(This is another in a series of articles about churches in the Iola area.)
Jeff Cokely has tapped into a niche of local worshippers.
The goal: To make folks more comfortable with God’s message.
“This is where my heart is, my passion,” said Cokely, pastor and founder of Fellowship Regional Church. “I want to break down barriers.”
The nondenominational church was Cokely’s brainchild in February of 2007. Then, as pastor of First Baptist Church in Iola, Cokely sought an untraditional church setting in which the focus was on God and not on preconceived notions about his followers.
He created the setting by establishing Fellowship Regional at the former Iola Cinemas building on South Washington Avenue, where the congregation is just as apt to be wearing blue jeans and shorts as suits and ties.
Cokely’s sermons, interspersed with music, games and other activities, might seem outside of the traditional church realm, but it all serves a higher purpose, he says. The energetic, yet relaxed atmosphere is a means to reach the segment of the population not prone to attending church.
“We want to reach the younger generation,” Cokely said. “Our services are designed to be vibrant, celebrative, moving, and yes, even humorous at the appropriate times.
“We’ve had people attend, who for whatever reason, didn’t like it, and I appreciated their honesty,” he added, acknowledging that, in the eyes of some, the Fellowship Regional’s proceedings aren’t seen as “reverent” or “worshipful” as traditional church settings.
For those with more conservative tastes, Cokely suggests the 30 or so other churches in the area.
“There are great opportunities for those folks to find the right church for them,” he said. “We don’t want people to feel uncomfortable about worshipping God.”
Fellowship Regional has found a following. About 75 worshippers can be found at both the Saturday evening and Sunday morning services.
“We really don’t do a lot of outreach, but our membership has grown,” Cokely said, largely through word-of-mouth.
The nature of a church determines its structure, Cokely explained. Fellowship Regional’s is a simple, gift-based structure.
Another staple: Music. The church’s talented and popular praise band rocks the sanctuary.
“I’m smart enough to know that the key to my success is surrounding myself with great and talented individuals,” Cokely said.
ONE OF THOSE is Jared Ellis, who joined Fellowship Regional staff last July to begin its Saturday night worship service. Filled with energy and music, the Saturday night service appeals to those considered “unchurched,” Ellis said.
“People tend to avoid things that cause them discomfort,” Ellis said. “And as a whole, the nation for years has tended to push back against the church because they considered it narrow-minded. I don’t think there was ever a push back against spirituality. If anything, people are embracing things about God today more than ever before.”
Ellis was asked by Cokely to lead the Saturday night service.
“He asked if I wanted to be involved,” Ellis said. “I asked ‘how involved?’ He told me the job description was whatever I wanted it to be.”
Ellis jumped at the opportunity, relishing the freedom to intersperse his services with music, guest speakers and plenty of stories about Christ.
“It’s nondemoninational, but we really do some pretty traditional stuff,” Ellis added. “We’ll get people in here with a Baptist background, Christians, Catholics. We’ve had Mormons and those with Pentecostal backgrounds show up.”
The more the merrier, he said.
COKELY grew up in Linwood, a small town about 15 miles east of Lawrence, where he was a standout athlete in high school.
He wasn’t sure becoming a pastor was in his cards.
“Sports were my god,” he said. “That’s what I did.”
He earned a football scholarship to attend Pittsburg State University, but his career was cut short by a kidney injury.
While some of his teammates talked about their devotion to Christ, “I’d never really looked into my faith,” he said. However, as his college life progressed, Cokely began to explore Christianity and other faith systems.
Cokely, who had always considered himself a bit of a ruffian — “I was in my share of fights growing up,” he said — also discovered a yearning for knowledge.
He soon transferred to Ottawa University, where he met and married his wife, Nancy, and then went on to the University of Kansas, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in world religions and religion in American Society. He went on to earn master’s degrees in religious education and divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a doctorate of ministry in evangelistic church growth from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Steve and Nancy moved to Iola in 1989, where he pastored at Grace Baptist Church for six years before moving to Hutchinson. He returned to Iola in 2002 to pastor First Baptist Church, an appointment that lasted for five years, until he founded Fellowship Regional in 2007.
The new outreach began at the Recreation Community Building at Riverside Park but services had been held there for just a few months before the building was badly damaged in the 2007 flood. Looking for a new church home, Cokely met with founders of The One, a youth center in downtown Iola that had recently acquired the old movie theater.
They agreed to allow Cokely to move his church there for a nominal monthly rent.
“The One has been such a blessing to us,” Cokely said. “They’ve been unbelievably wonderful and generous.”
Fellowship Regional volunteers have spruced up the old movie house. A large stage now holds the praise band in the auditorium. Bathrooms were rebuilt last year. Ellis, a skilled carpenter, has helped oversee much of the renovation work.
“It’s a process,” Cokely said.
ANOTHER building project involves expanded outreach to area youth. The church’s weekly youth group meetings are led by Iolan Brian Hutton, who recently completed his college work at Ottawa University.
“I’m getting a bit too old to keep up with those kids,” Cokely said with a laugh. “Brian has done a tremendous job working with the youths, and that has really grown. We’re thrilled with the job he has done.”
