Church-run clinics help families get needed care By Steven Skelley

Church-run clinics help families get needed care

By Steven Skelley

Published by UM News Service at  http://floridaconferenceconnection.info/newsarchives/detail/2673 

Melissa Whaley has been having grand-mal seizures lately, but with no insurance, she said seeing a doctor was out of the question — until she learned about Shepherd’s Hope Health Center.

Dr. Jeff Thill, who volunteers at a Shepherd's Hope Health Center, examines patient Geannie Figuereo. Photo by Tim Griffis. Photo #08-0731.

“There was nobody in the world to help me, but this place helped me,” she said. “It was my first time here today, and I met the doctor for the first time, and he shook my hand, and he looked at me as a person, not a paycheck.”

Whaley received a free doctor’s visit, free medication and, most importantly, compassionate care.

Shepherd’s Hope Health Center was organized a decade ago by St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Orlando to serve people without access to insurance or medical care. Today, it’s a ministry that includes nine health care centers in the Orlando area run by 2,000 volunteers from 20 churches.

The Rev. Dr. William S. Barnes, senior pastor at St. Luke’s, says the ministry is simply “caring people, caring for other people.”

“We have so many people who are working part-time jobs in the parks (local attractions), in the entertainment community, a lot of persons who are involved in the hospitality industry who don’t have insurance benefits,” he said.

More than 60,000 people have found hope and healing since Barnes felt called to begin the ministry in 1995.

“I was walking on the beach … at Sanibel Island, Fla., minding my own business, and I had an epiphany from God to start a clinic,” he said.

The Rev. Dr. William Barnes says the Shepherd's Hope ministry is simply “caring people, caring for other people.” Photo by Tim Griffis. Photo by #08-0732.

Barnes sent out a call for volunteers, and 200 people showed up to help. Miraculously, he says, “the people, the places and pieces” all fell together. Within six months, the first Shepherd’s Hope Health Center opened its doors.

“When we give ourselves to God’s power and vision, there is no limit to what we can do, to what a difference we can make,” Barnes says.

All positions in the clinics, from the doctors and nurses to the clerical workers, are voluntary. Most doctors volunteer one shift a month.

Nann Carmine is a schoolteacher who volunteers in the pharmacy. “If we can keep the flow going, we can see 30 patients in an evening with two doctors,” she said.

Barnes believes the medical professionals who volunteer their time and talents benefit from their service. It reminds them why they were called to healing in the first place.

That service translates into even bigger benefits for the patients. In 2006 alone Shepherd’s Hope volunteers donated services valued at more than $1.8 million.

Shepherd’s Hope does not offer emergency care, but provides the kind of services patients would receive in a family practice setting. Commonly treated illnesses include upper respiratory infections, skin disorders, gynecological concerns and urinary tract infections. Area hospitals donate laboratory and radiology services.

Patients are eligible if they have incomes at or below 200 percent of the poverty level, are uninsured and are not eligible for government-assisted health care programs. Once treated, the patients are assisted in finding a permanent source of medical care, whenever possible.

Shepherd's Hope Health Clinic volunteer Nann Carmine organizes donated medications to be given to the clinic's low-income patients. Photo by Tim Griffis. Photo #08-0733.

Barnes says the clinic ministry is a “natural outgrowth of who we are here at St. Luke’s.” The name Luke comes from a physician in the Bible and the church has always seen itself as a healing ministry for the community, Barnes said.

Patients and their families seem generally “overwhelmed with gratitude,” he added.

”We’re just pleased to hear that there are things like this in existence,” Tonya Scott said. She and her husband, William, brought in their 1-year-old son, Seth, for a checkup.

”I love that there’s people that love us enough to be here for us,” said Whaley, who visited the clinic after hearing about it from friends. “God sent them to us to help us.”

A list of Shepherd’s Hope health centers, with locations and operating hours, is available at http://www.ShepherdsHope.org.

______

______

Steven Skelley is a published author of several nonfiction works and the novella The Gargoyle Scrolls. He has been a newspaper columnist, travel writer, news writer, ordained minister, music director, creative arts director, theater reviewer and tennis instructor.

Task team calls for greater support for African-American churches By Steven Skelley

Task team calls for greater support for African-American churches

By Steven Skelley

Published by UM News Service at http://floridaconferenceconnection.info/newsarchives/detail/2961

The Rev. Dr. Geraldine McClellan believes African-American churches have been neglected, and she is calling for change at the upcoming 2008 Florida Annual Conference Event.

The Rev. Dr. Geraldine McClellan attending the “Thunder in the Desert: Symposium for Partnerships in African-American Churches,” sponsored by the United Methodist Board of Discipleship in January in Nashville, Tenn. A UMNS photo by Linda Green. File photo #08-0744. Originally accompanied e-Review Florida UMNS #0795/Feb. 7, 2008.

“Forty years have passed and the annual conference has not fully recognized the blessings and contributions of the African-American church,” said McClellan, superintendent of the Florida Conference’s North Central District and liaison to the conference's African-American Task Team. 

“The strengthening of the African-American church is a vital part of making our church one. It is important to have a director of African-American Congregational Development and line item funding.”

The Rev. Walter Monroe, chairperson of the task team, agrees. He will be presenting recommendations from the team, based on its review of the African-American Comprehensive Plan, May 30 during the conference session, which runs May 29-31.

“We’re proposing that we need to fund a position called the director of African-American Congregational Development,” he said. “We’re asking the conference to hear our report, decide the responsibilities of this office and then include line item funding in the budget. We see this as a move in the right direction.”

At last year’s conference session, members approved the African-American Comprehensive Plan. It called for making churches in urban areas more relevant, externally focused and a higher priority of the conference; making worship in African-American churches more relevant through technological advances and training; and the consideration of an African-American Church Redevelopment office.

Of the 722 Florida Conference churches, approximately 75 are African-American, representing about 9.6 percent of the conference’s churches. The majority of them are located in the North East, West and Central districts.

Rev. Walter Monroe

Monroe says the task team held listening sessions in the Jacksonville and Gainesville areas and received some very positive feedback.

“Rev. Geraldine McClellan met with African-American leaders and asked how God is leading the African-American constituency in the Methodist Church,” he said. “I am very encouraged about the conversations we’ve had. They’ve been honest and engaging.”

“The director (of African-American Congregational Development), working in consultation with the director of Congregational Transformation, will provide promising approaches and tools for addressing disparities, as well as identifying appropriate points for change,” McClellan said.

In January, McClellan led a delegation representing 11 Florida Conference congregations to the “Thunder in the Desert: Symposium for Partnerships in African-American Churches” in Nashville, Tenn.

The event was designed to provide church leaders with resources to strengthen and energize African-American churches and was sponsored by the United Methodist Board of Discipleship.

Numerous African-American leaders at the event shared the concern that black churches have lost their identity and culture in worship and become so “Caucasian-ized” that they have forgotten God’s work and miracles in their lives.

“We have our own culture, and God has given us a style of worship that is unique, and we don't have to be ashamed of that,” McClellan said in a United Methodist News Service interview during the symposium. “We have become so ashamed of what God has done for us, and because of that our churches are dying."

Monroe wants the new director position to “become a reality and take effect in January 2009.”

Conference from the comfort of home

The “Living the United Methodist Way” 2008 Florida Annual Conference Event will be webcast live, beginning with opening worship May 29 at 2 p.m. Individuals would like to view the events via the webcast may go to http://www.flumc2.org/page.asp?PKValue=1339 on the Florida Conference Web site and click on the webcast link.

The entire conference session will be webcast, enabling those not able to attend the annual gathering at the Lakeland Center to see the activities and hear the important news taking place.

More information about the conference session, including a schedule of activities and reports being presented, is also available on the Web site.

______

______

Steven Skelley is a published author of several nonfiction works and the novella The Gargoyle Scrolls. He has been a newspaper columnist, travel writer, news writer, ordained minister, music director, creative arts director, theater reviewer and tennis instructor.

Children’s Home opens 24-hour emergency shelter By Steven Skelley

Children’s Home opens 24-hour emergency shelter

By Steven Skelley

Published by UM News Service at http://floridaconferenceconnection.info/newsarchives/detail/2659

The Florida United Methodist Children’s Home has partnered with the Community Partnership for Children to open an emergency shelter for children removed from their homes due to abuse, neglect, abandonment or family breakdown.

Ron Zychowski, chief executive officer of Community Partnership for Children, and Jennifer Raby, coordinator of the Florida United Methodist Children’s Home Emergency Shelter Care, cut the ribbon at the dedication ceremony for the new shelter. Photo courtesy of Florida United Methodist Children’s Home. Photo #08-0729.

It’s the first of its kind in the area.

The Chatlos-Quillian cottage on the Children’s Home camps was previously used as a residential care facility, but has been rededicated for emergency shelter care placement for children and youth ages 6 to 17.

Children who have no other place to go enter the shelter immediately after entering care with the Department of Children and Families or when removed from their current placement, no matter the time of day or night.

The cottage officially opened as the emergency shelter last July. It can accommodate 10 children who need immediate placement and provides specialized educational, therapeutic, clinical, recreational and spiritual services. The goal is for professional staff to provide a stable environment for children to be evaluated and appropriately placed in long-term care.

Community Partnership for Children provides temporary housing for children who must be removed from their homes while working to place them in safe, long-term care, whether through foster care or adoption. It currently cares for 1,234 children, but that number changes daily according to Jo Lynn Deal, chief development officer for the organization.

Statistics provided by the Florida United Methodist Children’s Home from 2006 show the Children’s Home served 135 children in residential care and 145 in foster care. More than 20 children were adopted.

Mike Galloway, president and chief executive officer of the Children’s Home, says he is excited about adding this program to the home’s array of services.

“While we have historically focused on long-term care for children during our 99 years of service, we have adapted as the needs of children have changed,” he said. “Children in crisis need, and deserve, the best we can give them as we help them cope with the traumatic circumstances that bring them to us.”

Ron Zychowski, Community Partnership for Children’s chief executive officer, says he is thankful for everyone who has worked to make “good things happen for children.” He says the partnership helps everyone better meet the needs of children during a challenging time in their lives.

“The new children’s shelter will enable us to offer a safe and loving environment for children removed from their homes while we prepare a comprehensive plan of care for them,” he said.

According to Miranda Levy, public relations coordinator for the Children’s Home, removing a child during a time of crisis causes major decreases in that child’s self-esteem and self-worth, as well as “behavioral management difficulties due to grief and loss, feeling of worthlessness, feelings of hopelessness for the future, fears of abandonment, and difficulty trusting others.”

She says the Children’s Home helps children cope with these challenges by providing a host of services, from a safe, structured environment in which their basic needs are met to “therapeutic support from a therapist to cope with grief/loss, behavioral analysis services for behavior management and stabilization, assessment by a licensed clinician to recommend other support or services needed and to help facilitate permanency.”

Jennifer A. Raby is coordinator of the emergency shelter. She says it is amazing how quickly the children and youth being helped by the shelter stabilize their behaviors and build relationships with the staff in the short time they are at the shelter. She says many remain in contact with the staff for support in their future placements.

Levy said past residents frequently call the shelter to keep in touch with staff and thank them for providing a safe atmosphere and support while going through such a difficult time. She says some have even said, “I want to work for Shelter when I turn 18.”

Raby says she has personally been touched by the work she does. “I have learned that before we try to help children prepare for some of the challenges they face in life, they need a solid basis and foundation, stable caregivers, structure, food, clothing, rest, hygiene, recreation, exposure to spirituality,” she said. “Children need to learn, but this evidence of bonding, trust and the planting seeds is a big part of what gives me fulfillment in this ministry.”

The Florida United Methodist Children’s Home has been providing residential care to school-aged boys and girls for nearly 100 years. It provides foster care and adoption services to Volusia, Seminole and Flagler counties. Florida United Methodist Children’s Home is one of four foster care service providers for Community Partnership for Children.

“The Florida United Methodist Children’s Home has a long tradition since its founding in 1908 as a provider serving both private-placed and state-placed children and youth,” Levy said, adding people can support the ministry with “donations of all types, not just monetary, and lots of prayers for our children.”

______

______

Steven Skelley is a published author of several nonfiction works and the novella The Gargoyle Scrolls. He has been a newspaper columnist, travel writer, news writer, ordained minister, music director, creative arts director, theater reviewer and tennis instructor.

Palatka church teaches kids keys to succeed By Steven Skelley

Palatka church teaches kids keys to succeed

By Steven Skelley

Published by UM News Service at http://floridaconferenceconnection.info/newsarchives/detail/1883

It’s been said that great things come from small beginnings. Emmanuel United Methodist Church in Palatka, Fla., has less than 40 members and yet it is launching youth programs that are positively affecting the entire school system and local community.

Dr. Errol Findlater, a prominent local surgeon, and Emmanuel’s pastor, the Rev. Zion D’Jatar, are men with a vision to alter the bleak future of kids caught in the cycle of poverty, crime and hopelessness.

“We are predominantly a black church in a black neighborhood,” Findlater explains. “A lot of the kids in this area have fallen behind. They are kinetic learners in a state school system that is a visual- and audio-based education. These kids need someone to teach them, to reach them in a way they can understand. We want to help them learn the skills they need to be successful in life.”

To that end Findlater and D’Jatar teamed up to launch Project Reach, an educational outreach, and North Point Youth Ministry, a sports-based outreach in Palatka, an area where more than 60 percent of families are single parent families. Many of these families live at poverty level.

Focusing on education

“Project Reach is an after-school program which serves 76 children,” Findlater explains. “The children are picked up at the school, given a snack and are in the learning center from 3:30 to 5 p.m. where they complete homework assignments and prepare for FCAT.”

D’Jatar says every child in the program is thoroughly evaluated so “we can understand their educational need and current level.”

Students participating in Emmanuel United Methodist Church's Project Reach program take a break from studying to pose for the camera. Photo by Thomas Routzong, Photo #07-502. Web photo only.

“Many of these kids operate from vocabularies and skills that are extremely limited,” he said. “We assess the kids, work with them and help them gain the skills they need to succeed. Not everyone else does, but we want them to succeed.”

Though the church may be limited in its resources because of it’s small size, its members know God is not. Miracle after miracle has occurred to supply them with the tools they need to reach the community’s kids.

“I needed a place to teach kids,” D’Jatar said. “I spoke to a group of men about our vision to reach kids and afterward a man came up to me and handed me the keys to a building! It was the building that was for sale just across the street from the church. We have been able to use this building rent-free.”

D’Jatar said the same happened when he needed computers. “A local military base had just purchased all new computers, and they offered us all the computers that had been replaced. We were given computers and monitors and everything,” he said. “We were even able to take some of these computers and give them away ourselves to other agencies that were in need.”

A key component of Project Youth is that it is success oriented, according to D’Jatar. The youth are given goals in each educational area. Then, they are mentored, tutored, encouraged and educated to achieve success in those areas, one at a time.

If a student is having difficulty with a certain word, for example, that word will be documented and written on a card that is placed in the student’s reading folder. The student will work on that word repeatedly until he is able to spell it, comprehend it, and use it in a sentence easily. Once the goal is achieved and the student has learned to succeed in the challenge of that word, the student and mentor celebrate the student’s success by actually tearing up the card and throwing it away as a symbol of conquering that challenge.

Each and every success is documented in each student’s file. D’Jatar and Findlater say the kids learn to succeed one word and one skill at a time.

Connecting through sports

North Point Youth is a sports-based outreach developed as a result of Findlater’s experience as a coach. “I have always coached soccer and basketball since moving to Palatka,” he said. “I am aware of the great influence a coach has on his players.”

Findlater decided to use that influence to establish relationships with local children, with specific goals in mind. “I could have the opportunity to share Jesus with them. We could raise another generation of believers. We could influence the young adults in the community because we knew them when they were young. Children in the neighborhood would exert positive peer pressure. Teach them love, sacrifice and discipline: staying on task until the task is completed.”

More than 35 youth referred by area schools participate in Emmanuel United Methodist Church's sports outreach, which includes requirements to also participate in worship and Bible study at the church. Photo by Thomas Routzong, Photo #07-503.Web photo only.

The ministry meets at Jenkins Middle School, just around the corner from the area’s subsidized housing. Eleven students dealing with behavior challenges were referred to Findlater from the guidance counselors at just one school and meet with him on Wednesdays at 2 p.m. for his basketball-based mentoring. Another 14 third- to sixth-grade students meet with him at 4 p.m. Yet another 11 students participate in his soccer-based mentoring program.

Each participant must meet a high standard set by Findlater. Participation is based on church attendance and good behavior at home and school. Students are actually graded by Findlater on these standards. “We have Bible study, life lessons, nursing home visits, after-school tours and college tours. They have to attend church or Bible study to participate.”

He hopes to eventually launch a statewide church basketball league.

The outreach to youth continues at the church. “We have decided to start a youth church so that they will have our full attention on Sundays,” Findlater said. “The need is overwhelming. Our youth are growing up without Christian values and without the ability to form strong personal relationships. They are disconnected from each other, and they do not see each other as valuable or precious. This affects all of society and our future.”

“God is doing great things, but there are still great needs,” D’Jatar adds. “The curriculum we use to reach these kids costs over $6,000. We are asking people to pray for us. ... Remember us in your prayers from 3 to 5 p.m. each afternoon. Keep us covered in prayer. We are also looking for people to financially support us as a mission. Every dollar helps us reach kids and give them the skills they need to succeed. God loves these kids and wants them to fulfill their potential.”

More information on the North Point Youth ministry is available online at http://www.NorthPointYouth.com. 

Emmanuel United Methodist Church can be reached at 386-325-5496.

______

______

Steven Skelley is a published author of several nonfiction works and the novella The Gargoyle Scrolls. He has been a newspaper columnist, travel writer, news writer, ordained minister, music director, creative arts director, theater reviewer and tennis instructor.

Acts of vandalism become catalyst for reaching teens by Steven Skelley

Acts of vandalism become catalyst for reaching teens

by Steven Skelley

Published at UM News Service - http://floridaconferenceconnection.info/newsarchives/detail/1919

Emmanuel United Methodist Church in Bradenton is like many churches, a congregation of retirees that had prayed for years that God would send them some young people. God answered their prayers in a very unusual way.

The church property had been suffering acts of vandalism for quite a while. The Rev. Charlie Rentz, pastor of the church, said he’d often find “skateboard damage, things broken, graffiti painted on church walls, and trash and beer cans left in the courtyard.”

Local police officers were asked to patrol the church property after church office hours. Church members also visited the property in an effort to limit damage. A church video security camera revealed that nearly 75 youth were “hanging out on the church grounds” on Friday evenings alone.

Neighborhood youth skateboard, listen to music and just hang out Friday nights at Emmanuel United Methodist Church in Bradenton through the church's youth outreach ministry. "We gained their trust, and now they love and trust us, and we love them right back,” said volunteer Jan Froltz. Photo courtesy of Emmanuel United Methodist Church. Photo #07-0507.

The kids on the security tape were very different from the people in Emmanuel’s congregation. They dressed in the gothic style and had body piercings and unusual hairstyles.

In June 2006 Rentz preached a sermon from the third chapter of 1 Samuel. In this scripture passage young Samuel is called by God and chooses to follow God’s instruction. Rentz’s message encouraged his congregation to follow Samuel’s example and respond to God’s call for their church and ministry.

Within days of the sermon, 78-year-old church member Shirley Chenoweth visited Rentz. She said: “The Lord is sending us young people here every Friday night. They might not be the kind of young people we have prayed for God to send us, but he has sent them. Now what are we going to do about it?”

With Rentz’s blessing, Chenoweth organized a team to reach out to the young people who often trespassed on church property. One Friday night they opened the doors of the fellowship hall and invited the kids in for snacks and drinks. About 20 of the youth accepted.

The next week they opened the doors and offered refreshments again, but they also added access to a ping-pong table. More young people came.

In the three months that followed, the Emmanuel youth outreach team expanded its ministry. They offered hotdogs, hamburgers and pizza as they continued to invite the kids into the church building.

A number of local merchants who had also experienced vandalism in the past offered door prizes to kids who attended the church outreach. Regal Cinemas offered movie passes. Blockbuster Video offered free video rentals. TCBY offered free snack coupons. Someone donated an iPod to be given away.

Today, more than 80 young people attend the outreach every Friday night. “It is not uncommon to see a large group eating snacks, playing ping-pong and just visiting with the adults who support them,” Rentz says. “The church members that are here are mostly retirees in their 70s and 80s. It is like these kids have found a new set of grandparents.”

Jan Froltz volunteers her time and talents each week. “Isn’t it remarkable what God has done?” she says. “Some of these kids had lost trust in teachers and parents so God brought grandparents like us into their lives. They don’t feel threatened with us. We gained their trust, and now they love and trust us, and we love them right back.”

As church members spoke to the kids and created relationships the kids told them they just wanted a place to hang out and someone to listen to them.

More than 80 Bradenton youth now participate in Emmanuel United Methodist Church's outreach teen ministry. Acts of vandalism by some of the youth brought them and the congregation together. Photo courtesy of Emmanuel United Methodist Church. Photo #07-0508.

Instead of trying to “cram Jesus down their throats,” Rentz, Chenoweth, Ed and Judy Graniwicz, and the outreach team say they simply try to gain the kids’ trust and let them know the church cares about them. Rentz’s son Caleb plays guitar in the courtyard for the kids. Local Christian bands are brought in to play, as well.

Eighteen-year-old Nick Gill attends on Friday nights. “I come because it is so fun and the people here are respectful and nice,” he said. “They let us skate and have fun. They talk to us. We can talk to them about anything.”

Tina Williams, 13, agrees. “A friend told me about this place a while ago. It is really fun and the people are cool. I hang out here with my friends and a lot of people skateboard. The people from the church are awesome. We look at them as our grandparents.”

Rentz says the youth outreach program has been “financially and graciously supported” by the entire congregation. He also notes there has not been a single act of vandalism at the church since the opening of the youth outreach program.

And what does Chenoweth think? “These kids are a gift from God.”

Emmanuel United Methodist Church’s outreach runs every Friday, 6-9 p.m.

###

______

______

Steven Skelley is a published author of several nonfiction works and the novella The Gargoyle Scrolls. He has been a newspaper columnist, travel writer, news writer, ordained minister, music director, creative arts director, theater reviewer and tennis instructor.

Steven Skelley releases single of THANK YOU GOD FOR MAKING MOMS

Steven Skelley has released a single of his song Thank You God For Making Moms which received over 98,000 views on youtube.

The song was written about Steven Skelley's mother Sherill and his daughter Steffany Joy. "I was born in Canton, Ohio in 1963 to Sherill May McWilliams Skelley. She taught me the amazing value of hugs and smiles and laughter. Mom’s mom, Virginia Margaret Wheatley McWilliams was her best friend as well as instigator and partner in their many silly and fun adventures. They modeled for me how great family can be. I hope my daughter and I carry on their legacy of love, friendship and shared adventure," Skelley said.



Thank You God For Making Moms is available as an MP3 download for only 99 cents at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/stevenskelley


______
______
Steven Skelley is a published author of several nonfiction works and the novella The Gargoyle Scrolls. He has been a newspaper columnist, travel writer, news writer, ordained minister, music director, creative arts director, theater reviewer and tennis instructor.

Steven Skelley - Author

Author / photographer Thomas Routzong was diagnosed with cancer in 1996 and given only a 30% chance of survival. His wife lost her battle with cancer soon after. Thomas survived and vowed not to waste even a minute of the rest his life. After working on the Apollo 11 space program and serving his community for 30 years as an educator, he began traveling the world, writing, and photographing its beauty.

Author / photographer Steven Skelley battled his own life-threatening illness after being exposed to toxic mold but survived with a desire to encourage others through his writing, photography and music. Skelley has not allowed his physical disabilities to stop him from experiencing and sharing all that life has to offer.

Routzong and Skelley partnered together to author:

• Positive Reflections: Inspiring Thoughts & Photographs From Around The World
• the best of Hometown Heroes florida
• Every Day Is Mothers Day

These books are available at SunnyHarborPublishing.org

Steven Skelley and his daughter Steffany Skelley Gilmer coauthored the novella The Gargoyle Scrolls.

It is available at Amazon.com

Watch The Gargoyle Scrolls commercial on YouTube.

Routzong and Skelley help people document the stories of their lives and families. Forget Me Not.

What people say about Skelley's books:

"They are great!" U.S. Senator Bill Nelson

"Robin has received Positive Reflections…and they have truly lifted her spirits. She wants you to know that you are in her thoughts and prayers." Ayana Smith - personal assistant of Robin Roberts / Good Morning America

"As a cancer survivor, I truly believe in living every day to the fullest and doing the things that make us happy. This book helps remind me to do that." Catherine Schweinsberg / Brevard County Library Services Director

"What a joy to find your simply splendid publication.It is wonderfully well done." Hazel Haley / Lakeland, FL

"I wish you great success with the book -- you deserve it!" Patrick D. Smith / Nobel and Pulitzer nominated author

"This book grabbed me from the very beginning, and I just couldn't put it down! It's a thought provoking, well written story...with the theme centered around the history of gargoyles, which I have always found intriguing! There is a lesson for all of us in this book, but you'll have to read it to find yours! Enjoy!" Ginger F. / Naples, FL

"The authors tell remarkable stories." Gary Roen / Midwest Book Review


______
______
Steven Skelley is a published author of several nonfiction works and the novella The Gargoyle Scrolls. He has been a newspaper columnist, travel writer, news writer, ordained minister, music director, creative arts director, theater reviewer and tennis instructor.