Before I start, I want to tell you that this is in no way an attempt to pat myself on the back. I don't do that and I don't need to have any false gratification. I believe that if you take this in that vein then it is because you feel conviction. If you don't appreciate this, please come to the office and we will talk.

I need to set the stage. Twenty five years ago I had so much energy I would have tired Ed Fitch out. Of course, twenty five years ago we all had more energy. But I was kind of a freak with it. I pastored a church in Geneva, Ohio called Park Street Church. When we went to the church, there was not a Youth group and nothing for the younger kids. Challenge! We started a Youth group called NYPC (Not Your Parents' Church, 7th grade through graduation)) and a weekly kids' group called Bible University, or just Bible U. K-6th grade. In the letter below, she is referring to Bible U. We had a very good Youth group, but Bible U was almost overwhelming. Parents loved getting rid of their kids for a couple of hours on Tuesday night. We were always packed out. Little kids would run up to us in the grocery store; "Pastor Wade! Miss Marsha!" And hugs and then telling us what had happened to them that week. Many of these kids came to worship on Sunday, often on their own (the church was in town). And I remember them. On the night of 9/11 we opened our church and many of the town folk came in, but so, too, did many of the kids. Marsha and I took the kids and we divided the adults up with our Elders. Those kids were terrified.

One such little girl was a girl named Nikki. (Actually, Nicole.) Nikki was wired. Mind racing, never walking, finishing her snacks in mere seconds. And always close by to me. Like many of those kids, her home life left much to be desired. Eventually, her parents began to keep her out of church as a punishment for little infractions and eventually, she was gone. I talked with her folks, but it was one of those situations. I would see her sometimes at ball games, but that was all.

This note came to me out of the blue this year via Facebook Messenger; 

 Hello, 

I am trying to get in touch with Pastor Wade. 

My name is Nicole Judd. My maiden name was Menser. I attended Park Street Church in Geneva, Ohio when I was younger. I just wanted Pastor Wade to know these things.

You gave me a Bible in 1998. I was 9 years old then. I still have that Bible and use it. You led a Bible Study of some sort with us and I just wanted you to know that you have had more of an impact on my walk with Christ than I had even realized until the other day. You always called all the kids up to the front of the church at some point during the service, and that made me feel complete, like you cared about the children in your congregation as much as you did the adults. As an adult I have never found a Pastor who does that to this day and I wish my children had that now. Many of my fondest memories from that time of my life came from that church and from you. Thank you for being the kind, caring man you are.

I hope you are well.

Nicole Judd 

Obviously, I got back to her. She had Googled Pastor Wade and got a bunch of them. She sent to all and here we are. I had led her to the Lord, later she introduced her boyfriend to Jesus and after they got married and had three kids, they all go to church together. Nikki has sent me videos of the oldest, ten years old, singing in church and I would love to go get her for a Sunday here. That daughter looks just like her mother did at that age. But the second child, also a girl, has her mother's personality. Nikki reminded me that I once told her that I hoped she had a child just like her. Payback! The third is their son, six years old and all boy. We have gone back and forth quite a bit. What a pleasant thing this has been.

But here is the thing. We here at the Yoke are dying on the vine. You cannot sugar coat it. You cannot explain it away. It has nothing to do with going down to one building. It has nothing to do with the people who have left because of denominational conflict or the going down to one building. It has nothing to do with the changing demographics of the area. It has to do with something else. We have a strong core right now. In five years that core will be weakened. In ten years that core will be gone. We have to seize the day now.

If the church does not add Youth and young adults in the next three-four years, it will be to late. If you were a young adult with children, you would not come to the Yoke. You would go where there is a program for your kids. Yes, it was done in the past with people from the church. But no one in the church feels they can do it now. Society has changed and technology has changed and someone has to lead who knows all about those things. 

BUT, that is not what really troubles me. In twenty four or twenty five years from now there will be a young woman. A young woman who grew up in a troubled home. A young woman with three kids and a husband, and they all drive her crazy. She will not have a Bible that some kind and caring man gave her twenty five years earlier, she will not have a desire to be in church with her family because she never went when she was a kid, she will not have a special church in her mind that makes her smile and she will not have a Savior to bring her peace and comfort.

I do not have the deep history many of you have with this church. I didn't grow up here. It would be very, very painful for me to hear this church closed. But I would get over it. However, the thought of all the young people who had a chance, except the church died would be a terrible burden. 

I know we can say that we cannot afford such a thing. The truth is, we cannot afford it. It is beyond our means. But it is not beyond what the Lord can do. To Him, it is pocket change. It can be done.

When we made the decision to go down to one worship center, to renovate Grace Church, to tear down St. Peters, we looked carefully at the money. Everything was weighed out. And we did it. Hard steps, yes, but it was done. But it was not a step of faith. It was a calculated operation. Now, it is time to trust God, to take that step, to do all we can do to save the church and, far more importantly, give a little nine year old girl or boy a foundation that will carry them through their lives.