New Life Community Church Lead Pastor John Broglin and his wife, Amy, during the community potluck following Sunday’s church sermon. Amy celebrated her birthday with the congregation at the event.
Marcella Kester | For Times Leader
Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Longtime parishioner Lisa Compton, Mountain Top, opts for a piece of cake in celebration of Pastor John Broglin’s wife’s birthday. The church holds a community potluck event every fifth Sunday in a month.
Marcella Kester | For Times Leader
New Life Community Church Lead Pastor John Broglin addresses his congregation during Sunday’s potluck dinner in Mountain Top.
Marcella Kester | For Times Leader
Slocum resident Cassie Matyas holds her 1-year-old daughter, Abby, during the potluck. The family attended the New Life Community Church’s sermon and event for the first time Sunday.
Marcella Kester | For Times Leader
MOUNTAIN TOP – As his congregation sat down to begin a community potluck Sunday, Pastor John Broglin turned everyone’s attention to the front of the New Life Community Church hall to make a special request.
He asked the group to wish his wife, Amy, a happy birthday, and they happily obliged before digging into their delectable homemade dishes.
The Mountain Top church began holding the potluck events whenever there is a fifth Sunday in the month, with a focus of bringing the community and church together.
“We encourage everybody to invite friends and family to come out and have fellowship,” Broglin said. “It just works out where there’s like four a year, and its a good way of getting people together.”
Broglin became the lead pastor at the New Life Community Church just before the pandemic started. He explained that as he visited with his parishioners they would discuss feeling isolated, depressed and lonely while the shutdown was occurring and needed a way to counteract the pandemic’s effects.
“Once COVID shut everybody down we were all isolated. This is a way to bring everybody back together and to join each other’s company,” he said.
The church also leaned on technology to keep in contact with the congregation and allow parishioners to continue practicing their faith. It began holding live sermons on Facebook weekly as well as Bible studies via Zoom.
“We want make people feel safe, but we also want to be smart,” he continued. “We want to follow protocols as long as the CDC says them.”
As the group dug into homemade pasta salad, beef stew, pierogis and more Lisa Compton of Mountain Top spoke about what makes the New Life Community Church special.
Compton has been a longtime member of the establishment, adding that she appreciates how the group makes everyone feel as though its one big family. The church also holds a plethora of community events year-round, as well.
“Everybody watches out for everybody and embraces them,” she said. “People in the community always come, its just fun.”
Aside from the potluck, New Life Community Church provides sermons for adults and children, Bible study, Sunday school, dinner and a movie, coffeehouse events and music in the park.
To G. Michael Miller the church is much more than just a building. The Director of Administration said that its purpose spreads beyond preaching The Word on Sundays – its about welcoming and helping the community overall, be it from weekly service or events.
“The church is not just the four walls. The church is us going out and sharing the gospel and the good news and helping people,” he said.