Metro Blog

A New Chapter - By Joshua Shank

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 17:04:00 GMT

I want to begin by saying that it has been a great privilege to found and pastor Youngstown Metro Church. It has been the most joy filled and challenging experience of my life. Over the seven years of our journey together, it has been great to see the church grow in their love for God and one another.

In the summer of 2009 Aimee and I began sensing that God was leading us to step back from our role at Metro in order to let the church grow up. We have had an incredible sense of peace about this decision. Nevertheless, this has been incredibly difficult to do because we love our church family so much and want to protect them at all costs. We talked to Erik and Phil (the other elders) about this over a year ago, but concluded that it was not the right time. Odd enough the “right time” came at the worst possible time (at least in my mind). In June, Erik moved to Washington State to start a church, in July Phil’s job moved him to Cleveland, and in August God told us it was the time for us to step back. It was crazy to lose all three pastors of Metro in the course of a couple of months, but God’s timing is not always our timing.

I wanted to continue to provide leadership at Metro until a new pastor was found and so I operated in that role until December. However, this proved to be more difficult than originally anticipated. Due to our long held role, it was difficult for us to fully release the burden of responsibility while maintaining our role and presence within the church. In December it became apparent to us that the right thing was to completely step down from my position as lead pastor and step away from ongoing involvement and participation with Metro. This has been one of the hardest things we have had to do, but we have already seen the Metro family stepping up and growing in new ways because of it.

Many people have asked us what is next. In short, we are not sure. Right now I feel that my primary job is to pastor my family. Before rushing into anything, we are taking time to deepen our relationship with God and each other.

In September, I began working as the Creative Director at Drund. Drund is a web operating system that gives users access to their operating system in their browser using any computer. You can check it out at drund.com. It has been great to become part of the Drund family and I am having fun taking this new product to market. I guess no matter how hard I try, I can’t get out of the “start-up” business. I am having a great time and learning a lot in the process.

In the coming years, we look forward to hearing stories of how the Youngstown Metro Church community is living ordinary life with gospel intentionality. We are so proud of “our kids” and the people they are becoming. Metro will always have a special place our hearts.

None of this could have happened without the support of so many people over the years. Thank you to all who helped this dream become a reality. Though this list could be pages long, I wanted to especially thank some of those:

The Summit Church
The North American Mission Board
The State Convention of Baptist in Ohio
The Steel Valley Baptist Association
The Acts29 Network
First Baptist Church of Newton Falls
Living Water Baptist Church
Rising Star Baptist Church
Old North Church
Tabernacle Evangelical Presbyterian Church
Selah Cafe & Brian Palumbo
Youngstown Christian School
The Oakland Center for the Performing Arts
J.D. Greear
Rick Langston
Brad O’Brien
Rick Stauffer
Bob Stauffer
Ken Donaldson
David Bennett
Bill Cochenour
Brent Alen
Winfield Bevins
Aaron Coe
Shannon & Elijah Stambaugh
Scott & Brooke Sailor
Erik & Nicole Bennett
Phil & Deanna Patrick
Cecelia Edwards Gallagan
Rob & Lauren Maine
Jim & Dianne Millard
Tom & Robyn Shank
And especially the current group gathered as Metro. You all mean so much to Aimee and I. We are so grateful for all of the time, money, and effort you continue to give in order to see the gospel go out from Youngstown. You are family to us. We love you and we are so encouraged as we continue to see you grow in Christ.

And soooooo many more.   Thank you all! We love you.

With much gratitude,

- Josh, Aimee, Ella and Willow

“Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” Hebrews 13:20

Superbowl Sunday

Sun, 30 Jan 2011 19:29:00 GMT

We won't be meeting for our regular worship gathering at 801 Wick Ave on Sunday, February 6, 2011. Instead, three of our family groups will be hosting Superbowl parties in the homes of a few of our members. If you are not already in a family group, we encourage you to attend one of these parties to get to know some new people and see family groups are all about. Details for each of the parties are listed below.

Party #1

Hosted by: The Monday Night Family Group

Time: 6:00pm

Place: 214 Edna Street, Poland, OH 44514

Contact: Justin Crissman @ 724.866.2335

Party #2

Hosted by: The Tuesday Night Family Group

Time: 6:00pm

Place: 2563 Chestnut Street, Girard, OH 44420

Contact: Stacy Fisher @ 330.979.0390

Party #3

Hosted by: The Wednesday Night Family Group

Time: 6:00pm

Place: 236 Ewing Rd, Boardman, OH 44512

Contact: Jesse Fellows @ 330.559.6701

Missionary City - Sermon Series

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 12:28:00 GMT

Missionary City is a new sermon series that will be furthering our discussion about our identity as missionaries in life. We will be in the book of Luke, so it will be beneficial for you to read the gospel of Luke in its entirety over the next 5 weeks.

AUDIO//
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Resources:

The Gospel of Luke
Jeff Vanderstelt – Leading a Missional Community
Let The Nations Be Glad – By John Piper

City Uprising 2010 Youngstown, OH

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:56:00 GMT

City Uprising is a unique opportunity to PROPEL THE CHURCH and PROSPER THE CITY. Through three days of intensive service and training for mission, City Uprising hopes to inspire resolute commitment to the local church, raise awareness of the need to reach the world’s cities with the love and compassion of Jesus Christ, and build a bridge into the heart of the city through love and service.

Through a Neighborhood Success Grant obtained this spring, funds have been secured to serve our city by doing a complete landscaping overhaul in our neighborhood. We will be weeding, mulching, planting, painting, picking up trash, and building relationships with our neighbors as we serve with them and eat meals together. Metro participants will begin and end each day with a time of training for mission lead by Aaron Coe, pastor of The Gallery Church in NY City and founder of the City Uprising movement. Metro participants will be spending the night together in host homes on Friday and Saturday evening.

City Uprising is open to anyone and the service experience is free of charge. Metro participants are asked to pay $20 for the weekend to cover the expense of a guest speaker and food at your host home. No additional money will be needed during the weekend as all meals will be provided. Each participant will also receive a City Uprising t-shirt. Sign up now! This event is limited to the first 35 people. Sign up on MetroCity or at the Metro building near the MetroCity kiosk.

Get ready for the metro family picnic

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:45:00 GMT

Join the Metro family for our annual family picnic. There will be plenty of food, fun, and sand volleyball. Sign up on Metro City to bring a food item to share. Burgers and hotdogs will be provided. Date: Saturday, June 19, 2010

Location: Mill Creek Park, Wick Recreation Area (near the sand volleyball courts)

Cost: FREE

cupcake-success

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:41:00 GMT

This has been very exciting to watch. I found myself checking back every couple of days to see where the backer level was. Wow! $7,240 is a great kick start. Thank you to all who participated.

Enjoy cupcakes

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:38:00 GMT

Check this video out! Get your cupcake on.

Mother's Day At Metro

Wed, 05 May 2010 21:47:00 GMT

Join us this Sunday as we celebrate mother's day together as a family. Take mom out to dinner and then bring her to Metro. (Or, if she is a party animal, take her out after.) Mom's heart Metro...We look forward to seeing you all there!

Metro Baptism Service - Special Guest Speaker: Rob Maine

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 17:48:00 GMT

Join us Metro gathers for a special baptism service with guest speaker Rob Maine. This will be an amazing time to share with those who are publicly declaring their decision to follow Jesus. We look forward to the night and hope to see you there! If you would like to be baptized, there will be a meeting at 4:45PM on Sunday May 16th. Please contact Phil Patrick if you have any questions.

New Series: We are all witnesses starting Apr 11

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 11:57:00 GMT

The new series, entitled, "We are all witnesses" will begin on Sunday April 11. In this series, we will work through what it means to be a disciple who takes seriously the commission of Jesus to make disciples of all people. We begin by understanding that witness is not what we do, rather it is who we are. We look forward to seeing you all there!

Fire behind metro

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 18:39:00 GMT

Today around noon, fire trucks pulled up to a house on the street behind the metro building. Our neighbors Jaye and Calvin (and the others in their house) lost everything in the fire. They will be staying at their dad's house which is directly across the street (the house with the blue tarp on the roof). Thankfully, no one was inside at the time.

If you would like to donate please email admin@youngstownmetrochurch.com

Metro Purchase's New Land

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:52:00 GMT

After two years of processing, Metro is now the proud owner of a couple new parcels of land next to the building. We are excited to be a part of the neighborhood and look to helping the neighbors and community in any way possible. What are we going to do with the land?...

The short answer is that it will be used for ministry. We are still praying through how we will use it specifically, but know that there are endless possibilities. Keep praying. Check out the pics below:

New series entitled: NEW begins

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:05:00 GMT

A new three week series will be starting tonight at Metro. Erik will be preaching this series that will take us through Easter. The overall idea is this: "The world has seen many great deeds. A few of them were done in great acts of self-sacrifice. They all have one thing in common; death. What if there is a way to reverse the "natural" pattern? What if the story is life unto life? No more death. What if..." Sunday @ 6PM

**Listen to NEW series sermon audio

Member Presentation 3.14.2010 (What if I missed part?)

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:29:00 GMT

This past week marked the completion of the members of one body series and the start of membership at Metro. It is not membership into a club, rather the aim is to bring clarity to the mission that God has called us to as a community.

If you would like to check out member expectations, download the member expectations pdf

What if I missed part of the series?

If you missed any parts of the series you can catch up below and still be involved. Please listen to the audio portion below and bring your signed copy of the member expections pdf. (We will have printouts available on Sunday if you do not have access to a printer)

Audio:
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Worksheets:
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Water of Life Update

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:05:00 GMT

I just wanted to let you know about some recent updates to the water of life website. As you will see, Metro is now a partner! (we are listed at the bottom of the home page) Whoo! Metro started an annual race to help raise funding and awareness for their cause. We are going to dig a couple of wells with them in December. You can get more info about the trip to Liberia Africa here. Check out their photo gallery and consider signing up to run or volunteer at the 2010 Cure Thirst race.