–by Mary Helen Darah
PUBLICATION DATE: Aug 31, 2018

A visit with Anchor Church of Sylvania
There’s a new church in town, more specifically, in the Southview High School gymnasium. Lead Pastor Brent Blake and wife Lauren are hoping Sylvanians want to get “anchored” in their new mission and church, the Anchor. The couple moved their family last October from Youngstown, Ohio, to begin a new community of faith. “I was a youth pastor for about 13 years. We moved to start Anchor,” stated Pastor Brent.

“A group of pastors approached us some time ago. My wife and I are both Ohio natives and we decided it was the right move for us and our two young children. We literally found Sylvania by locating a point on a map. We sold our house and lived in a basement for two months. We wanted to be in a place where kids are a priority. Our church values children and strives to meet the needs of the next generation. We have fallen in love with Sylvania.”

Launch and set sail
The Anchor Church is planning its first launch service on Sept. 16, in the auditorium of Southview High School, at 10 a.m. “We are also hosting a service on Aug. 26, at 6 p.m. at Southview to give people a preview of what we are all about,” stated Pastor Brent. “Before the service on Sept. 16, Holy Toledough will be there complete with their food truck to give out free doughnuts. We will also have free coffee. We will provide care and programs for infants through the sixth grade.”

Part of the family
The mission of Anchor Church is to make people feel at home. “We want people to feel like a family when they come in, with whatever they are coming in with,” Blake said. “We are family focused. Whether you are 6 or 60, there is a place for you and you will feel like you are a part of something. As we lead people to Christ, they will feel accepted and, as we say, ‘you can belong before you believe.’”

Get creative

The Anchor Church team believes they offer a unique worship experience to the Sylvania community. “Anchor is unique in meeting the needs of families and children,” Blake acknowledged. “We have high school students on our launch team. I’m only 33-years-old and I love seeing young people bring their creative, artistic value to worship. We want people to find their creative passion, whatever that may be.”

The big picture
Long-term, Anchor Church would like to find a permanent site in Sylvania. “The Sylvania School System has been really great to us. We plan on being in Southview until another opportunity presents itself,” he said “Within five years, we hope to launch another site, but Sylvania will always be our home. We have a full-time worship pastor, part-time children’s director and we have a full band every Sunday. The most exciting part of what I do is interacting with people and letting them know about us. This last Friday we rented out Plummer Pool and let anyone who wanted to come swim. That night there were people hanging out in the park and they ended up swimming with us. That is pretty much our philosophy. We find people where they are.”

He added, “People feel they have to jump through hoops to be part of a church. We just want people to come and be part of a community of faith.”

Amen to that!