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04/12/2017 08:30 AMA pastor, a scholar, and an author, Wayne Lavender is always looking for ways to help out those less fortunate than others. Now, Wayne looks to bring that vision to North Haven as the new pastor for Faith United Methodist Church on Clintonville Road.
Wayne grew up in Ridgefield, and says his parents were diligent about bringing him up in church. He began reading gospels seriously in 8th grade, around the time of his confirmation.
“I felt called to ministry to make a difference in the world in my life,” Wayne says.
During his senior year of college, Wayne began looking at seminaries to further his religious education. After being ordained as a minister, he served at churches in Fairfield, Norwalk, and New Milford.
While he enjoyed all of his experiences in Fairfield and Norwalk, his time in New Milford was particularly noteworthy.
“The church grew dramatically when I went there,” he says, “We averaged about 80 people per week in attendance, and when I left it was over 300.”
Wayne says the church was able to build a $1 million addition, and even built an orphanage in Mozambique. Wayne himself won awards in New Milford for his efforts.
He’s working to build on that success in North Haven.
“My mission is to unite the church, grow spiritually, grow in our knowledge of being disciples, and to take that into the world into service to those in need,” Wayne says.
Even though he has only been with the church since last July, Wayne has programs and activities in place to help further that message.
The church community is involved with the Heifer International, and has been raising money for donations during Lent. The organization gives livestock, such as chickens and cows, to developing nations, and will teach the recipients how to raise the animals and get meat and fertilizer from them.
“I hope to take some of my skills and experiences and use them here to get this faith community moving forward to what I believe churches should be doing, which is making an impact in the world,” Wayne says.
Wayne says the church has also been able to clear out a quarter of an acre of its land to create a community garden, which will be dedicated on Saturday, April 22, Earth Day. He is hopeful people can begin planting on May 1.
The garden is just a small section of the three acres of land the church has, and Wayne says there’s a five year plan in place to add more to that space. Plans include adding apple and pear trees and having benches around a planned walking trail.
Wayne also says that he plans to save some sections in the garden area to grow crops for those less fortunate. He plans to grow those crops and donate them to local food banks.
Another thing Wayne is very involved with is orphaned children. He is the executive director of the Foundation 4 Orphans, a non-profit organization whose mission is to serve the educational, emotional, physical, and spiritual needs of orphans and vulnerable children.
Wayne hopes that the North Haven church will become a mission-oriented church, with one of those missions being orphans and vulnerable children.
“Thirty different times, the Bible tells us to care for orphans,” he says, “There’s nothing in the Bible that gets that much attention.”
If attendance is any indication, Wayne’s involvement is helping the church grow. He says that the church is tripling attendance for services compared to last year.
“There’s a lot of really good people here—faithful, dedicated people,” says Wayne.
Wayne says he feels blessed and fulfilled about being able to give back. He says at no time does he feel more alive than when he is able to someone, whether it be spiritually, helping a person find a job, or helping an orphan find shelter and food.
“To me, that’s what it’s all about,” he says.