ELDERS:

Associate Pastor, Dan Varanelli

Teaching Pastor,  Jason Westerfield

Founding Pastor,  Scott Rodriguez

MINISTRY LEADERS

  • Teaching Ministry, Jason Westerfield 
  • Local Evangelism, Dan Varanelli 
  • Audio Visual, Aaron Vail / Frank Neizgoda
  • Woman’s Ministry Asst., Mary Westerfield 
  • Financial Office, Dan Varanelli
  • Benevolence, Dan Varanelli
  • Safety Ministry, Jason Westerfield 
  • Children’s Ministry, Mary Westerfield
  • Men’s Ministry, Jason Westerfield 
  • Small Groups, Jason Westerfield 
  • Janitorial Maintenance, Jason Westerfield  

FINANCIAL BOARD

• Dan Varanelli | Treasurer

• Jason Westerfield | Vice President

• Nathan Zeitler | Secretary 

• Scott Rodriguez | President 

To contact a leader, email us at [email protected], and someone will get back with you as soon as possible.

Our Leadership Form

At The Tabernacle of Tampa Bay we believe in the Divinely established form of the Church seen in the New Testament. This impacts our Leadership Structure as follows:

Foundation

  1. We believe the Church was founded by Jesus Christ through the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief Corner Stone (Eph. 2:20).

Form / Organization

  1. We believe in the simplicity of Church form evidenced in the New Testament, specifically that the Church is made up two entities, Jesus and the people He redeems – The Head and the Body. These are One. We also believe in freedom not from the form, but within the form, meaning that where the scriptures have not limited us we are to look to the Holy Spirit for direction.

Elders

  1. We believe the Church is to be overseen and shepherded by Bishops / Elders. In their role as Overseers these men are Bishops (which simply means: overseer). In their role as shepherds these men are Elders. At the Tabernacle we choose to refer to them as Elders, because of the gross misuse of the title, “Bishop” in our culture and time. These men are appointed to this office only in accordance with the Biblical testing process described in 1st & 2nd Timothy and Titus.

Pastors

  1. Among the Elders there are specific giftings and various manifestations of grace (God-given capabilities). These reveal a specific calling or vocation within their Eldership (Eph. 4:11): Some are gifted Teachers and Preachers (though all must be able to teach sound doctrine); others are gifted administrators, counselors, musicians, etc…

At the Tabernacle, we refer to those that labor most specifically in the Word and Doctrine as Pastor-Teachers or more simply, as Pastors. The reason for this is two-fold. First, the term Pastor is the same as Shepherd, and while all Elders are Shepherds not all of them will shepherd primarily by ‘teaching’. Those who do are referred to by the Apostle Paul as Pastor-Teachers (Eph. 4:11). Secondly, most in our culture understand the Title, Pastor to be associated with Teaching and preaching because of the Church’s historical use of the term. In our view it is a Biblical term, and it is an understood term.

Deacons

We also believe in appointing Deacons / Ministry Leaders. A Deacon is a Servant Leader who, because of his commitment to the Lord and His Church, has been appointed to serve in various areas of need in an official capacity. These are people who are specifically recognized as Deacons within the Church upon appointment by the Elders. These men and woman are appointed only in accordance with the testing process described in 1 Timothy.

”By Wisdom a House is Built...”
Proverbs 24:3