Our Church's Staff:

Reverend Allen V. Harris, Pastor

  PastorAllen {at} FranklinCircleChurch {dot} org

    + Began April of 2001

Beverly Wurm is the Administrative Secretary for Facilities, Purchasing, and Community Outreach.

She will be in the office on Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

+ Began February 2011

Beverly’s e-mail for church is: wurm_beverly@yahoo.com

Cheryl Yurcak is the Administrative Secretary for Publications and Database Management.

+ Began February 2011

She will be in the office on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Cheryl’s e-mail is: cyurcak@netzero.com
 

Jim Robinson, Music Director

    + Began November of 1981

For more info on Jim, click HERE

Scott Posey, Soloist

    + Began March of 1991

For more info on Scott, click HERE

Colleen Munley, Youth Director

    + Began March 2009

    E-Mail: MunleyColleen {at} yahoo {dot} com

For more information on Colleen, click HERE

Tara Bobak

Nursery Teacher

   + Began April 2010

Monique Lowther

Custodian

     + Began July 2010

Michelle Brown

Children's Director

     + Began October 2010

     E-Mail: DOCMICHELLEDOC {at} aol {dot} com

For more information on Michelle, click HERE!

Jake Pruitt

Choir Director

     + Began 2010

     E-Mail:

Richard Hinkelman

Keyboards/Worship Music

     + Began 2010

     E-Mail:

Staff News:

February 2011

Welcome New Administrative Secretaries
Beverly Wurm and Cheryl Yurcak!

In January we welcomed two new faces to our church office, though familiar to our church life: Beverly Wurm and Cheryl Yurcak. They will be sharing the general responsibilities of the church office, while each will have specific duties.

>>Beverly Wurm is the Administrative Secretary for Facilities, Purchasing, and Community Outreach. She will be in the office on Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Beverly’s e-mail for church is: wurm_beverly@yahoo.com
In addition to regular secretarial responsibilities (reception, phone, e-mail, mail, correspondence, etc.), Bev will also specifically be responsible for:
- Scheduling & Approving Building Use including for team meetings and events, outside groups and groups sharing our building, weddings, commitment ceremonies, & funerals; as well as keeping a master calendar of building use events.
- Oversees All Church Purchasing, working with pastor, staff, and lay leaders to purchase supplies needed, focusing on cost savings by buying in bulk and in advance of needs.
- Assisting Neighbors, Visitors, And Church Participants With Access And Information Regarding Social Services And Community Resources, including providing referrals to our Community Meal, Disciples Closet, Food Bag Ministry, and other neighborhood services.
 

>>Cheryl Yurcak is the Administrative Secretary for Publications and Database Management. She will be in the office on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Cheryl’s e-mail is: cyurcak@netzero.com
 

In addition to regular secretarial responsibilities (reception, phone, e-mail, mail, correspondence, etc.), Cheryl will also specifically be responsible for:
- Creating and printing church documents and publications as requested by the Pastor and Lay Leaders. This includes gathering, formatting, and printing the weekly church worship bulletin and insert, the monthly events and anniversary/birthday calendar for the newsletter, and regular mailings for the Pastor and Official Church Board.
- Managing church database, records, and archives including maintaining the computer membership database, especially the mailing list, producing a church directory, running labels and envelopes for team and board mailings, and maintaining the office files and archives.

If you have any question as to whom you should direct a request or give information, just call either Cheryl OR Bev, and they will be glad to connect you to the right person!

 

December 2010

Thanksgiving For Yvonne Hathorn
 

We give thanks to God for the wonderful work and dedication to our church shown by Yvonne Hathorn who tendered her resignation as Administrative Secretary as of December 9. Yvonne has been a vibrant and skilled presence in the church since she was hired last February and she will be greatly missed. Yvonne has decided that she needs to seek more full-time employment, and we wish her well on that journey.
 

The Personnel Department, under the guidance of Pastor Allen as Head of Staff, has secured volunteer help in the office until the end of the year, and has begun to plan for the future of this position. The prayers and patience of the congregation are solicited during this time.
 

At the time of this writing, the Church Office hours will be for the foreseeable future: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Thursday. If you call after those hours, please leave a message on the church’s voicemail and it will be returned as soon as possible. We will also attempt to keep the church’s website updated as much as possible: www.FranklinCircleChurch.org
 

November 2010

Michelle Brown Hired As New Children’s Director
 

After a long discernment process about staffing at Franklin Circle Christian Church, the Official Church Board this past summer voted to add a part-time position of Children’s Director to our ministry team. Over the summer resumes were solicited and in September interviews were held with candidates. On October 5 the Personnel Department hired Michelle Brown to be our Children’s Director.
 

For many this was a natural choice as Michelle has been working with our children as Sunday School Teacher and Children Worship & Wonder Leader since 2000, and as Assistant Sunday School Teacher at Highland Christian Church prior to that. Nonetheless, the Personnel Team wanted to insure that Michelle was seen as a fully viable candidate and to allow for the church to seek out the very best person possible for the job. This has happened in our hiring of Michelle.
 

In addition to her work with children, Michelle has also worked at Hometown Buffet as line server, greeter, and cashier. Here at the church she has also been the manager of the Summer Lunch Program, Administrative Manager of the Youth Enrichment Program, Chair of the Diaconate, and Stewardship Chairperson. She currently serves as an Elder of the congregation.
 

In addition to overseeing the Children Worship & Wonder (CW&W) program on Sunday mornings, Michelle will recruit and train volunteers to lead CW&W and other children’s programs, will create and lead additional programming for children and their parents/caregivers, lead some Children’s Minutes in worship monthly, and, most importantly, will help to integrate children and children’s ministry into all aspects of the congregation’s life.
Michelle is also in the Licensed Ministry Program of the Christian Church in Ohio. This position will fulfill the requirement that she be in a specific ministry position in a local church. Pastor Allen, along with the Elders, mentor Michelle in following her call to ministry.
Please join us in welcoming Michelle to this new position!
 

April 2009

Welcome Colleen Munley!

Colleen Munley began on Sunday, March 8 as the new Youth Director of Franklin Circle Christian Church. She will work with our Middle School (Chi Rho) and High School (C.Y.F.) youth and will involve adults in the congregation to help with youth programs and activities.

Her responsibilities include counsel and care for our youth and their families, reaching out to the youth of the community, planning and leading youth programs, activities, and events, recruiting and training youth leaders, and helping the congregation as a whole appreciate and support the youth of our congregation. Colleen will work with the Christian Education Team in coming up with goals and plans for the youth program, and will be supervised by Pastor Allen.

Colleen grew up in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), attending church, youth group, and camps at Camp Christian. She has lived in Northeast Ohio most of her life, and is raising her family here. Her partner is Cari Monhart and their three children are Nick Scheeff, Tori Scheeff, and Matthew Monhart. Colleen is a graduate of Midpark High School in Middleburg Heights. Within the congregation she is also a member of the Diaconate, chairs the New Worship Initiative Team, and is a member of the Education Team and Worship Team.

Please offer Colleen your words of support and welcome. We do hope that those members of the congregation who pledged to support new staff for our youth will continue to fulfill those pledges, and anyone who hasn’t done so already will pledge to support this position. This is an exciting “leap of faith” for our congregation!

December 2006

Special Choral Worship Service for Jim Robinson's
25th Anniversary as Organist and Music Director of Franklin Circle Christian Church
 
The choir, Exultate, will join soloist Scott Posey in singing a special Morning Worship Service commemorating Jim Robinson’s 25th anniversary as Music Director on Sunday, December 3, 10:30 a.m. at Franklin Circle Christian Church. The church is located at 1688 Fulton Rd., at Franklin Blvd., in Ohio City. A reception will follow the service at 12 noon. All are warmly invited to attend both the service and the reception.
 
Jim joined the historic Disciples of Christ congregation in 1981, while a student at the Cleveland Institute of Music.  Franklin Circle’s distinguished heritage has included not only a United States President (James Garfield) as its pastor, but also a remarkable musical tradition, with the Cleveland Messiah Chorus and the Welsh choirs among the Church’s greatest glories.  In recent years that tradition has continued with professional soloists, including two Metropolitan Opera Competition winners, and the remarkable collaboration of Scott Posey, the congregation's soloist, for the last 15 years.
 
Sunday’s service is a reflection of Franklin Circle’s graciously sharing Jim’s musical life with a number of congregations for many years, notably the Fairmount Temple, St. John’s Cathedral, Grace Episcopal and, for fifteen years, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish’s Exultate Choir, celebrating their own 25th anniversary next year.  Led by their internationally acclaimed director and composer, Rita Kliorys, the choir will be singing at Franklin Circle for the first time this Sunday, presenting contemporary Lithuanian and traditional Latin repertoire.
 
Jim participates in the life of the community, the rest of the week, as a full time Real Estate Agent in Lakewood, Edgewater Park, and the wonderful neighborhoods of Ohio City and Downtown.

For more information, call the church office at 216-781-8232.

March 2006

Scott Posey Celebrates 15 Years As Soloist

This March our congregation will celebrate 15 years of beautiful music sung by our own R. Scott Posey. Scott's powerful baritone voice, his versatility and willingness to draw from many different genres of music, as well as his deep care for the congregation broadens and deepens our weekly worship experience. Quite often Scott has chooses solos for worship services that perfectly accentuate the scripture or theme at hand.
 

When he is not sharing his God-given talent with our congregation, Scott serves as band and drama teacher at Lake Catholic High School in Mentor. Many folks also know Scott as a fine actor and director of plays and musicals. He has performed in an eclectic mix of works, from "Jesus Christ Superstar" to "Fiddler on the Roof."  Some of Scott's directing and teaching credits have been for theatres and organizations such as the Cleveland Opera; Great Lakes Theater Festival; Porthouse Theatre; and Kent State University.
 

Scott holds a Bachelor of Music from Baldwin-Wallace College and a Master of Fine Arts from Kent State University.  He is also married to the beautiful and talented Laurel Posey.