Timberlane Church of Christ
By, Ryan Foreman, Spring 2016
The Timberlane Church of Tallahassee is what people know as a Protestant church. When thinking about what Protestantism really is we tend to think of it as a form of Catholicism, when talking to a minister of a protestant church it becomes clear that they view themselves as a religion all their own. The protestant reformation was the first successful reformation of the Roman Catholic Church back in the 16th century. Really it all stems from Martin Luther and John Calvin who thought that the Church was taking advantage of its followers and was mostly acting out of greed. After the reformations many denominations of Protestantism arose and many of the churches we know today began to be formed.
Lee Jameison is the Pulpit minister of Timberlane Church of Tallahassee and became apart of the church in 2014. The church itself was built in Tallahassee, Florida back in 1976. It has never changed locations since this time and has remained a strong center piece of the religious Tallahassee community. A strong belief of theirs is that there is really only one church and that they fall under that church. Another interesting fact about this specific congregation is that they are non denominational and basically what that means is that they do not discriminate and can reach a much wider variety of followers. Something they pride themselves on is that when singing they do not have performers up front, it is the entire congregation singing as one, and interestingly enough they do not use any instruments. There reasoning behind this is that within the new testament it no where speaks about the use of instruments. They believe that the heart is an instrument created by God and that when they sing they are using that instrument and are being as pure as possible and as close to God as possible. This is something that makes the Timberlane Church of Christ different from most other churches.
Some ideals they truly hold dear at the Timberlane Church of Christ are that the bible is the inspired word of God, that it contains the truth and that Jesus is his son. Minister Lee Jameison emphasized that they believe that by following the ways of truth in the bible that they will find their way to heaven and spend eternity with God. Lee also emphasized loving one another, love other people and “share the good news of Jesus Christ.”.
In 1983 the Timberlane Church of Christ established their preschool program which was a way for them to reach the community as a whole and at a young age. Teaching the youth of the Tallahassee community is a big part of the Timberlane Church of Christ and its ideals. They have “touched the lives” of around 900 students since they established their preschool program 33 years ago. Along with the pre school, the church places a lot of pride in its youth ministry. This is another instance in which they truly emphasize reaching the community as a whole and especially its youth.
The youth ministry is a cornerstone of the beliefs of the Timberlane Church. Lee Jameison isn’t the only minister, Mark Butts is the youth and family minister and has been with the church since 2008. He is in charge if all things youth and family related within the church and is even a certified counselor. When it comes to the youth ministry, it is geared towards kids grades 6 through 12. They say that their goal is to “glorify God through the equipping and building of teenagers to live in faith and love Christ.”. What they mean is that they keep their beliefs and love of god strong within the community by teaching youths exactly what it means to be protestant. They do this through various events and activities. Through these activities the church is able to not just teach its students about their love of God but to also build friendships and keep their community ties strong. As previously stated, it is very important for them to love one another. These activities include things such as devotionals, service projects, mission trips, and even summer camps.
The Missions that the Timberlane Church of Christ goes on each year range from Panama to Venezuela. Their goal is to provide medical support along with spiritual enlightenment. This is another area where they build their own community by helping others. They make sure to make it a team effort and to keep other members of the church involved by having them donate medical supplies. Loving others outside the church is also a cornerstone in the beliefs of the Timberlane Church of Christ. In Venezuela the Timberlane Church supports two specific churches, the ministers down there include Luis Gomez and Jose Quinones. On a local level, the church helps its own community as well by collecting non perishable items constantly and giving them to anyone in need, this is another example of a key belief of the Timberlane Church to love your neighbor. They are currently collecting items for their 2016 trip to Panama.
The Timberlane Church keeps its community ties strong by offering many different sections of ministries including their youth and children’s ministries. But it does not stop there, they offer a campus ministry, young professionals ministry, young families ministry, women’s ministry and even a Spanish speaking ministry. By doing things such as this they hope to keep their community ties strong and to reach people on every level and to never discriminate. To the people of the Timberlane Church, it is all about loving everyone and spreading the word of God. They are always offering different events on the daily and have their set worship times as well. Sunday worship for the Timberlane Church is at 9:15 am and 6 pm, bible classes are at 10:45 am. Tuesday lady’s bible classes are at 10:30 am and Wednesday bible class is at 7 pm. The cornerstone beliefs of the Timberlane Church is what allows it to have such a strong presence in the community and just being there one can tell the love and respect all of its members have for one another.