THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, March 27, 2020 ~ THE ADVOCATE ASKS ~ Page 3 Senior Pastor Wayne Shirk tells how he and other clergy are helping to keep the faith in Saugus Editor’s Note: For this week’s paper, we sat down with Pastor Wayne L. Shirk, the senior pastor at New Hope Assembly of Saugus. He is also chairman of the Clergy Association of the Saugus Faith Community – a local group that represents leaders of religious groups in Saugus. Pastor Shirk, 60, is a native of Lancaster County, Pa., where as an only child he was raised as a Mennonite. He received his Bachelor of Science in Bible degree from the University of Valley Forge, formerly Valley Forge Christian College, in 1983. After graduation he accepted the position of Youth Pastor at the Parkway Christian Church of Revere. Two years later he became associate pastor. In January of 1999, he came to Saugus to serve as senior pastor at New Hope Assembly of Saugus, a position that he still holds. In more than 40 years of ministry, he has mentored many men and women who are in full-time ministry today in the United States and around the world. During the last two decades, he has helped form four ministries in the New England area. He is certifi ed by the American Association of Christian counselors and holds Christian teachers’ certification from the Association of Christian Schools International. Pastor Shirk was married for 23 years to the former Karen Zaccardi of Cambridge, until she passed away from cancer in 2009. He has a daughter, Ashley (Shirk) McCray, the Worship Arts pastor at New Hope Assembly in Saugus. Her husband, Edward McCray, is the associate pastor at New Hope. The couple lives in Cambridge, where they care for Ashley’s grandmother, Grace (Gentzler) Shirk. Highlights of our interview follow “AFCNS is an important part of our lives. They educate us about valuable resources for our son.” Linda and Jim, Caregivers to Son, Derek 978-281-2612 AdultFosterCareNS.com Celebrating 19 Years HOPING FOR A SUNRISE SERVICE: Easter services may be cancelled at local churches because of social distancing guidelines. But Pastor Wayne L. Shirk, head of the Saugus Faith Community, said he has been hoping and planning for the community’s annual sunrise service on Easter Day -- with social distancing rules being observed. Q: Rev. Wayne, please tell me how the churches and faith centers in Saugus are dealing right now with the coronavirus. Are most of them or all of them not having services, other than virtual services? A: Everything is online, from most of the churches that I know of. We can’t get together because of where we are at as a community and the virus, so most of us went to online streaming, whether it’s Facebook Live or YouTube. Any network like that is what we’re using. I know for myself and other pastors, we’re calling as many people as we can to check on them to make sure they are doing well and to see if there is any need – if they have a need for anything. So we are navigating new waters; it’s a new path for all of us. I think we are trying to fi gure it out and work and do the best that we can do to still make a diff erence: to Saugus Faith Community H ere are the members of the group known as the Saugus Faith Community, and their websites. Member communities Cliftondale Church of the Nazarene – http://www.facebook.com/pages/SaugusCliftondale-Church-of-theNazarene/134739726599395 Cliftondale Congregational Church – http://www.cliftondalecc.blogspot.com/ Congregation Ahavas Sholom – http://www.saugus. com/content/view/45/117/ East Saugus United Methodist Church – http://www. facebook.com/pages/EastSaugus-United-MethodistChurch/115940891760059 bring hope and to bring peace in a very uncertain time. Fear is rampant. But, again, our faith needs to trump the fear, because we believe that God is still in control. And we’re believing that this will pass over quickly. Q: Okay. Now, you are the leader – I guess you assumed that position about a year ago – of the Saugus Faith Community. A: Yes. In January of 2019, I was asked by others in the Saugus Faith Community if I could take the head position and to lead it, so I have for the past year. And I think as a faith community, we are trying to reach into the needs of our community. We’re very involved in many outreaches dealing with food – Healthy Students–Healthy Saugus, Veterans Food Market, the Food Pantry [the United Parish Food Pantry] – here in town. We’re doing the best we ASKS | SEE PAGE 4 First Baptist Church – http://www.fi rstbaptistsaugus.org/ First Congregational Church UCC – https://www. facebook.com/uccsaugus New Hope Assembly of Saugus – http://www.newhopesaugus.com/newhope/index.php Saint John’s Episcopal Church – http://www.stjohnssaugus.org/ Saugus Catholics Collaborative (Blessed Sacrament & St. Margaret’s Churches – http://sauguscatholics.org (Editor’s Note: This information was provided by the Saugus Faith Community website, https://www.facebook.com/ SaugusFaith/.) www.reverealuminumwindow.com
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