PASTOR PROFILE REV. MARK ZOCKHEEM

This week's Pastor Profile is on Rev. Mark Zockheem. He is the pastor of United Church of Faith Methodist located at 6064 Fourth St in Romulus. This is his first Pastorship and he has been a pastor for 10 years. He served in the military for over 10 years and worked at Rouge Steel and U.S. Steel before he became a full time Pastor.

He started his Home Church with zero members and held bible study. His first member was a teenager and the church has grown by doing outreach and building relations with people. He believes that he lives a life of Christ outside of the church.

Part of their community outreach includes their Drive-By Mission. He said, "We take the kids downtown and instead of having Bible Study, we cook hot dogs and chili and take it to homeless people. We also give them a bag of toiletries and some water. Sometimes we allow them to make a phone call to their family members and give them Walmart cards." The church has been doing this since it started.

How do you keep up with a member who you haven't seen?

Since we are a small church , I will know when someone is missing and I will call them or stop by their house to check on them. We can have church at their home if they miss coming to church. We have a relationship church. Our members can call me whenever they need to even if it is 3am.

What type of community programs do you and your church participate in?

We have a program where we teach our members a skill. Love And Labor (LAL) They learn how to use drills and construct wood projects. It teaches soft employ-ability skills all while learning about God and it gives me a chance to build a relationship with them. It also gives the youth an opportunity to see a project that they built.

We also have a Women's Ministry/Retreat where girls and women come together over a weekend to talk on different topics. We then encourage them to go out and minister in the community

It seems like many churches are missing people in the age group of 13 to 45. Why is that? Most of our members are within that age group. We build a relationship with them and show them that we care. It's not the music and events that keep them coming. It's showing them that you love them.

There seems to be a lack of morals in the world today, what is it going to take to change it? We make decisions based on their own compass. If they don't have God in them, they won't be able to make Godly decisions. Our goal is to represent Christ. and get people closer to him. If you make a mistake, you messed up early enough to recover.

What message would you like to give to the readers of the Telegram? Be proud that somebody made an investment in them and in the community.

Church starts at 11:30am on Sunday.

Rev. Mark has four daughters and one son and he has been married for 28 years.