After nearly 17 years at Open Arms Community Church, Pastor Mike McAvoy is leaving after accepting a position as superintendent of the Southeast Region of the Free Methodist Church. Open Arms staff member Zoe Hatcher has stepped in as interim pastor, effective Wednesday.

“I am both humbled and excited by this opportunity to learn and grow as a leader while serving my church and community in this capacity,” said Hatcher.

Though she has long served in the church — serving in children’s ministry for 20 years and as Open Arms’ children’s ministry coordinator for seven — Hatcher said becoming a pastor was not initially part of her plan.

“I never saw myself as a pastor,” she explained. “That took a work of God in my life to show me a clear calling from Him to see ways that He had gifted and equipped me to lead in that capacity. He gave me a heart for the people in our community and a desire to lead them into a relationship with Jesus.”

Under her leadership, Hatcher plans to keep the church on its current path and to continue to grow its presence in the community.

She explained, “The vision of Open Arms was and will continue to be: To produce God-conformed lives, addressing spiritual, relationship, health, finance education and leadership issues. We will continue to do what we do as a church reaching into the lives of this community and beyond to be transformed because Jesus is at the center, renewing it all.

“We anticipate more outreaches, more opportunity for growth and more changed lives because God’s just getting started,” she said.

The message in the church’s services each week will be given by a team of individuals on a rotating basis.

While McAvoy is departing for a new opportunity, he will miss the people and experiences he is leaving behind.

“To be honest, I’m going to miss the experience as a whole. You can’t compartmentalize the experience of our Open Arms Church family,” he said. “It’s a real, authentic people engaging with a very real God and the proof is in the changed lives.”

In his new position as superintendent of the Southeast Region, McAvoy is hopeful “that God will use us to bring this same kind of authenticity, love, faith, and missional focus and ministry to the churches in the southern states.”

McAvoy said all that was accomplished during his time at Open Arms was due to the work of many people.

“That said, I believe my biggest contribution was helping produce and implement with focused uncompromising passion, the fulfillment of Open Arms’ purpose, vision, mission, and values,” he added.

McAvoy has faith that Open Arms’ current leadership will continue to maintain a healthy church.

“They know what we do and how we do things, and I have great confidence that they will continue moving forward and upward,” he said. “I would also add, ignorance and selfishness are the two fuels of fear. The key for any church will be to stay prayerful not self-reliant, faith-filled not fear driven, and directed by love not selfish ambition.”

The church does not center on any one leader, but rather on ideas, he indicated.

“This is why being a purpose-, vision-, mission-, and values-driven church (not a personality-driven church) and being proactive in leadership development is imperative to see things continue after a leader is gone.”

Open Arms, a free Methodist denomination church, is growing, bringing in an average of 297 people each week in 2018 and 360 each week in 2019. The church opened its doors in 2002 and welcomed McAvoy in 2003. Open Arms now has sites in Bradford and Port Allegany.

Open Arms’ three experience times are 8:30 a.m., 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Sundays at 1289 E. Main St., about a mile past Walmart in Foster Township. Learn more at www.oachurch.com