‘Leaving it to God’

After almost 130 years of serving the Cresson community, one local church has recently undergone a complete rebranding, with members of the congregation choosing to expand their ministry to other residents and families.

PART OF HISTORY

The Cresson Community Church — formerly named the Cresson United Methodist Church — was first formed in 1894, back when some of the original Cresson families were members.

“The Mileses, Teiches and Putteets were some of the original families,” said church lay leader and church council member Katie Bryant, who explained she became a member of the church about 20 years ago. “My husband, Jim Bryant and I, we had just moved out here and I was pregnant. I was looking for a church as I really wanted to baptize my baby.”

After traveling to different churches around the area and not finding a good fit, the Bryant family was later driving down the road when Kenneth Teich waved them down. Thinking he was having a medical emergency, Katie instructed Jim to stop, but instead, the gentleman wanted to invite the family to his church.

“He said, ‘We would love for you to come to our church, Cresson Methodist Church,’ and I said, “OK, we’ll try it out,’” Katie told the HCN.

Although the congregation was small, Katie said she instantly felt at home. She then chose to become a member, where she has stayed ever since.

Former Acton Elementary School teacher Phyllis DeRoos was asked to become a piano player for the church about 25 years ago.

DeRoos, the praise and worship leader and church council secretary, explained that the church was “thriving” back in the ‘60s and ‘70s, but later dwindled in numbers.

REBRAND

Currently, the church only has about 30 members, but both Bryant and DeRoos are expecting to grow that number since the church’s disaffiliation with the Methodist Church on July 1, and the congregation’s current rebranding.

"We've disaffiliated from the Methodist Church, and that was a really hard decision to make,” Bryant said. “It was hard on the congregation. I won't say it split us, but I would say that the devil definitely tried to fracture us. But this was the turning point for us, I think, because we realized how much we loved our church and how important it was to us, and it really made us all kind of raise up, be our best, and really kind of pull together. I think as a result of that, we're stronger than we've ever been.”

DeRoos explained that it was the day of her father’s burial around July 18 when the church members really began talking about the rebranding.

“We are actively at this point seeking God through prayer, and just the study of his inerrant word,”
she said. “We're 100% on that.”

MINISTRY OUTREACH

While the decision to disaffiliate from the Methodist Church was a difficult decision, both Bryant and DeRoos feel that they made the right move, as it allows the congregation to stay true to the Bible, plus grow the church’s current outreach ministry.

“We're still a small group, but we're reaching out and seeing what our ministries might be in — and we're happy to have a little presence over at the Pods,” DeRoos said.

For the past few months, church members have gone out to the Cresson Pods community to share the gospel of Jesus with residents and their children as part of the church’s new outreach ministry goal.

“Children have been my life,” DeRoos said. “I was a schoolteacher forever, so just one experience with a child can influence them for life.

Every third Thursday at noon, members of the Cresson Community Church travel to the Cresson Pods to give children a Bible lesson, snacks, music, and arts and crafts.

“Not just planting a seed in the child's life but planting the seed of God" Bryant said. “That is where you seek help and seek strength to be saved. When they get into challenges, they might reach back and say, ‘You know, I'm gonna try to pray,’ and that's all I want. Of course, I want them to have more than that, but if we can offer that seed to them, it's life changing.”

So far, the church has held a back-to-school event, along with a Halloween and Thanksgiving event at the Pods. The Pods’ Christmas event will be Thursday, Dec. 21, at noon.

During the back-to-school event, Bryant explained it was hard to round up church volunteers because of the summer heat.

"We were kind of just playing music and walking around and people would open their doors, and they were like, 'I can't come right now,’ and I said, ‘Well, can I pray? Do you have any prayer needs? I'd be glad to pray with you,’ and everybody is open to that. Always. Nobody ever says ‘No.’ They're usually like, ‘Yeah, I'd love that,' so we've just reached out in that way, too,” she said.

As far as other community ministry outreach events, Bryant explained that they’re not done yet by any means.

“We are getting (new members),” she said. "It's been a blessing. People have come back, and we have some new people that feel the same way we do. We're still evolving. We have a church council, and we have a new chairperson coming in January, so we've kind of rewrote our own bylaws, and we're pretty happy with that. We can do whatever we want to do. We never could have that freedom before.”

"We feel the Lord led us to work with the Pods and then, you know, whatever else we can do,” DeRoos said.

“We’re just trying to put ourselves out there,” Bryant added. “At this point, we’re leaving it to God, and he’ll show us the needs. He definitely put a care in our hearts for (the Cresson Pod community).”

DeRoos added that her goal is to get young families to join the congregation, as they can help come up with new ideas and events to grow the membership.

“We really are dedicated and doing what God would want us to do, and that is reach out to the community and be of service for others — and that's our focus,” Bryant said. “As a result of that, I think (God’s) blessing us twofold."

The Cresson Community Church is located at 110 S. Crook St., across from the fire hall in Cresson. The church service is held every Sunday at 9:30 a.m.

For more information, follow the Cresson Community Church Facebook page.