Rich Raymond clutched his Bible as he told his story to the small group assembled on the second floor of the Newark Masonic Temple building.
Raymond, 61, lives in a local shelter and has had a difficult life, including having been incarcerated. Yet as he told of his life and how the group and its leader, Chuck Clevenger, have helped him, each person in the room offered him encouragement.
"I'm here because I'm just messed up," he said.
Debi Edwards, sitting to Raymond's right, reassuringly asked, "Aren't we all?"
As Raymond explained more about his life and his troubles, Ed Nelson, who had just started coming to the group, compared Raymond's experiences to the biblical tale of Job, saying he kept the faith even after he lost everything.
"You can do it," Nelson told Raymond at one point, and Raymond continued.
"Chuck, he just knows when I need the help and he's there for me," Raymond said.
Clevenger, 55, of Hanover, has been there for many people, especially in the last six months.
In July, Clevenger took over the Faith in Action group and changed it from an organization of people mostly sharing their personal stories to a Bible study and support group. Before and after the weekly Bible study on Tuesday mornings, Clevenger takes people in need to doctors' appointments, job interviews and, sometimes, a coin laundry.
Clevenger suffered a stroke a few years ago, which was the impetus for him finding his faith again and going back to church. He was attending a sharing group started by another man and was asked to take it over when that man's health worsened.
Leading Faith in Action is hard work but a labor of love, said Clevenger, who is on disability and devotes much of his time to the group.
"This gives me time to do as much as I can to spread God's grace and love," he said.
Faith in Action is an outreach ministry of Marne United Methodist Church, a few miles east of Newark. The Rev. Ed Fugate, senior pastor at Marne, is excited about the group's future and Clevenger's work with it.
"I'm witnessing a great impact," Fugate said of Clevenger's work so far. "He's given people confidence, he makes people feel welcome coming into local churches."
In addition to the meetings and providing transportation, Clevenger helps group members go through a Christian-based program to help them get their lives back on track and become productive in the community. The group's purpose is to help homeless and recently incarcerated people get back on their feet.
So far, Clevenger and other volunteers have worked with 294 people, mostly through the transportation service.
Each person gets a binder complete with worksheets to fill out, information to read and resource numbers to call if they're in need.
During Tuesday morning meetings, the small group discusses several Bible verses on a theme picked out by Clevenger. This week's theme was forgiveness.
Raymond, Edwards, Nelson, Clevenger and Steve House discussed the meaning of each verse, but not before taking a moment for prayer and meditation.
Each silently bowed their head and closed their eyes, with the only sounds in the room coming from the whir of street traffic through an open window.
Throughout the meeting, the group's participants laughed, engaged in friendly debate and gave faith-based reassurances without reservation.
"It keeps me going," Edwards said of the meetings and Bible study. She and Nelson said the group keeps them on track and focused on God.
Though everyone seems to get something from the group, they acknowledged that they like helping others as much as getting help for themselves.
"We're all part of the ministry," Edwards said. "We support each other."
Clevenger hopes to expand the non-profit group and its offerings as time goes on, but it will take more volunteers to do it, he said.
"Right now, we're steadily growing," he said.
For more information on Faith in Action, or to volunteer or join, contact Chuck Clevenger at 740-877-9695 or chuckclevenger1962@gmail.com. The group meets weekly at 9 a.m. on Tuesdays at the Newark Masonic Temple Building, 48 N. 4th St. in Newark.
dking@dispatch.com
@DanaeKing