1991 to The Present

The Congregation and its Programs

The period of time from 1991 to the present comprises the pastorate of Gregory W. Creech as senior pastor at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Findlay.  At this writing, he has led the church for 18 years, a record indeed!

 

Perhaps Pastor Creech’s many years of successful pastoral leadership at St. Paul’s are due to the fact that his evangelical theological understanding of the Christian faith is very much in line with the traditional beliefs that St. Paul’s has held since 1870.

During his pastorate many new methods of outreach have been attempted with success and fresh ways to communicate the gospel have been undertaken.  A concerted effort has been made to reach children and young people in ways that engage them.  Lay persons with gifts and expertise in ministry to children and youth have been employed at the church for this work.

 

 

Well planned programs of outreach to the community have been undertaken.  They include a Community Dinner at 11:30 A.M. each month on the fourth Sunday of the month.  Recently another monthly meal, this one a take out meal called “Grab N Go”, has been offered during the workweek to any who come.

Significant financial support has gone from Easter and Christmas offerings each year to four local ministries.  They are Chopin Hall (distribution of food and clothing to those in need), Hancock Christian Clearinghouse (support of people with emergency needs), Hope House (housing for homeless women and children), and City Mission (housing for homeless men and families).

The formation of small groups for Christian growth and accountability has been stressed during these years.  Elective courses have been offered on topics such as Discovering your Spiritual Gifts, Experiencing God, Reading the Bible in 90 Days, and The Purpose Driven Church.

 

In 2007 St. Paul’s birthed a new church that aimed to reach unchurched and dechurched people of a post modern mindset.  Trevor Wright who had been employed at St. Paul’s as Youth Director for a number of years became pastor of this new church start which took the name of Journey.  St. Paul’s provided nearly half of the funding for this effort at the beginning.

 

 

Many youth and adult groups from St. Paul’s undertook mission trips in this period.  In 2000 an intergenerational group from the church devoted two weeks to begin erecting walls for a church building in Honduras.  Following Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005, groups from St. Paul’s made trips to New Orleans for emptying and gutting of flooded homes.  Later trips to New Orleans and southern Mississippi worked on reconstruction of damaged homes.  To date there have been 6 adult mission trips and 3 youth trips to respond to needs following the 2005 hurricane.  David Tharp, a lay member of St. Paul’s, has been the leader of most of these mission trips.

 

 

 

 

Each summer exciting and engaging Vacation Bible Schools were held at St. Paul’s for children at no cost to the participants.

 

 

 

 

 

Beginning around 1999 a second worship service was offered on Sunday mornings.  It was scheduled at 8:00 A.M. and was called Contemporary Worship because it featured music led by a worship leader and a band.  The 10:15 Traditional Worship continued to be offered each Sunday.  An organ and a choir facilitated worship at this service.  At this writing, there are about equal numbers of worshippers at each service. 

 

Gail Malloy, a gifted musician, has served St. Paul’s as choir director since 1979.

At the beginning of Pastor Creech’s ministry here, the membership of the church was 568 with an average worship attendance of 245.  In 2009, at this writing, the membership is 498 with an average worship attendance of 295.

 

 

The Building

The Accessibility Project providing a new entrance to the east and an elevator providing access to each floor of the church made the building completely handicapped accessible.  The full cost of this project was $179,500.  The dedication of these improvements took place in the spring of 1993.

 

 

The sanctuary at St. Paul's was remodeled and redecorated in the late 1990's.  During the weeks when the work was going on, the congregation used the basement for its worship services.  Here is a picture showing the sanctuary under construction.

 

 

 

 

 

A multimedia projection system was installed in the sanctuary in 2001.  It makes possible the projection of announcements, pictures, and words to scripture as well as sermon illustrations, outlines and video.  Using this tool, St. Paul’s has hosted several live satellite simulcasts of marriage conferences and training for the Christian life. 

 

 

 

In 2002 a group of church people worked hard to bring a daycare into being that would use rooms in the basement of St. Paul’s and the nursery for its programs.  Christian Cuddle Care became the official name of this daycare program that still uses church space for this purpose during the workweek.

The basement restrooms were remodeled in September of 2003 at a cost of $72,000.  An improved kitchen was installed in the basement in October of 2004.  As part of this work, a beverage center was installed at the south end of the fellowship hall.

During 2006, church leaders saw the need for a variety of projects that were grouped together under the title HOAC Project which stood for Heating, Organ, and Air Conditioning.  During that project a completely new heating system was installed that included central air conditioning for the entire building.  A new digital organ was also purchased and installed.  Pledges of financial support were taken for the project and a bank loan was necessary to finance part of the expense.  At this writing the 10 year loan will be completely paid off in 5 years, saving significant interest.  The cost for the HOAC Project was $227,000.

In August of 2007 another major flood of the Blanchard River took place, bringing water into the church building again.  The Trustees sprang into action immediately.  Volunteers from the church pumped out the water from the basement and then removed the lower portion of the walls to prevent the growth of mold.  After adequate drying out of the basement area, new walls were installed.  Everyone was happy when the basement could be fully used again.  Insurance coverage and hundreds of hours of volunteer labor resulted in a better basement than the church has ever had!

Interesting Anecdotes and Pictures

During the mid 1990’s a group of persons met weekly with the pastor to hammer out a strategic plan for St. Paul’s.  They also formulated five areas of focus for ministry for the church.  The five areas are:

Reaching Out:  Sharing the love and acceptance of God to all

Linking Up:  Experiencing the joy of family within the church

Building Up:  Learning and living the ways of God

Diving In:  Meeting the needs of our community

Raising Up:  Joining together to say thanks to God

A logo was chosen at this time to appear with the church name to be used in church publications and advertisement.

The words “Offering Christ. . . Discovering Life” appear with the church name and say something about what St. Paul’s is about today.  St. Paul’s was founded as a mission church to offer Christ to the Findlay community, and this continues to be our mission 139 years later.