{"id":49290,"date":"2025-02-11T08:00:29","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T13:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/?p=49290"},"modified":"2025-11-04T16:24:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T21:24:08","slug":"never-alone-church-planter-grateful-for-loving-response-from-other-churches-florida-baptists-in-hurricane-helene-relief-efforts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/never-alone-church-planter-grateful-for-loving-response-from-other-churches-florida-baptists-in-hurricane-helene-relief-efforts\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Never alone\u2019: Church planter grateful for loving response from other churches\/Florida Baptists in Hurricane Helene relief efforts"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. PETERSBURG\u2014The sobering sights of a fridge being flipped over, baby dolls floating by, and scattered Legos across the lawn greeted Ronnie Rentz, who planted Covenant Hope Church<\/a> in St. Petersburg in 2022, when he returned home following Hurricane Helene\u2019s landfall in late September.<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Hurricane Helene came through, we got hit with three feet of water \u2026 we lost about 90% of everything we owned,\u201d said Rentz. \u201cI couldn\u2019t even get into the house at first because all the water had picked up our furniture and jammed it against the door. And then when I finally got in, it was sobering. The fridge was flipped over, baby dolls were floating by\u2014I just sat there for awhile before I called my wife. And all I could say was, \u2018It\u2019s bad. What do we do now?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The answer to his question, \u2018What do we do now?\u2019 was quickly answered the day after Rentz returned home when the beauty of the local church was on full display. Teams of Florida Baptists<\/a> from Covenant Life Church<\/a> in Tampa\u2014Rentz\u2019s sending church\u2014immediately jumped into action, helping the pastor wade through what was left of his family\u2019s belongings.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the \u201cbeauty of the local church,\u201d Rentz recalled how teams of more than 30 people worked tirelessly to salvage clothing and toys, dry out documents and photos of memories, and have his wife\u2019s jewelry professionally cleaned mere days after the Category 4 hurricane made landfall.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had people coming out of the woodwork to pray, encourage, call us, and really seek to care for us,\u201d he recalled. \u201cThey started grabbing clothes, toys, anything they could save. We had a crew in the backyard cleaning Legos. We had a lady who owns a jewelry shop take what she could salvage of my wife\u2019s jewelry to get it professionally cleaned. They worked in shifts\u2014morning, afternoon and evening\u2014it was amazing to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not only did Covenant Life Church step in to help, but also Rentz\u2019s home church\u2014First Baptist Church Quincy<\/a>. The West<\/a> region Florida Baptist church hosted a spaghetti dinner, that matched funds of $5,000 to help the Rentz family \u201cget back on their feet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

“\u201cIn these moments it is wonderful to see the church shine bright, not a building but a people, united in its love for God and love for others.\u201d”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n Ronnie Rentz<\/strong>
\n pastor, Covenant Hope Church, St. Petersburg\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThese two churches are perfect examples of what it means to be a loving church,\u201d said Rentz. \u201cIn these moments it is wonderful to see the church shine bright, not a building but a people, united in its love for God and love for others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clinging to the \u201cRight Beside You\u201d mantra, Rentz is grateful for local churches and Florida Baptists who refused to let him feel alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore important than money and resources, is the feeling of never being alone,\u201d he said. \u201cThese are people who really do care about your soul and your family, and who love you in Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unwavering faith<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThis church planter and young family were rocked to the core by the hurricane, but unmoved and unwavering in their faith in the Lord,\u201d said Jeffery Singletary, Florida Baptists\u2019 Central<\/a> region catalyst. \u201cThey were even more committed to rebuild and relaunch \u2026 This is the type of faith all church planters must embrace.\u201d<\/p>\n

And rebuilding and relaunching are exactly what they have done.<\/p>\n

After relocating to central Florida from the campus of Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, Rentz and his family became faithful members at Covenant Life Church in Tampa. After planting themselves there, Rentz became a lay pastor and then completed a residency program with the Florida Baptist church. In 2022, Rentz, his family, and 17 people moved to plant a \u201chealthy local church over the bridge\u201d in St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n

And a healthy, local church is exactly what Rentz is cultivating in central<\/a> Florida.<\/p>\n

\u2018Vast need\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now\u2014four months removed from the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Helene\u2014Rentz is not skipping a beat as the church planter is looking for fresh new ways to serve the unique community of St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n

Describing the region as \u201cnot heavily churched,\u201d Rentz is convinced that the gospel need is great and the \u201copportunity to love and reach people\u201d is even greater.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe exist to glorify God by building community that treasures Christ as king and displays His truth, beauty and love to St. Petersburg and the nations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

 <\/p>\n

The two-year church plant recently changed its meeting location from an established church fellowship hall to a more centrally located city recreation center. Seeking to be faithful and reaching all people with the gospel, Rentz led his congregation to be \u201con the frontlines\u201d of serving college students at a newly established Baptist Collegiate Ministries<\/a> group at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg Campus.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re in an area where it is driven by consumerism, a Sunday funday mentality, living for themselves, desiring to come down here and live their best lives,\u201d Rentz explained. \u201cWe want our church to be able to speak into that.\u201d<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

 <\/p>\n

Describing himself as a \u201cmissions-minded pastor,\u201d Rentz is thrilled to be able \u201cgo somewhere, stay somewhere, and serve somewhere\u201d long-term. Settling in and planting roots has really allowed him to see the beauty of a local church in a city \u201cwhere there is a vast need,\u201d he said. With this in mind, Rentz and his wife, Christina, are excited to be closing on their first home. After several months of their two-year-old daughter saying \u201cI want to go home\u201d every day, Rentz is excited to be closing on the family\u2019s first house at the end of this month, once again, a testament to what Rentz calls \u201cbuilding our dependence on God more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our suffering, God has allowed us to build our dependence on Him more,\u201d he reflected. \u201cIt was a testimony to others that our faith is real \u2026 We don\u2019t just love God because our lives are comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The sobering sights of a fridge being flipped over, baby dolls floating by, and scattered Legos across the lawn greeted Ronnie Rentz, who planted Covenant Hope Church in St. Petersburg in 2022, when he returned home following Hurricane Helene\u2019s landfall in late September.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":96,"featured_media":49291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,140,17,22,23,25],"tags":[998,999,853,1000],"class_list":["post-49290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-region-central","category-disaster-relief-missions","category-missions","category-providing","category-sharing","category-stories","tag-central-florida","tag-covenant-hope-baptist-church","tag-hurricane-helene","tag-ronnie-rentz"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/96"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49290"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67836,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49290\/revisions\/67836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}