***BE AWARE, THEY REMOVE/CENSOR REVIEWS THAT ARE 3-STARS OR LOWER***…read more I don't know how exactly this place passes as a church. This is one strong example of the Western/American modern church that cares more about filling seats, than the Spirit filling up the people who are in desperate need of Him. A few, and I mean a few of the people I've met there, I've grown to know more, and still to this day, I love having them as brothers and sisters in Christ. However, my experiences personally with certain people have made my time there very challenging. Especially after providing the gifts God has given me to bring God's light, I became burnt out and discouraged that my involvement with Relevant wasn't truly valued. I don't see that a couple members of their leadership exemplifies patience or gentleness, which is truly sad. They have made this church run more like a corporation rather than a church. Roles shouldn't be filled for the sake of being filled. That by the way is a toxic form of leadership. Roles should be in place of people who have been gifted the role and are honored in their ways. May I add, that as I was leaving Relevant, I felt as thought I had my hands tied to not leave the church until I was met with guilt that going elsewhere to find true fellowship was a big insult to injury. Churches ought to honor that God calls certain people to minister elsewhere. I'm not the only one who has had these similar experiences. I'll say it this way: if God calls His followers to be obedient to His call, and someone gets in the way, those getting in the way disobey God denying their calling. Sometimes I will even see through service I either see that people aren't as engaged, passionate, or zealous. Rarely but notably so would I see some people just put on a front. There was only one thing I could be positive about, which was one life/community group I knew I could be around, learn from, and gain wisdom. Outside of that, it all feels like some people are just checking off a box, living the same life, not a sanctified life. There's a thing with their baptism that I don't see in the Bible is whether the person getting baptized has "asked Jesus to come into their heart." It's coming to the knowledge of one's sin, repenting of it, believing Jesus died and rose for us to be forgiven and have our sins paid for, to be made new, making Jesus Lord and Savior. After leaving Relevant, I was contacted only by a few of people, who truly cared. And for some reason Relevant decides to block me on social media. Guess I'm not good enough for them. But God has made me new, a new creation, a new identity, and that's what matters more. I personally wouldn't recommend Relevant Church, whether you're just moving to the area, or trying to profit the Kingdom with the gifts Jesus has given you. Anyone can read the Bible but their actions will tell a different side of the story.

I visited Relevant Church this Sunday with my two sons (both ~4-8 year olds) as well as another…read morechurch on the other side of Tampa. The experience was fantastic. I've gone to church all my life, have been looking for a new church home, visited 3-4 churches in the area and I'm almost immediately sure Relevant will be where I go. Parking is in the Ybor garage and there is a volunteer at the front door of the church to give you a free parking validation pass when you walk in. When I got back to my car after the service my car wasn't boiling liquid magma hot - you're already in the lead, Relevant. The lobby / communal area when you walk in is definitely super Ybor-y as is the rest of the facilities. The lobby has a cafe with coffee and light breakfast items that is apparently free? (If I was supposed to pay, the girl at the counter didn't think so. Sorry ...). The boys were in separate rooms during the service per their ages. After the service I asked each in the car on the way home what they loved and each said "everything" and proceeded to talk about it so long I had to stop each one so the other could speak. When asked what they disliked they each said "nothing" and when I asked them "if you had to pick the thing you liked the least, even if you liked it, what would it be?" they each said "nothing stop asking". Well alright then. Attendees: Someone mentioned in one of the reviews that Relevant is maybe not very diversified. That's not quite what I saw. There wasn't exactly anyone using a cane and brandishing an AARP card, but I'm 36 and I definitely saw people in their 40s and 50s that didn't seem to be there with their adult kids or anything. Dress wise, I was in khakis and an untucked, collared, long sleeve shirt and the vast majority of attendees were dressed 'under' that. The most dressed up I saw was a polo shirt (which for some reason I think is more dressed up than I was?). Zero ties were observed. My kind of people. Service: The band was great. One of the guitarists was wearing a Tampa Bay Rays hat. I loved it - not only because it projected "you're welcome here" to the crowd but because I'm a huge baseball fan, the Rays are first place in the majors right now and I'm 110% certain they're going to win the World Series. I may be biased though. Paul Wirth is the lead pastor and they were doing a four week series on relationships. His wife was with him for almost the whole message. It was great. It was - literally - relevant. I saw a lot of married/together/whatever couples in the crowd while he was speaking and they were pretty much giving rapt attention to the message instead of playing on their phones. Though I'm a natural "go make friends" kind of person, when I'm checking out a new church I intentionally don't engage anyone just to see how they (or if they can) identify new people. It may be by coincidence but I met the children's pastor who showed me around, asked a bit about me and definitely appeared to be genuinely interested in the fact that it was my first time. He said clearly that he hoped I came back. Excellent. Today (Tuesday) I got a (what I assume to be standard process) email from the lead pastor (Paul) just thanking me for coming and letting me know that he was praying for me in general and to let him know if I needed anything prayed for. I replied pretty much right away that I appreciated it and that I did actually having some life issues going on right now that he could pray for. He responded immediately and offered to meet for coffee; we are going to do so tomorrow. Relevant doesn't appear to be a megachurch but it certainly isn't small - where else are you going to get that?? Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. If you're looking for a church home I'd highly recommend checking out Relevant.