Ada Ministerial Association will host the 2017 Ada High School baccalaureate service at 7 p.m., Wednesday, May 24, in English Chapel on the ONU campus.
Tom Garmon is this year's speaker.
The service is open to the public and all graduating seniors and their families.
Special music will be provided by senior choir and band members. At the close of the service, pastors will pray over and for the graduates.
There will be refreshments in the foyer area of the chapel following the service.
•Ada Full Gospel Church will have an Easter egg hunt at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.
• St. Mark's Lutheran Church will have an Easter egg hunt for the community from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Saturday.
• Grace Gospel Church will have a Good Friday service at 6:30 p.m. There will be a sunrise service at 8:30 a.m., a breakfast at 9 a.m., and a worship service at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.
Grace Gospel Church broke ground Sunday for a 40- by 80-addition.
The new fellowship hall will provide space for children's ministries. The multipurpose area will be large enough to host outreach events and church dinners.
Pastor Trent Boedicker said, "The project of building a larger fellowship hall began as a dream a little more than two years ago, but through prayer, seeking the Lord's wisdom and guidance, it has become more than a dream, but a possibility.
"When Grace Gospel Church was built, in 1939, it was established on the foundation of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and this continues to be true for our ministries today."
Grace Gospel Church, 321 N. Gilbert, will have a groundbreaking ceremony for a new fellowship hall next Sunday after the church service, about 11:30 a.m. A pot luck will follow.
The 40x80 foot addition will be attached to the northwest side of the present structure. The current fellowship hall will be remodeled into a classroom, a library/lounge, and have expanded restrooms.
Pastor Trent Boedicker, an Ada High School grad who received his ministerial degree from Grace Bible College, has served the local church for 17 years.
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.
By Monty Siekerman
The First United Methodist Church members retired the church's mortgage during the morning worship service last Sunday.
Pictured are Pastor Mary Jo Yeakel and Brian Hofman, lay leader, shredding the mortgage document.
Usually, when a mortgage is paid off, there is a burning of the mortgage, but not in this case. Tragedy struck the church on March 13, 2012, burning the structure to the ground. Thankfully, no one was injured in the all-consuming fire. So, last Sunday's ceremony was a shredding, not a burning of the mortgage.
