Joshua Cook is a pastor who knows it isn’t unusual for people with special needs or families that include members with special needs to avoid going to church.

That avoidance might come from concern about the lack of expert care in the Sunday school rooms. It might come from worry about an emotional meltdown or other unusual behavior disrupting services. It might be a matter of access for wheelchairs or embarrassment about the sounds made by respiratory aids.

Whatever the reason, Cook and the congregation of Centerville Church of the Nazarene are hoping to meet it with the formation of Whosoever Ministries.

The new church will start having services in mid-November at the former Fountain City Methodist Church at 207 N. Green St.

The United Methodist Church closed in June 2014. Since then, two independent ministries have tried to become established there without success. The owners of the building, Isky and Darla Paul of Richmond, are members of Cook’s Centerville congregation.

“The Lord just told us that we needed to keep this church,” Darla Paul said during a day of painting and cleaning the building Tuesday. “The other (failed attempts) got us to where we are now.”

Whosoever Ministries will lease the building from the Pauls. Cook will preach the Sunday afternoon and Tuesday evening services. The biggest expense, Cook said, will be utilities.

“We feel like God’s wanting us to do this,” said Cook.

A description of Whosoever Ministries can be found on the Vision 2020 page at centervillenaz.org.

“God designed the church to function like a body wherein every member is important and needed,” the page reads. “That includes people with special needs or challenges.”

Cook said the long-range plan is for everyone who works in the church to receive training in how to assist people with special needs. He hopes that over the next five years, the congregation will attract “people who are passionate about special needs” and want to help. The vision is to create an accredited, licensed facility that offers weekday social and health-related programs as well as a place to worship.

“We’ve got big hopes here,” said Darla Paul. “Big dreams.”

But they’re prepared to start small.

Ramps are planned for the front door and the fellowship hall. Pews will be removed from the back of the sanctuary to make room for wheelchairs. And the doors of welcome will be open from Day One.

“It just seems like a lot of times ... if people don’t fit in the mold perfect, there’s just not a lot of places for them to feel comfortable and feel like they fit in,” said Paul. “That’s what we’re trying to do here.”

“There’s not much faith-based special needs ministry,” Cook said. “Everyone understands that’s what (the new church) is for.”

The website puts it like this: “Sometimes we in the church develop a program to ‘fix’ things. But when it comes to people with special needs or disabilities, it takes more than a program. And it is not about ‘fixing’ a problem. Rather, it is about building an environment where people with special needs or disabilities belong.”

Bob Malone of Centerville is a retired Nazarene minister who filled in for the Fountain City Methodist pastor back when the church was active. He’s excited to see the building being used again. And he’s excited about the idea of focusing on special needs.

“I think it’s a needed ministry myself,” he said. “There’s certainly a lot of need for special care. ... It’s an unlimited ministry that could be done.”

Cook and his congregation are not daunted by unlimited ministry. Their plan is to plant four more churches in addition to Whosoever Ministries in the next five years.

Centerville Nazarene has grown to capacity, nearly tripling in size from 45 to 130 members since Cook’s arrival three years ago.

In addition to Whosoever Ministries, over the next five years the church plans to add Center Cross, a ministry focused on millennials at its Centerville building; a Country Harvest Cowboy Church in a barn on the property; Thrive Church in Cambridge City; and Vicinity Church, a network of house churches in Wayne, Fayette, and Union counties. Descriptions for each can be found on the Vision 2020 page at centervillenaz.org.

--Republished with permission from the Palladium-Item