By Monty Siekerman
Pastor Mary Jo Yeakel, who saw a church through a major tragedy, announced to the Ada First United Methodist Church congregation on Sunday that she will be leaving to lead the Asbury United Methodist Church near Columbus.

Her last service here will be Sunday, June 18.

Rev. Gregory V. Palmer, Bishop of the West Ohio Conference, will appoint a new local pastor in time for the June 25 service.

Pastor Yeakel's new church, located just outside the beltway on the southeast side of Columbus, is about the same size as the Ada church. She is leaving because she felt a definite call from God to serve the Columbus area church.

The Ada church experienced devastation when it burned to the ground on March 13, 2012. Since then, a $6.25 million edifice has been built, in February the mortgage was burned, and the church building again fully serves the congregation and community.

Pastor Yeakel described her work in leading the church through difficult times as a "navigator" from the fire, to learning what God would have them do, to reentering a building that serves its members and local community.

She said she'd be happy if the facility were used 24/7 365 days a year. The church is on its way to helping Ada in that respect with a preschool, Scout groups, and many other organizations already utilizing the structure.

She said that she and the congregation are indebted and grateful to Ohio Northern for providing a place to worship, offering office space, and fully supporting her and the congregation when they were displaced by the fire.

After 6 years in Ada, Pastor Yeakel will once again follow God's call to new endeavors elsewhere.

Photo: Rev. Mary Jo Yeakel stands near the United Methodist logo, which was designed in 1968 with two flames, one representing the Methodist Church and one for the EUB church which merged that year: two flames uniting into one.