Brookfield UMC has new pastor

Brookfield UMC has new pastor

BROOKFIELD

Brookfield United Methodist Church, 6951 Grove St., will welcome Pastor Richard F. Smith as its minister on Tuesday.

He most recently served at Calcutta Good Shepherd United Methodist Church since 2010 and Elkton UMC, where he has served the past year.

He is a licensed local pastor and is attending a course of study at Methodist Theological Seminary of Ohio.

Pastor Smith is retired from employment in business development.

He was a longtime member of Girard First UMC, serving as lay leader and a certified lay speaker before being called into the ministry.

Brookfield UMC conducts summer services at 10 a.m. Sundays.

Pastor Smith and his wife, Anne, have three adult daughters and seven grandchildren. They live in Liberty Township.

New church

YOUNGSTOWN

The Rev. Ron Thompson will conduct the first service of Mercy Community Church of Youngstown at 11 a.m. July 6 at Stambaugh Charter building, 299 Donald St.

The Rev. Mr. Thompson is founding pastor. He served as an associate minister at Rising Star Baptist Church. After being ordained, he was interim pastor and associate pastor. Mr. Thompson has been a trainer for local church ministers in theology, hermeneutics and homiletics.

He attended Moody Bible Institute Extension School, Christian Study Center of Youngstown, Ephaim Manasseh Bible Institute in New Castle, Pa. (now closed) and Youngstown and Kent state universities.

Devotional planned

GIRARD

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Youngstown Ohio Stake will present a devotional on “How God Prepared America for His Purposes” at 7 p.m. July 6 at the Youngstown Chapel, 2205 Tibbetts-Wick Road.

Keynote speaker will be Michael Vellinga of Clinton, Utah, president of the Ohio Cleveland Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His focus will be on how God prepared America as a land of religious freedom.

Other speakers will include attorneys Daniel Dew and Gil Rieger, both members of the LDS Church in the Warren area. The program is free and open to the public. Drew will talk about how the Constitution of the United States was radically different compared with other governments in the world at the time it was written, providing the religious freedom. He is an attorney with Ford, Gold, Kovoor & Simon in Warren.

Rieger will talk about “The Great Apostasy and Its Effects,” referring to how the Christian church affected civilizations and government. He has been an attorney for 44 years.

For information, contact Elders Nathan May and Taylor Gleason serving in the Warren area, 330-984-3611.

First Friday Mass

YOUNGSTOWN

The First Friday Mass on July 4 at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 1125 Turin Ave., will be celebrated at 9 a.m. rather than the regular 6 p.m. because of the holiday. There also will be a noon Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 343 Via Mount Carmel. Both will be followed by devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The 6 p.m. First Friday Mass at St. Anthony will return to the regular time in August.