Rev. Melvern M. McRoberts, Jr. graduated from Transylvania Bible School in 1979. Through continued academic studies he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Management of Human Resources from Roberts Wesleyan College in 1990 and a Master's degree in Leadership and Ministry from Greenville College in 2002. He was ordained Elder in 1990. Pastor Mel's first wife, Theresa, went to be with the Lord on February 3, 1999. Two children, Melissa and Michael, came from that union and now there are four grandchildren. On July 1, 2000, Melvern and Marlene Marie Blystone were united in marriage. Pastor Mel served the Freeport, Mt. Pleasant, Bridgeport, Washington, Kittanning and Sarver churches before being appointed to Rochester (his home church) where he began his thirtieth year of ministry on his seventh wedding anniversary with Marlene.

October 2008

Dear Friends,

We have much to be thankful for as a people of God. God has been so good to us! Marlene and I visited Scotland and Ireland three years ago. It had been a life long dream of mine to visit the home of my ancestors. As much as I enjoyed my visit, I was so glad my great-great grandparents William and Jane McRoberts came to the United States in 1848. We are so privileged and blessed to live in the United States of America. I’m so glad my mother chose to have me and to keep me even though it was a difficult pregnancy and she had an even more difficult time afterwards. I was born at Rochester Hospital on November 4, 1949 (ever hear of it?) as had been my father before me and my daughter after me. There were four birthdays in our family in November – mine, my grandson Zach Barker, his father Mike Barker and my first wife, Theresa. Zach was “our miracle baby” – even the doctor said so as the umbilical cord was wrapped around his throat and tied in a knot causing duress when the doctor performed an emergency c-Section. Pappy Mel was really pacing and praying in the waiting room!

I also thank God for our church family! It is such an honor and privilege to be back at my home church! I owe my spiritual life to my mothers and fathers in Christ from this church. Many of them have gone to be with the Lord, however, they will never be forgotten by people like me whom they impacted for Christ. I will strive to my dying day to pay back my debt of love to them by continuing to impact lives for Christ and equipping you to do the same.

As we approach November I’m excited about the potential we have of connecting with more people in the Beaver Valley area. A bowling league has been formed and on Tuesday evenings about twenty people (some churches and some not) gather to bowl. Here is yet another opportunity for us to carry out our vision of seeing us grow closer to each other this year. We want to bridge the gap between the churched and the unchurched, Christians and pre-Christians and most of all between God and those who don’t personally know Him as their Savior.

By now we have also started our Coffee Shop Ministry at Café Kolache in Beaver on Friday mornings at 6:00 am. We want to take the good news about Jesus Christ outside the four walls of our church and are looking for innovative ways of doing this. We are not going to leave any stone unturned in our effort to obey the Great Commission mandate of Jesus Christ – Go and Make Disciples! We envision having Bible Studies throughout Beaver County in Coffee Shops and other places where the doors are open to sharing the great news about Christ. I have two years worth of Bibles Studies written by Dale Galloway with copyright permission to copy and use them. As we multiply our outreach ministries, we will need Bible Study leaders. Training will be provided for those interested in joining this great adventure for the Lord. The harvest is great! Join me in praying to the Lord of the Harvest for Him to supply more workers for this vital work. This news about salvation through Christ is too good to keep to ourselves!

Yours for Greater Harvest,
Pastor Mel

August 2008

Dear Friends,

We are about to embark on a great adventure. It will take us by faith to where we've never gone before - into the future! I'm speaking about the new contemporary worship service - "The Gathering." Josh Avery has recruited worship singers and musicians for this unique service. They will begin practicing Sunday, August 10th and a "dress rehearsal" of this contemporary service will be held on Sunday morning, August 31st. This way you will know what we mean by "contemporary" here at RFMC.

Some might ask, "Why another worship service?" That's a great question! There are a number of reasons to have another worship service - all of them relating to the fulfilling of the Great Commission and our local mission in Christ.

1. Our present worship service (other than summer and winter) finds us more than 80% full. Some people may begin to feel uncomfortable when the church becomes too crowded.
2. Many people have a scheduling conflict with our Sunday morning service - because they have to work! Right now we have just one offering on our church menu - Sunday morning services at 10:35.
3. Another style of music and approach to worship will help us to reach the younger generation which has not yet been touched by the good news about Jesus Christ.

I'm excited about what God is going to do at "The Gathering!" Here's how you can help to make this great adventure in Christ a great success:

1. Pray for Pastor Josh and the new contemporary worship team as they begin to practice.
2. Pray that God will impress the unchurched in the Beaver Valley area to check out this new worship opportunity.
3. Encourage your family members, friends and neighbors to attend the "Grand Opening" on September 7th.

Blessings,

Pastor Mel

July 2008

Dear Friends,

Marlene and I consider it a great joy and honor to have been sent back for our second year of ministry here at my home church - the Rochester Free Methodist Church! There is truly "no place like home!" We enjoyed God's blessing us with a great first year as we saw people won to Christ, added twelve new members and hired full time Youth Pastor, Josh Avery. The Spirit of the living God has certainly been present in our worship services, and I covet His anointing and your prayers. Some of our people were involved in the Steve Wingfield Summer Festival at Moraine State Park where we saw hundreds come forward to give their lives to Christ initially or seek a closer walk with the Lord. I want to especially thank Harold and Sharon Sproul who spend countless there assuring the two way radios were in working condition for the many volunteers and Josh Avery for taking some of our young people to the youth- related events. Only eternity reveal how many souls were harvested during this evangelistic endeavor!

As we begin our second year of ministry, our aim is to deepen our commitment to Christ, to each other and in reaching our community and reaching the world for Christ. I'm currently reading a book entitled, "Building High Commitment in a Low Commitment World", written by Bill Hull. This author offers as a presupposition for his book that "every Christian wants to obey God, please God, and be fully committed to God." Jesus put it this way in Matthew 16:24, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Now that's COMMITMENT with a capital "C" folks and that's exactly the type of devotion Jesus is calling us to, as His followers here at the Rochester Free Methodist Church (RFMC).

Yours for Greater Commitment to Christ,
Pastor Mel