A small Ohio congregation belonging to The United Methodist Church is dismayed by the regional body's decision to close the church later this month as part of a process the pastor said was unfair.
Take your seats, sit up straight, and pay attention! The Magnetic Theatre is thrilled to present Da Classroom Ain't Enuf, by Charles Payne, running June 2nd through June 17th.
bcoupland@tribtoday.com
Staff photo / Bob Coupland
The choir of St. Patrick Parish in Hubbard leads the congregation in song and worship during a recent Mass at Hubbard High School. The church caught fire in mid-January, and services currently are being held in the church hall while repairs are being completed.
With a year of online services and sitting in vehicles in parking lots, area churches and parishes slowly have been bringing people back to in-person worship.
Church leaders have been reaching out to their members and reassuring Valley residents that with proper social-distancing guidelines in place, worship services can be attended safely.
Though a decision that could form a new affiliation within the United Methodist Church will be postponed once more until 2022, a Columbiana County church is changing now.
The Rev. Abby Auman, district superintendent of the Mahoning Valley District of East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church, said moving forward with the new affiliation, which has a conservative view, is the former Boyce United Methodist Church in East Liverpool.
Now, it is Boyce Church.
Other churches are taking a “wait-and-see” approach, Auman said, because there isn’t a desire to leave under the current pathway. “They think maybe they may find themselves compatible enough with the new United Methodist Church,” she said.