BUTLER TWP — That tall man with the rucksack and the English accent doesn't mind talking as he hikes along the streets and roads of Butler County.

In fact, the Rev. Ashley Stansfield invites people to stop him for a chat as he works on a leg of his 100-mile prayer walk throughout May.

Stansfield, the new senior pastor of Oak Hills Christian Church, 100 Township Line Road, said the walk is being done in stages.

“Sometimes I will start from the church. I will be walking and praying and giving these cards to people. And we hope to get them to like and share us on Facebook,” he said.

It's all part of Stansfield's effort to continue to grow the Oak Hills congregation.

Since he took over as pastor Feb. 22, Stansfield said attendance at Oak Hills' 10:45 a.m. Sunday service has been increasing.

“It's double in size in the last two months,” he said going from an attendance in the 20s to an attendance in the mid-40s range.

“We've seen a lot of new people come through the door, which is good if you like people,” Stansfield said. “The vast majority are people who are new to the church.”

But Stansfield is no stranger to Oak Hills Christian Church, having stayed in the parsonage last year from March to June.

Stansfield said, “At the end of 80 days I went back to England. They asked me then if I would be their pastor. It's taken the best part of nine months to sort everything out and get the visa. It was a long, long process.”

Ben McCurdy of Butler Township, a member of the church board that made the offer to Stansfield last year, said the choice wasn't difficult.

“We had an opportunity to know Ash over the period of time he spent with us,” said McCurdy. “We thought it was God's calling in a lot of different ways.”

McCurdy said one stunning way was a 2016 TV ad for a Pittsburgh television station. Apparently the station filmed in Butler because the ad showed a picture of Stansfield walking along a street while the words “Your hometown” appeared underneath the picture.

And while Stansfield is a Baptist, and Oak Hills is a Disciples of Christ congregation, McCurdy said, that doesn't present a problem. In fact, the congregation voted to extend the job offer to Stansfield on the board's recommendation, he said.

“Through God's timing for us, everything has worked out,” said McCurdy.

“The church has been through a lot over the years, and we are very happy right now,” McCurdy said about the increase in attendance.

As for his plans for the church, Stansfield said, “I am working to bring the church more so into the 21st century. I want more modern songs. I want church to be a fun place to be. I preach in a comedy style.”

“This is my pastorate and I am an evangelist at heart,” said Stansfield. “I offer to speak before other groups and churches.”

In fact, he said, other pastors and ministers will be invited to his installation service at 6 p.m. May 28 with the Rev. Thaddeus Allen, the regional minister of the Disciples of Christ Pennsylvania and West Virginia region, in attendance.

Stansfield said the primary reason for his ongoing prayer walk “was as a way to get out and be meeting people.

“A lot of people don't know where Oak Hills is,” he said. “And this is a part of public relations in trying to get people looking at Facebook, just getting people to know we are here in all kinds of ways, getting out the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“I'm going to be doing miles of walking and prayer. I will have a rucksack on my back. If people see me, come up, ask for a prayer, say hello,” he said.

WHAT: Installation service of the Rev. Ashley Stansfield as pastor of Oak Hills Christian Church; Light refreshments immediately followingWHEN: 6 p.m. May 28WHERE: Oak Hills Christian Church, 100 Township Line Road (at the corner of Old Plank Road and Township Line Road)INFO: The Rev. Thaddaeus Allen, regional minister at Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Pennsylvania and West Virginia will attend.