Former church to be youth center

By D.a. Wilkinson

SALEM — A big television, big sofas, a pop machine and a half-court for basketball.

What more could the young want?

The long-closed St. John’s Evangelist Romanian Orthodox Church, 261 S. Lundy Ave., is coming back to life as a youth center.

Eric Hamilton of Salem is the new director of the center, The ROC of Salem.

He said the center is for those age 14 through 20.

He expects the center will open later this month.

“We’ll be starting out with the youngsters,” he said. “Then the focus will be on young adults.”

Salem’s First United Methodist Church had purchased the old church.

But The ROC, “is an ecumenical program, not just a United Methodist Church program”

The churches represented on the Roc board are: Saint Paul of Salem Catholic Church, Salem First United Methodist Church, Greenford Christian Church, First Friends Church of Salem, Faith Chapel Fellowship of Salem, First Presbyterian Church of Salem and Damascus Friends Church.

One of The ROC’s board members is the Rev. Wayne Clark, a retired United Methodist minister from Washington Court House, Ohio. He said he moved here, “to be closer to my daughter, son-in-law and their two children.”

The Rev. Mr. Clark has been involved in helping to get the center ready.

Hamilton said one reason for starting the center is “It’s hard growing up these days.”

He added, “Sometimes they don’t have a support system. There’s no place to go. They can walk around or get into trouble.”

One idea is that youths can go to the center after school if their parents are working.

“They can be safe and confident. They can be themselves,” Hamilton said.

The ROC stands for representatives of Christ, and the center will offer Bible studies.

Police Chief Robert Floor said the idea is a good one. The department has a program for troubled youths, but it is part of the justice system.

The chief said there aren’t many places youths can go.

wilkinson@vindy.com