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1 month ago | 
greenfieldreporter.com | Anne Smith
Editor’s note: This story is part of the Daily Reporter’s quarterly Prime Time publication. You can see this story and flip through the entire section here. FORTVILLE — For each of them, there was an “Aha!” moment. Brenda Ayers reached it during a 1990s women’s Bible study. As they also read Henry Blackaby’s book “Experiencing God,” “I realized just going to church and Sunday School and (services on) Wednesday nights wasn’t enough.
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2 months ago | 
greenfieldreporter.com | Anne Smith
Each month, two Catholic priests in Malawi travel to celebrate Mass with as many people of their parish as possible. Their parish is spread out among 51 churches in farming communities. With so much territory to cover, and one truck between the two priests, most Catholics in that region get to attend a priest-led Mass perhaps once a month. But thanks to a gift from Hancock County’s Catholic parishes, a second truck is soon to come. Local parishioners met the Rev. Bonaventure Iyogun a few years ago.
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Nov 17, 2024 | 
greenfieldreporter.com | Anne Smith
GREENFIELD — Each week, Karly Warner and her family drive from their home in Greenfield to worship at Realife Church in the Gem community in Sugar Creek Township. Starting in 2025, they’ll still live where they do now and still worship at Realife services — but their drive to church will be much shorter. Realife Church plans to launch an additional campus in early 2025.
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Nov 9, 2024 | 
greenfieldreporter.com | Anne Smith
GREENFIELD — Felix Kohol weighed the clear bag on the scale and handed it to the next person for sealing. Inside were rice-based meals to feed a hungry person, like those he works to help each day. Kohol is a doctor in Burkina Faso, a country in northwest Africa. There’s a lot of uncertainty for many of the country’s 23 million inhabitants. Extremists have tightened a terrorizing grip on the area over the years, and many have fled their homes.
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Oct 26, 2024 | 
greenfieldreporter.com | Anne Smith
GREENFIELD — Rich Westlake balanced the black bag on 6-year-old Naomi Salazar’s head and encouraged her to walk a few feet away and return. The bag was lightweight — filled with wiffle balls, he said — but meant to offer a glimpse into life in another country, in this case Burundi. “The African kids … you see the kids walking around carrying stuff on their head,” Westlake said.
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Oct 19, 2024 | 
greenfieldreporter.com | Anne Smith
A candidate’s journey often begins with gathering signatures on a petition. Yet as Election Day approaches, some local churches are focused on heavenly petitions — offering prayer meetings, sermon series and even a parishioner-penned booklet. Thursday, worshipers gathered at Fortville Church of the Nazarene for the first of three prayer meetings. Remaining prayer meetings will be at 7 p.m. Oct. 24 and 31 at the church, 701 S.
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Oct 11, 2024 | 
greenfieldreporter.com | Anne Smith
Candy, costumes, pumpkins, s’mores … whatever your fall favorite, you can probably find it at one or more of the fall events taking place at area churches. A number of churches will offer Trunk or Treats in their parking lots. Members decorate their vehicle trunks, stock them with candy and turn the parking lot into a one-stop-shop for trick-or-treating. Other churches are contributing their fall fun to larger community events.
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Oct 6, 2024 | 
greenfieldreporter.com | Anne Smith
NEW PALESTINE — The dollars are still used for building, but what they’re helping build has shifted. Cross of Grace Lutheran Church paid off the mortgage on all its capital projects in 2022. Over the years the church had built its original facility at 3519 S. CR 600W and two expansion projects. Yet when that financial obligation was complete, people who’d given to the building fund kept on giving, and “We transformed the building fund into a building and outreach fund,” said the Rev.
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Oct 5, 2024 | 
greenfieldreporter.com | Anne Smith
FORTVILLE — A local church has broken ground on a future children’s ministry building. The building that will house the Mercy Kids ministry at Mercy Road Church Northeast, 611 Vitality Drive, will later also house a childcare. “We’ve got enough funds that have come in already that we can start construction,” said Ken Primeau, lead pastor. In the first quarter of the year, the church conducted a capital campaign with a $2.5 million goal.
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Oct 5, 2024 | 
greenfieldreporter.com | Anne Smith
GREENFIELD — People of multiple churches took part in a community night of worship Sunday. The event was originally planned to take place in Depot Street Park, but after remnants of Hurricane Helene brought rain and strong winds to the area, organizers moved it to Brandywine Community Church. Musicians from different congregations led those gathered in worship music. Prayer and Communion were also part of the service. Anne Smith is a reporter at the Greenfield Daily Reporter.
