6209 Land O Lakes Blvd and the name changed to First UMC of Land O Lakes. We celebrated our rich history of 60 years in 2019 and look forward to what God has in store for us in the years to come.
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Rev Doug Clewis with others (1973) outside the mobile home used for worship until the construction of the sanctuary was completed (1974).
Above and below photo is of the destruction of the original building on the property.
