Catalyst Church, a young Grace Brethren church-plant in Kent, Ohio, and its pastor, Jonathan Herron, got some nice press exposure this week, along with its partnering church, Grace Brethren Church of Wooster, Ohio (Bob Fetterhoff, pastor). Here is an excerpt–to read the entire article, click here.
By Diane Smith, Record-Courier religion editor
Catalyst Church doesn’t worship in its new home in Kent, at least not in a corporate setting.
But the young church does host community events, children’s ministry, office space, game nights and even an informal art and photo gallery at the “125.”
“We want to be able to use the space to love on the city,” said the Rev. Jonathan Herron, pastor of the church. “We’re excited about it.”
Catalyst, a church that was launched in 2006, continues to hold its Sunday morning services at the Kent Stage. However, the church plant recently leased an office at 125 S. Water St., which is used for church offices and outreach.
Herron said the church signed the lease last year on the building, which once housed offices for Townhall II and had been vacant for several years. The church gutted the space out and renovated it, using volunteer labor whenever possible.
Because the front area has a lot of wall space, Herron said the church wants to use it as a place for artists and photographers to display their work for free.
The space is also used to host children’s classes on Sundays, which are set up and torn down weekly. The activities include DVDs and high-energy music. Criminal background checks are done on every worker.
The space is also used to host community events, such as the recent “family friendly” party held during Kent’s unofficial Halloween celebration. In the future, the space may be utilized for other events, such as wedding and baby showers.
“Main Street Kent asked us to host an engaging place for families and we were happy to do it,” he said.