"From Air Force to Alliance: A Pastor's Journey in Faith and Community Impact"

Can you share a bit about your journey from your time in the U.S. Air Force and corporate management to founding Spirit of Faith Christian Center in Alliance? What key experiences shaped your calling to pastoral ministry?

Joining the military was never a desire of mine. I can remember when I graduated high school an Army recruiter called. I told him if I needed him I would call, don’t call me anymore. Even though many of my family members served, I didn’t have a desire to at that point. As I found myself trying to find my way in life, I worked for Roberts Mens and Boys shop downtown Alliance my senior year in high school and subsequently started going to college at then Stark Tech in Canton. I worked different jobs, I loved retail and worked for Kmart as a manager and later other retailers, but I was never happy with that. Long story short, after moving around a bit, I found myself at my oldest sister’s (Linda) house in North Carolina, where Brenda and I got married; as of September 25th, that was 43 years ago. Brenda is from Alliance as well. As I was trying to find my way, my sister suggested maybe I should go see the Air Force recruiter. I ended up retiring from the Air Force December 1st, 2007, after nearly 25 years.

After retiring, I actually taught high school in Maryland for seven years. I taught Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC), which means I taught leadership, management, and Aerospace Science using the principles of the Air Force leadership structure. Part of my time in the Air Force was in the Air National Guard. During that time, I worked in retail management for a couple of major retailers.

While living in Maryland, we attended a local church for many years, Spirit of Faith CC Maryland, which is not Faith City Central. We also started our non-profit, Family Empowerment Ministries Inc (FEMI), there in 2007. FEMI focused on strengthening families and marriage. In 2013, while on vacation in the Bahamas, we felt God calling us to relocate to our hometown of Ohio to start the church and relocate our non-profit as well. So we started planning the move in 2013 and made the move in July of 2014 and started what was then called Spirit of Faith Christian Center of Ohio, now Faith City Alliance Ohio.

I received my call into ministry while stationed in Incirlik, Turkey, of all places. After hearing that call from God, I submitted to local pastors, and they mentored me. Once we relocated to Washington, DC, I got involved with the Military Chapel community and later a couple of local churches, where I was mentored and worked in various areas of ministry. Actually, while I was in Turkey, I received my call into ministry as God laid out to me what I would do in the future. Of course, I had no idea it would lead me back to Alliance.

Programs like Diaper Days Extreme and Lunch with a Leader address real needs in youth and families. What inspired these initiatives, and how have you seen them transform lives in the local community?

Our vision and mission when we came back to Alliance was to do the kind of things we are doing. We had a plan to do many of the things we are doing, and some we did not know we would do, when we came to town. So we came back to Alliance with a specific vision and mission in writing. We have allowed God to lead us and guide us in how to accomplish what he put on our hearts to do. We didn’t come back to Alliance to retire; we came to add value to people’s lives in the name of Jesus Christ!

You’ve received awards like the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award. How has your faith influenced your approach to social justice and humanitarian efforts in Alliance?

I appreciate people acknowledging the impact we are making in the community, but that doesn’t motivate me at all; it’s just God confirming the impact we are making. My faith and heart for the least of them is what drives me. I desire to give people a hand up while giving God all the credit. I want people to know we are just modeling the love of God; it’s not about us, it’s about him using us. If they will submit to God, we will use them in the purpose and calling God has for them. My mantra in life is to ‘inspire, empower, and equip people to walk in their purpose.’

Can you talk about the Town Halls that you host and what benefit to the community they hold?

The reason I hold the Town Halls is to give the people in the community the opportunity to meet and talk to our city leaders, ask them questions about their plans and vision for Alliance. I’m a part of different groups, like Alliance Kiwanis and Alliance Rotary Club, just to name a couple, where the city officials come and speak to those groups. The average citizen in our community may never meet these people and may not know them when they walk by them in a store. That’s why I do it, to give the citizens a voice.

How have you seen Government cuts trickle down to affecting the poor in Alliance and Stark County?

Specifically in the area of reducing the funding to the SNAP program, which provides food assistance to those in need. Because of those cuts, we have seen an increase in our food pantry traffic. Another area affected that people don’t know about is a program for low-income people over 55 who work for non-profits to learn a new skill or enhance their skills. They can work as long as four years, and the Government, through the state, pays them. The program is called Vantage Aging. It was cut out of the budget, so all of those people were laid off a couple of months ago. We are hoping some funding will be restored, but no promises. People aren’t aware programs like this exist and have a major impact on many seniors’ lives. I’ve had three or four work for me at the Family Matters Resource Center.

Can you talk about how hard it has been to get your vision for a minority business development program funded and off the ground in Alliance?

I’m on the board of the Stark County Minority Business Association (SCMBA); it’s an organization that helps minority businesses, to include women and veterans, establish or grow their business. We have over 400 members. We have about six or seven businesses from Alliance I’ve recruited to be a part of it. Long story short, the other major cities have invested tens of thousands of dollars into the program to help train and grow those businesses in their community by using CDBG funding and Pandemic funding before it ended at the end of last year. I’ve argued since I’ve been back in town, we are only as strong as the weakest link. There is a lot of support to bring the many businesses to town on the west side of town, which is a good thing because it brings jobs to the city. I’ve been advocating and fighting for support for minority business for years, but there just hasn’t been the political will to support minority business in Alliance.

How bad is the homeless situation in Alliance, and do you think that it will get worse?

The statistics tell us the homeless population is growing in Alliance and Stark County. That is a population that we do not specifically target but provide food and will donate clothes and items to organizations who focus on that population. The one area that we do assist in is the annual point-in-time count. In January of each year, a team of volunteers go to the major cities in Stark County, primarily Alliance, Canton, and Massillon, and count the homeless on the streets, etc. ICAN Housing reaches out to FEMI to take the lead in gathering items for the care packages in Alliance. I need churches and individuals to assist us. We will be taking donations and specific items during the month of October. I will then carry those items to Faith Family in Canton, who will sort and bag. If someone would like to help, they can contact me at mobile 240-271-6201 or email: [email protected]. There are specific items I am responsible for collecting, so we don’t just want anything. Each organization who is leading in their city has assigned items to collect.

What programs and services does your Ministry offer, and how can people access them?

Some of our regular ongoing services include our food pantry on the first and second Fridays of the month. If someone wants to take advantage of that, they can call 330-913-7007 Monday - Thursday on the week leading up to those Fridays and leave their information. We do infant mortality education with our Diaper Days Extreme classes; Wednesdays, we have a Line Dance class at 5:30 pm. This is just a few of the programs we offer; we also host an annual Community Baby Shower and Fishing Derby. Go to our website www.femiohio.org to learn more.