New Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church sits at 2511 East Columbus Drive in Tampa, where it has anchored a stretch of the city's historic Black religious life since the early 1900s. The congregation describes itself as "a Baptist church centered on Christ, bible-focused, relationship-driven," and it grounds every program in the motto drawn from Mark 12:28-31: "Changing the world through the love of Christ, one soul at a time." A page in its community gallery still carries the mark "NMZ Tampa's 117th Anniversary," evidence of a heritage that has now stretched past a century of continuous ministry on the same street.
Mission and Vision
The church keeps its calling short and quotable. Its mission - Changing the World, through the love of Christ; One soul at a time - is paired with a vision of building authentic community internally so that the body can transform communities externally for the glory of God. In the church's own words, "we do not believe church is just an institution or building you attend; but a family of which you become a part." That framing shapes everything from the two Sunday worship services to the food pantry open twice a month on Thursdays.
Sunday in Two Services and a Classroom
Sunday is built around two identical worship services and an hour of teaching in between:
- Sunday Worship at 8:00 AM and 11:00 AM, offered in person and livestreamed.
- Sunday School at 9:30 AM.
The schedule is designed so that a family can come early for one service, send children and adults to Sunday School in the middle hour, and stay for the second worship gathering, or pick whichever combination fits the morning. During worship, hospitality volunteers meet guests at the entrance of the sanctuary and help them find seats. First-time visitors are recognized, but they are not asked to stand or speak. After each service, guests are invited to meet the pastor in the Life Center, the room adjacent to the sanctuary, where the hospitality ministry assists with directions and information.
Wednesdays Around Prayer and the Word
Midweek programming brings the congregation back to the building twice on Wednesdays. From 4:00 to 6:00 PM, the church hosts Drive-Thru Prayer, an outdoor option for anyone who wants a brief moment of intercession without having to come inside. At 7:00 PM, the building reopens for Bible Study, which has worked its way through the book of Hebrews in recent years. Notes from those sessions - "Hebrews Overview," "Hebrews 1:1-4," "Hebrews 2:10-18," "Hebrews 11," and more - are archived as downloadable study guides, and recorded classes are posted to the NMZ Tampa YouTube channel for anyone who missed a week.
Coming to NMZ for the First Time
Visitors are encouraged to come as they are. "Some people come in suits and others in jeans and t-shirts," the church explains, and adds that there is no dress code. Guest parking is reserved directly across the street from the sanctuary, in the north lot where the marquee stands, so first-time arrivals know exactly where to pull in. From there, greeters lead the way into the sanctuary. Children are welcome in worship; the church's Sunday School program meets in the 9:30 AM hour between the two services. The congregational life is also intergenerational: an annual recognition honors members who have given 50 or more years of service, and the page that lists those names is shared alongside photos of recent graduates.
The Food Pantry on 2nd and 4th Thursdays
One of the most visible ways NMZ serves its neighborhood is through the Food Pantry Ministry. The pantry opens on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month, from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM, on the church grounds. The ministry is led by Coordinator Bro. Jerry Chatman and Assistant Coordinator Bro. Percy Weatherly. The outreach page frames the work with Galatians 6:2 - "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ" - and Matthew 5:42: "Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you." Members and friends who want to support the pantry can do so through the church's general giving channels, designating gifts accordingly.
Joining the NMZ Family
Becoming a member is treated as a thoughtful, prayerful step rather than a formality. The church offers three ways to join:
- By Baptism - for those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and wish to be baptized.
- By Statement of Faith - for Christians who have already been baptized elsewhere and want to be part of NMZ without a formal transfer.
- By Transfer of Membership - for baptized believers coming from another Christian church.
A temporary covering is also available for those who are in the Tampa Bay area only briefly, such as college students, military personnel, and remote workers. Prospective members are invited to attend a service and declare their intention during the guest greeting period after worship, or to contact the church during the week. A separate flow is set up for anyone who has never accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, with a contact form that leads to a follow-up conversation and prayer.
A Building That Hosts the Community
Beyond its weekly schedule, NMZ uses its facility to serve wider Tampa. The Life Center, the multipurpose room adjacent to the sanctuary, can be rented for events; downloadable reservation, bus/van rental, and maintenance request forms are available to members. The church also publishes a Disaster Preparedness Guide as a community resource. The Renovations 2025 page documents building work completed or underway in the sanctuary and supporting spaces, and ongoing renovations appear in the photo gallery.
Generosity and the Practice of Tithing
"One gives freely, yet grows all the richer. God doesn't want something from you; He wants something for you." With that framing, the giving page explains the church's teaching on tithing - the practice of returning the first ten percent of one's income to the local church as an act of worship. To make that practice easier, gifts can be made through any of several channels:
- Tithe.ly for online and recurring gifts.
- Cash App to $NMZTAMPA.
- Zelle to give@nmztampa.com.
- PayPal to give@nmztampa.com.
- Text-to-Give by texting "Giving" to (850) 404-1844.
- Mail or in-person drop-off at 2511 East Columbus Drive, Tampa, FL 33605.
All donations are tax deductible, and contribution statements can be requested through the church office.
The Progressor and Staying Connected
NMZ publishes a regular newsletter called The Progressor, now available in digital form as downloadable PDFs. Recent issues cover ministry updates, event recaps, and community efforts, with editions running back through 2018 in the online archive. Beyond the newsletter, the church maintains active Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube presences, livestreams each worship service, and posts previous Sunday School classes on YouTube for catch-up viewing. An AV Request Form is available for ministries or members who need audio or video support for an upcoming event, and an Information Request form keeps interested friends on the church's mailing lists.
Men, Women, and the Life of the Body
The congregation highlights ministries for men and women alongside its family life. A recurring hashtag, #MENOFNMZTAMPA, pairs with Proverbs 20:7 - "The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him" - and gallery photos document men in fellowship across the years. Music remains central: a "Reunion Choir Concert" and an annual revival pull members back to the sanctuary for nights of group singing. Prayer in the Park, hosted in the surrounding neighborhood, is described as "a powerful demonstration of love and unity within our community," and the Family Fun Night brings the whole church together outside the sanctuary walls.
Beliefs
NMZ teaches from the Bible as the church's "treasure map" and frames conversion in plain terms. Becoming a Christian, the church explains, means acknowledging that all have sinned and fallen short of God's standard (Romans 3:23), believing that Christ died for those sins and rose again (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), and confessing with the mouth that Jesus is Lord while believing in the heart that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9). New believers are then encouraged to repent and be baptized (Acts 2:38) and to join the local body of Christ. The church holds tightly to the Great Commission of Mark 16:15 - "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation" - and to the two greatest commandments cited in its mission: loving God with heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving one's neighbor as oneself.
Reaching the Church
The church office can be reached at (813) 248-8101 or info@nmztampa.com. Specialized mailboxes route visitors and members to the right ministry: pastor@nmztampa.com for the pastor's office, deacons@nmztampa.com for the Deacons Ministry, finance@nmztampa.com for the comptroller, give@nmztampa.com for donations, audiovisual@nmztampa.com for production, and community@nmztampa.com for photo submissions to the community gallery. Worship services are held at 2511 East Columbus Drive, Tampa, FL 33605, with guest parking in the north lot across from the sanctuary.