Lighting 'The Spark'

Pastor Aaron Boyd and his wife, Keri, are launching The Spark Ministries this morning. Easter Sunday is ideal for this new phase the church has entered, where services are held in a school-turned-church building in McClure, Illinois.

The Boyds started The Spark in January 2013, when they answered the call to bring their unique style of ministry to McClure, where Keri was raised after being born in Cape Girardeau. At that time, they and their three children embarked on a journey that has led them to their Sunday launch, which includes a building they are using thanks to owner Scott McDowell.

McDowell "has a personality of 'nothing wasted,'" Boyd said. The building, which was once McClure High School and, most recently, Shawnee South Grade School, was sitting idle. When Aaron and Keri asked to use it, McDowell almost immediately agreed. He has an "extremely generous spirit," Boyd said, and has allowed them to use it.

Boyd is a barber by profession, and before starting The Spark, which is his "first church plant," he was exercising that profession at Fort Leonard Wood in St. Roberts, Missouri. The son of a pastor, he and Keri began to recognize "little tiny hints" that they were to begin pastoring themselves.

"It was small," he said. "It was a spark -- one thing after another. … We paid attention to details."

Aaron Boyd, lead paster at The Spark Ministries poses for a photo in a room used for student ministries at the old Shawnee South Elementary School in McClure, Illinois Tuesday, March 22, 2016.Glenn Landberg

Those details led them to believe God was speaking to them. Shortly after Boyd told his wife that very thing, the phone rang. On the other end was his best friend, who said he needed help with his barber shop. That was all they needed to hear to set out on their new mission. All the little hints had lined up to unveil a bigger picture. It has "been a crazy whirlwind since then," Boyd said, adding that it was "totally Spirit-led."

This was not Boyd's first leadership role, as he had been called to pastor at 16. He was a youth and music pastor and worked closely in ministry with his father. However, he had never been a lead pastor.

Boyd chose an interesting name for his new church. So what does "The Spark" actually mean?

"The whole concept behind it is people recognizing potential at every level," he explained. "The spark means it doesn't take a huge massive machine or system to generate incredible results." He went on to say Jesus is the spark, and they are "getting people to recognize that element that is in their lives."

That dynamic is part-and-parcel of what distinguishes their church from others. The Spark congregation, ironically, is made up of people who wanted nothing to do with church.

Aaron Boyd, lead paster at The Spark Ministries poses for a photo in front of the old Shawnee South Elementary School in McClure, Illinois Tuesday, March 22, 2016.Glenn Landberg

"The people that make up our ministry are people who have given up on church, and that literally speaks to most everyone that goes there. They had given up totally on church, and we connected as friends," Boyd said.

When these friends learned he was a pastor, they were "extremely skeptical," he said, because they had no intention of going to church again. In fact, he said, they "hated church people."

"They were atheists and agnostics, people with zero belief in God at all," Boyd said. Nonetheless, he said, "we showed them what [God] is supposed to look like," which changed their lives.

The Spark is not a typical religious experience. It's not a "huge, intimidating thing," Boyd added. He was able to approach the congregation with a mindset that said, "I know that you're done with people that have hurt you," and he was able to "show them their spark"-- their "defining purpose."

Reaching these people has been the greatest joy of ministry for the Boyds.

Steve Parker, lead project manager at The Spark Ministries uses a lift to adjust the location of a projector at the old Shawnee South Elementary School building in McClure, Illinois Tuesday, March 22, 2016.Glenn Landberg

"I love working with the unworkable ... the hardest ones … people who have been manipulated, rammed through, overlooked, weren't given an opportunity to be who God called them to be, but what the ministry needed them to be," Boyd said. He loves giving them the chance to be who God has called them to be and showing them that living that kind of life "is as easy as breathing."

Looking ahead to today's launch, Boyd enthusiastically praised the man he said has made it all possible. Steve Parker of Parker Custom Concepts, a fabrication business, made the building into a church. He did everything from the "platforms, pipe and drape and all projects" to "totally transform" the building, and he donated his time in doing so, said Boyd, adding that every week, Parker has added something. They will continue to improve upon it, but it is ready for this morning's Resurrection Sunday service. "We could not have done it without him," Boyd said.

The Spark Ministries has espoused "Remember who you really are" as its Easter theme.

"Essentially, we believe that every person has an intended purpose," Boyd said. Instead of getting "overclouded" with "loud noise," the mission -- the spark -- upon which they are focused is getting people back to why they are here. People generally "see glimpses of it," he said, but he and Keri desire to make it clearer.

"One of the things we're trying to hit on is that something is speaking to you … and nothing is accidental," Boyd said. That principle is the heart of the ministry to which Aaron and Keri are committed.

The Spark Ministries is at 35559 Grapevine Trail in McClure. Sunday worship at 11 a.m. For more information, visit facebook.com/thesparkignited.