Retreat center blessed with new mattresses
CLINTON TWP — Visitors to the Christ is the Answer Retreat Center, 450 Westminster Road, can rest easier now.
A grant of $5,000 was recently used to buy 36 new mattresses for the center's bedrooms, said the Rev. Dennis Kozora, pastor of Christ is the Answer Chapel, 225 Neupert Road, Jefferson Township.
The center covers 70 acres and has a building in the shape of a cross that holds a kitchen, bedrooms and meeting room. The surrounding area has a basketball court as well as trails through the woods.
Kozora, who has been pastor since 1984 of the nondenominational church founded by his father-in-law, the Rev. Earl Huston, in 1958, said the donation from the Ira and Frances Wood Charitable Trust funded the latest of a series of renovations at the retreat center.
Kozora said in February 2012 a malfunction of an oil furnace filled the building with a layer of oily soot.
“We had to have the carpet taken out and the place repainted,” said Kozora, who added it took a crew eight days to clean.
Ira Wood, who died in 2006, owned the Tour-Ed Coal Mine outside Tarentum.
Kozora said, “He was a quiet man who came to our services. When I got Ira Wood to smile or laugh I knew I accomplished something.”
This is not the first grant the church has gotten from the trust, Kozora said, but “never for this amount.”
“It was established as part of Ira's estate plan,” said Sara Mercer of Pittsburgh, one its trustees.
“Every year it makes a charitable contribution to a variety of organizations that he cared about,” she said.
Mercer said while some of the 60 organizations include Animal Friends and Meals on Wheels, most of the grant recipients are churches.
“He did not select any one church to be associated with,” she said. “He attended a different church every week or pretty close to that.”
Mercer said every year the churches and organizations submit proposals for grants for objects or projects “that they feel are valuable to the church.”
The retreat center certainly counts as valuable, according to Kozora.“It provides a Christ-centered atmosphere for youths. It's a place where men can be men and share their hearts in an atmosphere like this,” he said.And, he added, the retreat center is needed more than ever.“The divorce rate is 50 percent now. There are no role models for youths,” he said.“The Bible is not an antique or outdated. It is living and life-giving,” Kozora said. “I believe it is something the family needs to be strengthened around. Strength and success is determined by the word of God.”Kozora said he hoped that other church groups would use the center for picnics, anniversary dinners and retreats.“It would be a network of other churches that glorify Jesus Christ to rescue the generation,” Kozora said. “I've seen so many youths during youth services make a commitment to the righteous life, a godly life.”To mark the 30th anniversary of Kozora's pastorship, his church will have a special 10:45 a.m. service Sunday with guest speaker, the Rev. Jeff Becker.
