Who is Fast?

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Who is FAST?

Faith and Action for Strength Together (FAST) is a Pinellas County-based Interfaith Justice Ministry network of about 50 congregations of different faith traditions. FAST is a non-partisan 501(c)3 non-profit organization that facilitates training for county residents to identify the root causes of community problems and to advocate for positive outcomes. Through FAST, people of all backgrounds connect to effectively address their community needs by working with county and city officials who can address policy and procedure deficiencies.

Our congregations differ in our worship and faith traditions, but we are committed to pursuing justice in God's name. Our strength is in our unity. 

We use a four-step process to do justice in our community:

1. We listen to our congregation members through one-on-one and house meetings. The meetings help us identify injustices our members are experiencing in the community. Our congregations then vote on what issues we want to work on for the year. 

2. We research the problems to identify workable solutions.

3. We gather a large number of people once a year at our Nehemiah Assembly to show our power and negotiate solutions with our public officials.

4. We follow through on public commitments to ensure that there is action to address the problem. 

Through this process, we have won improvements in our community for the past 10 years. For more information about our successes, visit the Past Victories page. Contact us at doingjusticepinellas@gmail.com or join us at one of our four large countywide assemblies.  


The Biblical Basis for Our Vision

6 "With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" 8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:6-8 (NRSV)

The Lord requires us “to do justice, love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God (faithfulness).” (Micah 6:8)

Our congregations remind us to be faithful: We gather at least 52 times yearly to worship and do other faithfulness ministries that encourage our “humble walk” with God. Many of our congregations do an excellent job of showing mercy by providing services like tutoring to the victims of injustice. Unfortunately, our congregations don’t “do justice” very well. Biblically, justice holds the King and officials accountable for the fair treatment of all people, especially the poor, the widows, and orphans.

We follow the biblical example by bringing together the Mayor, City Council, business leaders, and other officials to hear our solutions for community problems. It takes a lot of “people-power” to get listened to by political and economic systems in our communities.

How do we "do justice?"

We learn from Nehemiah’s calling of a great assembly of people to bring charges against the unfair money lenders and how we can do justice successfully. (Nehemiah 5:1-13)

While in Jerusalem, Nehemiah heard of the economic exploitation of the people by public officials – who charged unfair interest rates to make money off the poor and vulnerable people of the land. Nehemiah was a powerful man in his own right – a cupbearer to the King. Still, he did not have enough power to confront the unjust economic system displacing people from their properties. Nehemiah could have set up some mercy ministries, like clothes closets or food pantries, but decided to do justice by getting the money lenders to act fairly. Nehemiah called it a “Great Assembly.” The whole community asked the public officials to return the land, children, crops, and interest (money) to the people immediately. The nobles and officials agreed and did what they promised.

One congregation doesn't have enough people-power to do justice. Therefore, we build our power by joining congregations across the county, bringing together thousands of people to a big Nehemiah Action to win needed changes. FAST is a tool that allows each congregation to work with other congregations to live out God’s call to “do justice” effectively.

Each Congregation’s Vision

Each congregation’s vision is to turn out our average worship attendance (AWA) once a year to “do justice” at that great Nehemiah Action! 52 times a year, congregations come together to worship, praise God, and deepen our “faithfulness” and “humble walk” with God. We can certainly turn out that same number of people for justice at least once a year!

To reach that vision, we organize people into justice ministry networks.

Justice Ministry Network members commit to the following:

  1. Attend the Nehemiah Action in the Spring and bring three people along.

AND

  1. Attend three other Assemblies yearly to prepare us for the Nehemiah Action and build self-sufficiency.

    • Annual Assembly in the Fall to start a new year of justice ministry work.

    • FAST Rally early in the new year.

    • Joshua Assembly to celebrate our accomplishments as we wrap up our year.

Our Big Holy Audacious Goal (BHAG)

FAST congregations have a Big Holy Audacious Goal (BHAG) of eventually bringing together 10,000 people to the Nehemiah Action! We believe this is the power we need to bring about meaningful changes in our community, so we are working diligently to make this goal a reality. Together, we can bring justice to Pinellas County! 


Direct Action & Research Training Center (DART) Affiliation

FAST is part of the Direct Action and Research Training Center (DART) grassroots network. DART justice ministry organizations work in twenty metropolitan areas in seven states. Each DART-affiliated organization is an independent 501 c (3) nonprofit with its own unique name, funding, and staff. We chose to affiliate with DART for assistance with leader and organizer training.

 For more information about DART and its other affiliated organizations, visit www.thedartcenter.org


Member Congregations:

Allendale United Methodist Church Rev. Andy Oliver , 3803 Haines Road North, St. Petersburg, FL 33703

Bethel Community Baptist ChurchRev. Manuel Sykes, 2901 54th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33712

Cathedral Church of St. Peter, Rev. Canon Mike Alford, 140 Fourth Street North, St. Petersburg, FL 33701

Central Christian Church, Rev. Donna L. Oberkreser, 1200 South Keene Road, Clearwater, FL 33756

Circle of Faith, Rev. Courtney Jones, 1310 22nd Avenue South, St. Petersburg, Florida 33705

East Lake United Methodist Church, Rev. Scott Farman, 2801 East Lake Road, Palm Harbor, FL 34685

Episcopal Church of the  AscensionRev. Dr. Jim Sorvillo, Sr., 701 Orange Avenue, Clearwater, FL 33756

Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan, Rev. Jamie Samilio, 2165 Northeast Coachman Road, Clearwater, FL 33765

Espiritu Santo Catholic Church, Fr. Leonard Piotrowski, 2405 Philippe Parkway, Safety Harbor, FL 34695

First Baptist Church of St. PetersburgRev. Ben Winder, 1900 Gandy Boulevard North, St. Petersburg 33702

Good Samaritan Presbyterian Church/UCC of Pinellas ParkRev. Jen Daysa, 6085 Park Boulevard, Pinellas Park, FL 33787

Greater Mt. Zion AME ChurchRev. Clarence Williams, 1045 16th Street South, St. Petersburg, FL 33705

Historic Bethel AME Church, Rev. Kenny Irby, 912 3rd Avenue North, St. Petersburg, FL 33705 

Holy Cross Catholic Church, Fr. Emery Longanga, 7851 54th Avenue North, St. Petersburg, FL 33709

Holy Family Catholic Church, Rev. Frank Lubowa, 200 78th Avenue Northeast, St. Petersburg, FL 33702

Holy Spirit Episcopal Church, Rev. Raynald Sales Bonoan, 601 Philippe Pkwy Safety Harbor, FL 34695

Hope Presbyterian Church, 1698 South Belcher Road, Clearwater, Florida 33764

Lakeview Presbyterian Church, Revs. Russ and Lois Lehman, 1310 22nd Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33705  

Lutheran Church of the Good ShepherdRev. Keith Walbolt, 10891 102nd Avenue North, Seminole, FL 33778

Maximo Presbyterian Church, Rev. Bobby Musengwa, 3200 58th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, Florida, 33712

McCabe United Methodist Church, Rev. Jana Hall-Perkins, 2800 26th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33712

Most Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church, Father Brian C. Fabiszewski, 5800 15th Avenue South, Gulfport, FL 33707

Mt. Carmel Baptist ChurchRev. William Sherman,1017 Pennsylvania Avenue, Clearwater, FL 33755

Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church, Rev. Robert Ward, 3500 18th Avenue South, St Petersburg, FL 33711 

Mt. Olive AME ChurchRev. James V. Williams, 600 Jones Street Clearwater, FL 33775

Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, Rev. Lee Hall-Perkins, 2751 Sunset Point Road, Clearwater 33759

New Faith Free Methodist ChurchRev. James Brooks, 2427 Irving Avenue South, St Petersburg, FL 33712

Oakhurst United Methodist ChurchRev. Nathan Carlson, 13400 Park Boulevard North, Seminole, FL 33776

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic ChurchRev. Gary Dowsey, 750 San Salvador Drive, Dunedin, FL 34698

Palm Lake Christian Church, Rev. Oscar Banks, 5401 22nd Avenue North, St. Petersburg, FL 33710

Pasadena Community Church, Rev. Nicole Logan, 227 70th Street South, St. Petersburg, FL 33707

Pinellas Point Interfaith Justice Seekers

Shiloh Missionary Baptist ChurchPastor Bebe Hobson, 13255 118th Street North, Largo, FL 33778

Southside Tabernacle Baptist Church, Elder Michael Jackson, 3647 18th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33711

St. Augustine's Episcopal Church, Rev. Rob Crow, 2920 26th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33712

St. Cecelia Catholic ChurchFr. Bob Schneider, 820 Jasmine Way, Clearwater, FL 33676

St. James AME Church, Rev. Alethea Winston, 1436 South Madison Avenue, Clearwater, FL, 33756

St. Jerome Catholic Church, Fr. Tom Morgan, 10895 Hamlin Boulevard, Largo, FL, 33774

St. John Missionary Baptist ChurchRev. Fleming Tarver, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, Clearwater, FL 33755

St. Joseph Catholic ChurchFr. Alexander T. Padilla, 2025 22nd Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33712

St. Mark Lutheran Church, Rev. Katy Fast, 1120 Curlew Road, Dunedin, FL 34698

St. Mary Missionary Baptist ChurchRev. Benny Dyer, 2104 Railroad Avenue, Largo, FL 33778  

St. Matthew Catholic ChurchFr. Jonathan Emery, 9111 90th Ave N Largo, FL 33777

St. Michael the Archangel Catholic ChurchFr. Tom Anastasia, 2281 State Road 580, Clearwater, FL 33763

St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Msgr. Robert Gibbons, 1800 12th Street North, St. Petersburg, FL 33704

St. Raphael Catholic Church, Fr. Curtis Carro, 1376 Snell Isle Boulevard Northeast, St. Petersburg, FL 33704

Temple Beth-ElRabbi Amy Morrison, 400 Pasadena Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33711

Temple B'nai Israel, Rabbi Michael Birnholz, 1685 S Belcher Road, Clearwater, FL 33764

Unitarian Universalists of Clearwater, Rev. Amy Kindred, 2470 Nursery Road, Clearwater, FL 33764

Unitarian Universalists of St. PetersburgRev. Ben Atherton-Zeman, 100 Mirror Lake Drive North, St. Petersburg, FL 33701