Rev. Morgan is welcomed as pastor of First Church of the Nazarene
By Sandy Moore STAFF REPORTER
The First Church of the Nazarene welcomes the Rev. Jonathan Morgan and his wife, Charma, and son, Jon, who is a sophomore at New Castle Chrysler High School, to the pastorate of the New Castle congregation. The Morgans have an another son who resides in Michigan.
Rev. Morgan came to the First Church of the Nazarene form Keystone Schools in Fort Wayne where he served as director of development for the past year.Rev. Morgan has served as a pastor for 18 years, but in the past six years he has worked in administrative duties in Christian ministry. Three of those past six years were served as Vice-President of Advancement at World Gospel Mission located in Marion. He also served in Institutional Development at Oklahoma Wesleyan University.
"The past years of administrative responsibilities have prepared me well for the size of congregation here at New Castle," said Rev. Morgan. "We will be building a new facility soon and will be involved in a capital campaigns. So there are many ways that my preparation will be of value here."Rev. Morgan see his mission, in part, to present a vision for the development of the new church facility and help people to catch that vision and to continue the spiritual outreach to the community.
"The church here is a great church. The people have provided significant ministry in the past to youth and children. We have a real desire to impact the community by reaching the children and youth by providing safe alternative settings," said Rev. Morgan. "The gospel is always the only answer which can solve the conditions of the heart. Breaking cycles are only brought about by the power of the gospel."Although Rev. Morgan began his life as a pastor's son in Vancouver, Washington, and Eugene, Oregon, he moved to Anderson for his high school years. He graduated from Anderson High School and received his bachelor of Christian Ministry degree and his master of Arts in Religion degree at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion.
"I feel like I am quite familiar with the New Castle area because of basketball," said Rev. Morgan. "We have found warmth and assistance in New Castle since we have moved here. We have been greeted with extreme warmth. A small community is different that a larger one like Fort Wayne.
"There are so many pluses to the New Castle community," he said. "But there is a strong counter-culture here too. There are a great needs in our community."
According to Rev. Morgan, he was quite impressed with the involvement of the different churches with each other for common objectives.
The First Church of the Nazarene plans to begin a building project in the spring. Members of the congregation are already beginning to look at different church facilities to gather ideas for their new facility which will be located on a previously purchased tract land on Co. Rd. 300 South.