Porter has final word at Christ Church pulpit

The Rev. Bruce Porter preached his first sermon to Christ Church of Longboat Key, Presbyterian at Bayfront Park Recreation Center from a pulpit made out of a cardboard box.

It was 2005, and the church had recently formed after a group of members split from Longboat Island Chapel and ultimately voted to join the presbytery after considering other denominations. Members arrived early to set up chairs and stayed after services to put them away because the church didn’t yet have a space of its own.

Porter filled in for the church’s first pastor, the Rev. Ray Woody, on occasion in the church’s early days. By the time Woody resigned to care for his wife in 2006, the congregation had rented space at Mediterranean Plaza.

Porter, who was retired, agreed to take the position; he became Christ Church’s pastor Sept. 1, 2006. He thought he’d serve a year or two.

But he didn’t preach his final sermon until Dec. 28, 2013.

This time, he preached it from a real pulpit inside a 12,000-square-foot church with gothic arches and a giant stained-glass window. In his seven years with Christ Church, the congregation almost doubled, from 137 members to more than 250.

“In most churches, the pastor is pushing from behind,” Porter said. “Here, I was almost holding them back.”

Porter is a sixth-generation Presbyterian minister but says he never felt pressured to join the clergy. He was 1 year old when his father died, so he had no memory of his father’s ministry. He planned to become a doctor when he enrolled at Muskingum University in New Concord, Ohio, but his plans changed after his first chemistry course. He opted, instead, to enter the ministry during his junior year of college.

Porter graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary, in Princeton, N.J., and went on to serve congregations in Buffalo, N.Y., Elmira, N.Y., and Wellsboro, Pa., before becoming senior pastor and head of staff from 1983 to 2003 at Church of the Palms, in Sarasota, where he led a church of 2,600.

Porter — whom congregants usually call “Bruce” instead of “Reverend” — said that he always planned to help others — initially, when he planned to be a doctor, and later, as a pastor.

“One of the great bonuses of being a pastor is you relate to people in the good times and the bad times,” he said.

Burt Borgelt, elder at Christ Church, said he’s been constantly amazed at the quality of sermons Porter offers.

“He told me one time he preaches an intellectual gospel,” Borgelt said. “I think that’s important because he talked about a variety of subjects and he tied them all back to God.”

Porter lists many fond memories when he recalls his time at Christ Church: the Reading Buddies program members formed with Manatee County elementary students, the church’s social programs and one Sunday shortly before the new church was complete when members signed their names on a wall on the new building before it was covered with drywall.

Porter called his final sermon in December “The Last Word.”

From the podium, he told the congregation that it’s hard to say goodbye. He shared what he considers to be the essentials of spirituality. And he spoke a few final words about the future.

“The best years are still ahead,” he said.

Retirement celebration
Christ Church of Longboat Key, Presbyterian, will celebrate the Rev. Bruce Porter’s retirement from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24, in the church’s fellowship hall, 6400 Gulf of Mexico Drive. For information, contact Ann Quackenbush at 383-1731.

Interim leadership
The Rev. Taylor Hill will serve as interim pastor while a search committee seeks Porter’s long-term replacement. Hill holds a doctorate in ministry from Pittsburg Theological seminary. He most recently served as interim pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Sarasota.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected]