City Street Evangelist in Florida Jail

By Rusty Marks

Charleston-based street evangelist Brandt Russo was in jail Wednesday after trying to hold services at a church in Lakeland, Fla.

Russo was arrested Tuesday at Lakeland’s Ignited Church and charged with trespassing after he tried to hold communion services on church property, said friend and supporter Charessa Wilkinson. Russo was in the Polk County Jail on $500 bond this morning, according to jail records.

An ordained minister, Russo decided to give up his worldly goods, live on the streets and minister to the homeless. Russo decided to settle in West Virginia after visiting the state on a religious tour.

Earlier this month, Russo took his vegetable oil-powered school bus on a trip to different cities he has visited to shoot a documentary film about life on the streets.

Wilkinson said Russo decided to go to Lakeland after learning of the plight of about 40 homeless men who are trying to live in a swamp about 100 yards from the Ignited Church.

Russo believes leaders of the church – until recently, home of controversial evangelist Todd Bentley – should be doing more to help the homeless men camped right outside their door, Wilkinson said.

Friends and supporters back in West Virginia were trying to get Russo released from jail Wednesday afternoon.

Wilkinson said news of the arrest was posted on Russo’s MySpace Internet site, www.myspace.com/brandtishollywood. She said she has been flooded with calls and messages about the incident, most in support of Russo.

“I haven’t been off the phone all day,” Wilkinson said. “I’ve been getting e-mails from all over the world.”

Russo, who has been thrown out of or asked to leave several nationally known charismatic churches, is not above using civil disobedience to draw attention to the plight of the homeless.

Reach Rusty Marks at rustymarks@wvgazette.com

or 348-1215.

Originally published by Staff writer.

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