Bayside Community Church - Bayshore Gardens Campus 5051 26th Street West, Bradenton, FL 34207

"seemed like a great church as long as I was serving and their children’s ministry, and as long as my family was tithing thousands and thousands of dollars a year. When it came down to reaching out to my so-called church family for help, it was then when I saw, true colors of this church. I am writing to bring to your attention a concerning situation involving Bayside Church, as a long standing member of their congregation. As a dedicated member of Bayside Church for the past five years, I have faithfully contributed my time, talents, and what financial support I can as a single mother of 4 to the church community. Recently, I found myself in need of assistance with my security deposit for a new rental property. When I approached Bayside Church for help, they initially agreed to assist me after a lengthy application and (even though I didn’t check off enough of there boxes) by sending a check directly to my landlord, providing the landlord's address themselves. However, just four days later, they rescinded their offer of help, stating that they could not assist me because the security deposit might go to me if I were to move. In addition to retracting their offer of assistance, Bayside Church accused me of not tithing enough and claimed that I did not meet their criteria for receiving help. This is deeply troubling, as I have faithfully given my time and talents to the church's children's ministry, following the teachings of the Bible. Despite my family contributing over $30,000 annually to the church, we are being denied help in our time of need. This behavior by Bayside Church is in direct contradiction to the principles of compassion, generosity, and support for those in need that are espoused in the Bible. As stated in 1 John 3:17-18: "But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth." However, their actions in retracting promised assistance and accusing me of insufficient tithing demonstrate a troubling focus on financial gain rather than fulfilling their duty to support those in need within their congregation. Furthermore, the actions of Bayside Church are not aligned with the spirit of community and care that should guide a church's interactions with its members. Despite already receiving $1.2 million this year for kingdom-building efforts that are intended to benefit the community, the next generation, and the world, Bayside Church has failed to fulfill its commitment to provide support to a member in need. This behavior is not in line with the teachings of the Bible and constitutes false doctrine. Bayside Church is failing to practice what they preach and is operating more as a business than a place of worship."

"I've never felt so welcomed in my whole life. I was treated like family before I even got inside. I think his name was Tim, the traffic director and another named Jeremiah immediately made me feel loved and it just kept getting better. The Christmas Candlelight service was one of the most beautiful things I've ever experienced. So amazing!"

"Very nice family church. I went alone and was made to feel very welcome. Highly recommend."

"What I love about Church of the Cross is the feeling that your part of something much bigger than you. Your part of God's family. My first visit was by invitation. The service was conducted by a returning missions team describing how they were blessed by ministering to people in central America. Being from a Catholic background this service was way out of the box for me. However I was intrigued and returned the following week. What I discovered was the Church's goal was to serve the people in the community they were in and be a blessing to all who had need. I wanted to be part of that in whatever way I could. Now I love serving others. I hope you find the same."