On March 12, 1899, three families from the former First Methodist Church in downtown Tampa gathered in a two-room schoolhouse on the corner of Magnolia and Platt streets to start a Sunday School for neighborhood children. They sang “I Love to Tell the Story,” and the infancy of our congregation was born.

Over the last few months, we have been blessed to hear stories of our history from a wonderful team of writers in our church, led by the Rev. Dr. Jim Harnish, our long-time senior pastor from 1992 to 2014. Here are their stories: