Teen-agers in Toledo, Ohio, have a state-of-the-art, 24,000-square-foot
high-tech haven for safe activities, thanks in large part to support
from Calvary Assembly of God.
Milling around: Toledo
teens can play foosball, pool and video games at the popular facility.
The Mill Youth Stop is designed to help develop spiritually mature,
emotionally stable and relationally healthy students, whether it be
to hold a Bible study, play a game, listen to a concert or receive homework
advice.
While the gathering place, which opened last October, is the cooperative
effort of many area Christians, Calvary’s congregation and senior
pastor Doug Clay have had much to do with its becoming a reality. The
Mill and the church are separated only by a parking lot.
A businessman in the congregation, Jim Schwerkoske, bought the facility,
which had been a vacant T.J. Maxx outlet for eight years, and donated
it for use as a youth center.
Clay helped to enlist another businessman at Calvary, Jim Oedy, to
spend a year raising more than $1 million from corporations and businesses
to make the renovation possible. Because costs are underwritten, teens
pay no admission or membership fees.
Some weeks the Mill ministers to more than 2,000 teen-agers.
Oedy believes the Mill has been such a hit because organizers sought
input from the experts: young people. Oedy envisioned one large recreation
area. However, teens convinced him to divide it into six zones. An 8,000-square-foot
recreation area includes foosball, air hockey and pool tables; arcade
and video games, including Nintendo 64 fun system and Sony Playstation
for up to 32 players; an Internet café and a lounge with giant-screen
television sets.
But there are other zones, including an event area that has a portable
stage with premium sound and lighting systems as well as seating for
600; a 25-station personal computer lab where students can receive homework
help and access screened Internet sites for research; a quiet zone for
studying and a guidance center. The renovation includes $300,000 worth
of donated equipment and services.
On Fridays and Saturdays as many as 1,000 may attend because of weekly
concerts. Crowds have grown steadily because of word of mouth.
Forty different groups have used the facility for events. Various weekly
meetings are held, including the Wednesday night youth group from Calvary
Assembly.
The Mill has only six paid staff. There are more than 100 active volunteers,
doing everything from helping organize activities to cleaning restrooms.
Calvary Assembly, a congregation of 1,200, supplies about half of the
volunteers. While the Mill could not have started without Calvary’s
initial support, there is no formal tie.
"We maintain a strong commitment to being nondenominational and
community-focused in our outreach," says Clay, a former youth pastor
who came to Calvary in 1997.
"We don’t want it to be seen as a facility of a single church,"
Oedy says. "Unchurched kids don’t see this as a Christian
youth center." Still, visitors must sign in and indicate if they
attend church. Participants who do not have a church home – which
is around half of them – can receive information about a Bible-believing
church in their neighborhood.
There are rules. No foul language or abusive behavior are tolerated.
Entrants must pass through a metal detector. The popularity of the Mill
is evident because several times teens have abandoned weapons outside
the building in order to gain entrance.
Darlene Brown, a Toledo public school employee who works with students
who have severe behavior handicaps, believes the Mill is a godsend.
"We have noticed a remarkable improvement in their behavior and
their ability to build and maintain friendships," Brown says. "It
is such a relief knowing they have a safe place to meet, hang out with
their friends and engage in appropriate activities with adult supervision."
