Friday, October 18, 2002
The church plans to add an outreach center, sports fields and a picnic area at the 7 1/2-acre site.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR RELIGION EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- A historic city church is returning to its roots and helping to revitalize the South Side.
St. Andrewes A.M.E. Church will break ground Saturday for a new $1 million church at 521 W. Earle St.
The Rev. Jon S. Goshay, pastor of St. Andrewes, said with a laugh that the building will cost exactly $1,000,063.
The pastor's command of the church's finances is reflected in his command for the vision of the church's mission.
"We see hope," said the Rev. Mr. Goshay, "We know who we are and what we are."
That's a message similar to the one voiced by the Rev. Kenneth Simon, pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church on the South Side, which broke ground on a $3.5 million expansion Sept. 22.
Mr. Goshay sees the construction projects and other activities as part of the revitalization of the area.
"We're for real," he said.
Church's history
St. Andrewes began in 1869 on Oakhill Avenue as Oakhill Avenue A.M.E. Church, and took its current name when it moved to Rayen Avenue in 1952, said Mr. Goshay.
The church sold its aging building on Rayen and is holding services in the Mill Creek Community Center.
St. Andrewes has about 400 members who come from the city's South, North and East Sides. It plans to build a fellowship hall, a multipurpose building that will seat about 400 people for worship and about 250 for dinner. That means expansion is inevitable, said Mr. Goshay.
The first building will include a kitchen and four classrooms. Work is expected to be done in eight months.
The second phase would include a new sanctuary and offices, and the third phase would include an outreach center. Those as-yet unscheduled plans would bring the total cost to about $3 million.
The pastor said plans also call for creation of a picnic area and sports fields at the 7 1/2-acre site to help the neighborhood.
"We want to get in there and get started," said Mr. Goshay.
Using Cleveland as model
The pastor sees Youngstown following Cleveland's successful route to revitalization.
Cleveland was once the butt of jokes, but the pastor notes, "I haven't heard a Cleveland joke in a long time."
The key, Mr. Goshay said, is the right people and a coalition of groups irrespective of race, creed or color working together.
That, he added, "will improve the quality of life in the whole city."
The church plans to continue both its free meal program and being the site of a Boy Scout troop.
Mr. Goshay said he would meet with the Rev. Mr. Simon and other pastors to see what programs are being offered and what need to be offered on the South Side. The pastor saw a need for the outreach center to help tutor students to improve their school test scores.
The groundbreaking will begin with a service at 1 p.m. Saturday at Victory Lutheran Church, 2210 Glenwood Ave. Bishop Robert Vaughn Webster of the 3rd Episcopal District of the A.M.E. Church will be taking part.
About 2 p.m., people will go to the site for the actual shoveling, Mr. Goshay said.
After 133 years, said the pastor, St. Andrewes will have a new home.
wilkinson@vindy.com