{"id":43044,"date":"2013-09-16T08:01:30","date_gmt":"2013-09-16T13:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=43044"},"modified":"2013-09-17T07:26:36","modified_gmt":"2013-09-17T12:26:36","slug":"village-ministry-center-works-to-better-convoy-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2013\/09\/16\/village-ministry-center-works-to-better-convoy-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Village Ministry Center: Helping Convoy"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/<\/b>independent editor<\/i><\/p>\n

\"Redeemer<\/a>
Redeemer Lutheran Church Pastor Mike Saylor (right) explains the Village Ministry Center concept to U.S. Representative Bob Latta (left) while County Commissioner Todd Wolfrum listens. (Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

CONVOY — When U.S. Representative Bob Latta toured Van Wert County villages last month, he was particularly interested in the story of how the Village Ministry Center in Convoy was created. The story is about a group of churches banding together to make its community a better place to live.<\/p>\n

One of the principal organizers of the group, Pastor Mike Saylor of Redeemer Lutheran Church, said the VMC came about primarily because village churches asked themselves \u201cwhat can we do to support our community, to make Convoy better?\u201d<\/p>\n

Although he said he wasn\u2019t \u201ca very pretty guy\u201d, Pastor Saylor noted he was the \u201ccheerleader\u201d for the group, the person who facilitated getting people together and then cheering on their efforts to get the center off the ground. \u201cThe idea was to get the right people together and find out what they\u2019re good at,\u201d he said, \u201cthen let them do what they\u2019re best at.\u201d<\/p>\n

The VMC currently offers a number of activities and events, including homework assistance after school and one-on-one tutoring for Crestview students, as well as a Women @ the Well book and coffee appreciation club, a community Bible study workshop, and a Stitched Together group comprised of people who like to knit and socialize. More activities are planned as community needs are identified.<\/p>\n

The local pastor said area residents came together late last year to talk about the project and Convoy residents were then contacted to get their ideas on what could be done.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing, we knew, we had to invest ourselves right where the people are,\u201d Saylor said of the decision to talk to community residents about their perceived needs.<\/p>\n

The change in the village\u2019s social structure was one thread that seemed to run through each discussion, with single families, drugs and economic instability changing the fabric of the Convoy community.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone that we talked to \u2013 from over at the bank to across the street at the flower shop to down at the school \u2013 they all said the same thing: Convoy is not what it was 10 years ago, or 20 years ago, and we want to try to get back to that,\u201d Saylor noted. \u201cThis is something that, as Christians, we felt, if we don\u2019t step up, who\u2019s going to do this \u2026 let\u2019s see what we can do, develop relationships, and see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saylor said the local school system one of the first to buy into the idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey (Crestview) were more than ready to learn about this,\u201d he said of the school\u2019s involvement.<\/p>\n

Pastor Saylor said Crestview High School Principal Mike Biro was one of the first people he talked to. \u201cThe school is such a big part of our community, the pastor said, adding that Biro was very interested in getting new teachers and staff to be invested in the community. \u201cNot just to come in and work a year or two to pad their resumes \u2026 we want them to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crestview Superintendent Mike Estes also acknowledged that<\/p>\n

The Convoy area pastor said that group did some fundraising, receiving a couple of grants, as well as a number of donations from area residents and businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been very blessed,\u201d Saylor said, noting that the group received grants from the Convoy Community Foundation and The Van Wert County Foundation, although he added that most of the funding has come from local individuals.<\/p>\n

A local businessman also donated an empty storefront in the downtown Convoy area that could be used as a community center, and local churches got together to clean up the building and get the center ready for<\/p>\n

The center is open after school and also plans evening events and activities, with Pastor Saylor<\/p>\n

\u201cThe really interesting thing is that, the more people who come in, the more ideas that are generated,\u201d the Convoy area minister said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u2019s what we\u2019ve done already, if nothing else happens, a whole bunch of people \u2013 50, 60, 70 people — from all the churches in this community and beyond have come together numerous times \u2026 they\u2019ve worked together, they\u2019ve gotten to know each other more,\u201d Saylor said, adding, philosophically, \u201cSo, at this point, if it all goes away and all the programming stopped, at the very least we\u2019ve made a building in downtown nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Pastor Saylor said the project has already exceeded his expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s gone way beyond what we thought it would be,\u201d the pastor said. \u201cWe\u2019re excited to see how it goes and how it happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on the Village Ministry Center, access its website at www.vmcconvoy.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor CONVOY — When U.S. Representative Bob Latta toured Van Wert County villages last month, he was particularly interested in the story of how the Village Ministry Center in Convoy was created. The story is about a group of churches banding together to make its community a better place to live. One of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-02 20:07:48","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43044\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}