Church of Christ at Forest Hill Appoints New Family Life Minister

Jonathan Ransom, who assumed the role of family life minister at in January, has spent much of his 33 years exploring what he calls the mysteries of faith.

His spiritual adventure began when he was a child in Youngstown, memorizing the Bible’s shortest verse, John 11:35: “Jesus wept.”

“There’s a lot of talk in that chapter about Jesus and his power and his relationship to God.” Ransom said a few days ago from the church office. “Yet in that verse, it shows his human side as well. It’s one of the mysteries of faith —understanding the full divinity yet the full humanity of Jesus. That one little verse doesn’t solve the mystery, but I think it helps us want to explore it.”

Ransom was born in West Virginia, grew up in Youngstown and graduated from Newton Falls High School in Trumbull County. He met his wife, Julie, at church.

He enrolled at Youngstown State University with intentions of becoming a teacher, but he didn’t complete his degree. He and Julie got married in 1997 — two years after graduating from high school — and started a family. They have three children, ages 2, 9 and 12.

With a family to support, Ransom took a job as a machinist at a subsidiary of in Portage County. When that plant closed, he was transferred to the main plant in Solon.

“I’m not mechanically minded, in general,” Ransom said. “It was never a job I envisioned myself having, but I’m a lot better off. Things around the house, I can do now. I understand the properties and principles of how things work.”

Ransom also developed an understanding of the scripture Matthew 6:33: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” In other words: Don’t worry. Have faith.

“I’ve done more than my share of worrying about things I shouldn’t worry about as a person of faith,” Ransom said. “It leads to anxiety and misery. Things fall into place when you make those things secondary.”

He stepped out in faith when he left his job and moved to Parkersburg, WV, to resume his education at Ohio Valley University, a Christian-based liberal arts university. The school gave him a job as a mailroom supervisor.

“We had lean times, but we were taken care of,” Ransom said.

Three years later, Ransom furthered his studies at Harding University Graduate School of Religion in Memphis, TN. While there, he had a job as associate minister for a local Church of Christ and lived in campus housing.

Just when he felt it was time to return to Ohio and go into full-time ministry, he met a student whose family belongs to Church of Christ at Forest Hill. The serendipitous meeting led to Ransom’s joining the ministry staff in Cleveland Heights.

Today, his exploration of the mysteries of faith centers on the biblical parable of the talents (Matthew Chapter 25), the stewardship of one’s gifts and abilities.

How to use one’s talents is not specified.

“You just get out there and do it,” Ransom said, “and things will take care of themselves.”