Word of Life Fellowship

Meet Our Church Staff!

Senior Pastor

After three years serving as our associate pastor and interim pastor since December 08, we are honored to welcome our new senior pastor and his wife, Pastor Gary & Gloria Hallberg.

 

Pastor Gary & Gloria HallbergGARY & GLORIA HALLBERG, Senior Pastor

Born in Moline, Illinois, farm implement capital of the world, Pastor Gary came from a strong family of 3 boys and one girl. His parents came from the South Dakota small town farm community until the depression drove them to the city for jobs. But summers always took them back to grandparents, uncles, and cousins for baling hay and general farm “fun”.
 
High school kept him busy in the band and photography which led to work as a photographer at the local newspaper. His college years at Evangel College and the University of Iowa gave him a degree as an elementary teacher which he utilized in school districts in Grand Blanc, Michigan; Moline, Illinois; and Elyria, Ohio. While teaching he began working as part time minister of youth and music for eight years.
 
Even though he loved teaching, time did not allow working in both positions for very long, so in 1975 he accepted a position of minister of music in Detroit, Michigan. The next 32 years of ministry included music positions in Lansing, Michigan; Toronto, Ontario; Omaha, Nebraska; and Youngstown, Ohio. He has been honored to be able to serve wonderful senior pastors and wonderful congregations.  
 
Pastor Gary met his wife, Gloria, at Evangel College and they married after graduation.
 
Gloria’s family was actively involved in ministries which included 5 years as missionaries to Alaska (Homer). She still loves that part of the country and cold temperatures. Gloria taught 1st and 3rd grades until she took time off to raise their two daughters. After the children were grown, she continued teaching.
 
Their first daughter, Jodie, married Kevin DeVries, and they have two children, Jack and Emma. They are just starting their second business venture—Cruise Holidays of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
 
The Hallberg’s second daughter, Kerrie, is married to Jodie’s husband’s brother Walt DeVries and are living outside of Omaha, Nebraska where she home schools three kids—Levi, Sam, and Anne Grace. Her husband is Lead Pastor at Glad Tidings Church in Omaha.

                                                                                                                            

DR. MICHAEL & DINA SCARPONE, Youth Ministry 

      Born and raised devout Catholics in the Ohio Valley, the Lord began to stir something new in the hearts of Michael & Dina in the 80's.  By the time of their first meeting, they had only recently become aware of the importance of having a saving knowledge and personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  As they searched the Scriptures and sought God's will for their lives, they found themselves right here at Word of Life  with former Pastor, Jack Stepp and his wife Kay, being a big part of their discipleship time and a key part of their beautiful wedding ceremony.   From there, as the Lord saw fit to relocate the Scarpones, He enabled them to have wonderful men and women of God to glean from along the way. They are now in the midst oftheir 14th year of home schooling their 3 children, Danielle, Rebecca, &Nathan, and are looking excitedly to the future. 

     Michael is a graduate of Steubenville High School, OSU and OU.  He is a Sports Medicine Physician employed locally by Riverside Medical, where he takes care of local athletes and adults.  He is also an Assistant Professor of Sports Medicine at Drexel University School of Medicine on the AGH campus and is a team physician for the Pittsburgh Pirates.Dina, a graduate of CCHS, has a BSN from Carlow College, where she also minored in Psychology.  A significant emphasis of both her and Michael's courses of study has been on the young person.  

     In 2004,  after being fully impressed with the depth of ministry to young people in the Assemblies of God, they made Word of Life their church home.  Michael and Dina have been involved in Children's or Youth Ministry here at Word of Life since they came and their children have flourished here.  In the spring of 2009 they acceptedthe call to lead Soulfire Youth and they're both excited for what the Lord is doing and are honored to serve in this way.    

 

 


 

 

Sarah HayesSARAH HAYES, Children's Ministry

As a young child, Sarah was dragged to church every Sunday. As she got older, she eventually spent more time playing outside than worshipping in church. Within a few years, she was pulled away from God completely.
 
By the age of 14, God had another plan for Sarah. He introduced her to the Urban Mission Ministries of Steubenville. There, Sarah was to became the Summer Program Coordinator for four years. She ministered to hundreds of poverty-level, inner-city children every summer.
 
After four years at the Urban Mission, she was blessed to receive a job at Word of Life Daycare, where she has served for the last five years. She has worked extensively with children ages six weeks to thirteen years.
 
Because of Sarah's amazing experiences with children, she decided to make that her career goal. She attended Jefferson Community College and the Franciscan University of Steubenville, where Sarah received her Bachelors of Science degree in Early Childhood Education.
 
In February of 2007, Sarah was called upon to be the Children's Ministry Coordinator at Word of Life Seeing this as another wonderful opportunity to minister children, she gladly agreed.
 
Currently, Sarah is a teacher with the Indian Creek School District.  Sarah and  her husband Charlie, long-time members , were also married here at Word of Life.

 

Articles & Resources for Church Workers

  • Starting a Greeter Program
    Four years ago I accepted the challenge of evangelism chairperson for our church. One of the first programs the pastor and I developed was the Sunday morning greeter program.
  • Motivating the Right Person into the Right Ministry
    One of the greatest challenges for most leaders is selecting and motivating the right people into the right ministry positions in hopes of minimizing turnover and frustration. Even in the smaller church with limited personnel, it is important to coordinate people and ministry as much as possible.
  • “I TRIED, BUT NO ONE EVER CALLED ME”
    “I tried, but no one ever called me” are painful words for a leader who has much work to do and not enough people willing to do it. These words are painful for the person who wanted to contribute, but was never called. These are also painful words for a person who is committed to helping people connect and contribute in meaningful ways within the church.