PENN TWP — The hiring of the Rev. Kris Denning, who took over Nov. 3 as pastor of Oak Hills Christian Church, 100 Township Line Road, was a matter of faith.

The Disciples of Christ church's search committee, headed by Ricky Lake, believe Denning is the man to bring new blood and new members to the church.

Denning has faith he can attract more young people and solve some of the 57-year-old church's financial problems.

Denning replaced the Rev. Sekinah Hamlin, who had been serving as interim pastor for 18 months. Two weeks before his arrival, Denning said, the church also hired a new music director, Jack Rooks.

“I was serving as the evangelism chair at First Christian Church in Lawton, Okla. Before that I was pastor at First Christian Church in Henrietta, Okla. I grew up in Lawton,” said Denning.

“The way my denomination works,” said Denning, “is there is a database. I submitted my request to be a pastor. It does an elaborate search and recall.”

It must match up pastors with searching churches with a fair degree of success, because, Denning said, “It happened pretty quickly. They called me for an interview. Thirty minutes later they called for a second interview. Ten days later I came out here to interview and three weeks later I moved here.”

“We had four phone interviews, and then we narrowed it down and felt that Kris was our strongest candidate, ”said Lake of the process. “Then we had a Skype interview. Then we had him fly in from Oklahoma. He came in on a Friday and stayed on to Monday and preached at both our services.”

What sold the 10-member search committee on Denning, said Lake, was his “knowledge of Biblical principles, his ability to engage with others, his ability to do outreach.”

“And one of the things for me was just his knowledge about the Bible and being able to explain why he believes what he believes and to support it with Biblical facts,” said Lake.

Joining Denning in the move is his wife of 10 years, Chleora.

“I think Pennsylvania is a very beautiful state. The people are friendly,” said Denning.

Denning said he has plans for the future of the 45-member church.

Noting the church runs a 7 p.m. service on the first and third Sunday of each month called Sunday Night Light, Denning said, “I'm trying to get them to go every week on the Sunday night service. I'm hoping to move it back to 6 p.m. I think we'd get a better turnout that way.”

Sunday Night Light is a contemporary worship service with live music from a 10-member band.

“The service is less formal, we move around more, a lot more. I want to get that to be every Sunday night and move it forward to 6 p.m.,” said Denning.

“People plan for a routine,” said Denning. “If it is consistent every week, it will draw more people.”

“If it is at 6 p.m. it will draw more people,” he continued. “We want fellowship, but people want to be home on a Sunday night.”

And Denning will teach Sunday school again starting Sunday after classes had been on hiatus for the summer.

Denning said he will conduct Sunday school in the church sanctuary to accommodate an accompanying slide show for “Creationism: A Literal Approach to Genesis Chapter 1.” He expects to have 10 to 15 students.

And he wants to get Oak Hills' message out on the Internet.

“We are currently in the process of trying to get our services on the Web. We are getting more cameras, better sound equipment for that ministry,” said Denning.

“Personally, I would like to do a podcast on the Internet. I think it would be an easier way to reach out to more people in the community. It's an exciting way to outreach,” Denning said.

“I'm thinking to podcast once a week. I'm ambitious, but not that ambitious yet,” said Denning.

It's all part of the plan to attract more people to Oak Hills.

“We are looking to grow the church, doing some outreach, tapping into the community, invest time to bringing youth into the church, starting up our Bible study,” said Lake. “Really just reaching out there and connecting with the community, spread knowledge about the church.”

“I don't like to dwell on it, but it's an aging congregation and as we lose older members the church is facing financial struggles,” said Denning. “Already we have several young families to move the church into the future.”

He's seen this before. When Denning was pastor at First Christian Church in Henrietta, 13 members of the congregation died in 13 months, a blow that left the church unable to afford a full-time pastor, he said.

He also has plans to solve Oak Hills' financial situation.

“I'm hoping to solve some of the financial problems by advertising the fellowship hall as a wedding chapel,” said Denning. “ We have a beautiful outdoor vespers area that would be for small weddings.”

Denning graduated from American Christian College and Seminary in Oklahoma City and was ordained at Crossroads Baptist Church in Oklahoma City.

“I grew up as Disciples of Christ. I went to the Baptist Church and came back to the Disciples of Christ,” said Denning. “I was looking for a mentor and he was Baptist and I studied under him for five years.”

Denning said that while the Disciples of Christ and the Baptists are both congregational churches, the Baptists are a lot more conservative and take a literal approach to the Scriptures.

The Disciples of Christ leave interpretation of the Scripture up to the individual, said Denning.

“Usually the only time a Baptist becomes a Disciple is when they get divorced. That is not the case for me. I'm just different,” Denning said.

“All the churches seem to be struggling right now. When I first heard about Oak Hills' financial situation, I was terrified. Then I met the people here, and I saw the passion and the faith that would let them hire a pastor and a music director, and I couldn't turn it down,” said Denning.

“Following God's will, no obstacle will get in your way,” said Denning.