Ginghamsburg church volunteers Kim Miller, Tammy Olinger, Jody Willoughby and Marty Wunderlink help paint The Point's new building.

By BRENDA HAUSER
For the Record Herald

TIPP CITY - Last Saturday, Feb. 4, began Tipp City’s Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church’s investment in The Point, a new church-start located in the Crosspoint Shopping Center at 506 E. Main Street, Trotwood.
“The city of Trotwood has so much untapped potential - strong leadership, great business partners and a caring community - we want to invest in Trotwood, partnering with neighbors to help them realize the vision for their community,” explained Ginghamsburg Church Pastor of New Church Development and The Point Pastor Dave Hood.

Church family members from both Ginghamsburg’s Tipp City and Fort McKinley came together to paint and fix up The Point last week.  Ginghamsburg Church plans to invest $250,000 from church development grants over the next three years partnering with the Trotwood community and the YMCA. Using asset-based community development, Ginghamsburg hopes to grow Trotwood’s faith-based community while working with its existing resources.

The YMCA Neighborhood Development Center (NDC) in Trotwood will share space with The Point and partnerships are being forged. YMCA NDC Associate Executive Director Jackie Brockman explained, “We’re in the process of developing our partnership through collaborative discussions and planning. We’ve witnessed the growth Ginghamsburg has achieved at their Fort McKinley campus, and believe there’s opportunity for development in partnership with The Point.”

Recently retired Trotwood City Schools Superintendent Rexann Wagner is a member of Ginghamsburg Church Tipp City Campus. She hopes the partnership with The Point will help Trotwood parents. “We have existing partnerships with many of the local churches in Trotwood. By partnering with The Point, we hope to provide the structures for parents to more easily plug into the schools. For example, if the school needs a facility or service project completed, The Point could enlist its parents to be part of the project team for helping Trotwood schools,” explained Wagner.

Ginghamsburg’s decision to invest in Trotwood stems from its commitment to reach out to the greater Dayton community. Pastor Hood explained, “We will have conversations with neighbors to discover their needs and dreams for the Trotwood community. Although we have resources earmarked for this neighborhood, those resources will be deployed based on the community’s vision.”

The Point will host its first worship celebration on Saturday, April 7. Activities leading up to the celebration include Family Movie Night on Saturday, March 17 and a free concert on Saturday, March 24.  “As we get to know the community and they get to know us, we’ll build relationships and together grow the Trotwood community,” Hood said.

About Ginghamsburg Church

Ginghamsburg Church is committed to changing the world, serving over 40,000 people annually in Miami and Montgomery Counties through its outreach services. Since 2005, the congregation has invested $5.1 million into sustainable humanitarian projects in the Sudan. A member of the West Ohio Conference of United Methodist Churches, the church has an average annual weekly attendance of 4,632. We are a growing church with multiple campuses.
 
Fort McKinley - 3721 W. Siebenthaler Avenue, Dayton, OH 45406 -  is Ginghamsburg’s urban campus, offering a unique blend of passionate worship that connects to the community, intentional diversity, and commitment to service with the neighborhood with a vision for reclaiming the city of Dayton one life at a time.

For more information about Ginghamsburg Church, visit our website—www.ginghamsburg.org