LORAIN – As she put jackets on her children and bundled her 6-month-old daughter Brooklyn beneath a blanket in a stroller, Stephenie Balduff wasn’t certain the four would last the 9 miles from Lorain to Elyria.

“I’m not sure we’ll walk the whole way,” the Elyria mother said.

“It’s so cold,” 9-year-old daughter Jillian Voetsch chimed in as they stood in the parking lot of Lorain City Hall shortly before the noontime kickoff of the sixth annual Cross Walk sponsored by Lorain’s Church of the New Harvest.

Balduff’s third daughter, Cory, 4, shivered a bit in the unexpectedly brisk wind coming in off Lake Erie.

“This is our first year to do it,” Balduff said. “We wanted to show support for the church.”

They were among approximately 40 adults and children who turned out for the event.

“We want to show there are people who care for a community that too often focuses on the potholes, empty buildings and crime,” New Harvest Pastor Danny Parsons said.

“We want to lift up the entire community in prayer. We want to let our light show.”

Soft laughter could be heard at that moment, as bright sunshine broke through gray, clouds.

“Everyone is so quick to point fingers over problems, but no one is interested in being part of the solution,” Parsons said. “We want to give people hope today. There are people working to make positive things happen in this community.”

Members of the church focus on outreach activities for Lorain’s Haven Center homeless shelter, local nursing homes and the Lorain County Jail.

“If people do not come to church, we’ll take God to them,” Parsons said.

“No one is expected to walk all nine miles,” Parsons told the gathering as they donned coats and snugged sweatshirt hoods on their heads. “You are here and that’s what matters. We just want you to do the best you can.”

The pastor and his wife, Melissa Parsons, were joined by their own four children: Jonah, 15, Noah, 13, Benjamin, 7, and Chloe, 4.

“The first year we held it in October and it sleeted,” Melissa Parsons said. “It was miserable.”

The church moved the walk up a month from then on, but still battled some nasty weather.

“We’ve walked in the pouring rain and wind, but it’s a blessing to start the walk and complete it,” Melissa Parsons said.

Formed in January 2008 with 17 members, the church has grown to about 80 members, whose prayers for a new home have paid off with their pending relocation from the Children Developmental Center in Amherst to an unused building acquired from another church at Bell Avenue and Adams Street in Elyria.

“We are outgrowing our current space,” Melissa Parsons said. “This suits us perfectly and offers room to grow.”

Another first-time walker was Dustie Cooper of Elyria. A member of the church, she was dressed in jeans and a green T-shirt. Cooper was also surprised at the unseasonably cool weather.

“It wasn’t this cold this morning when I let the dogs out,” Cooper said.

A cousin of Parsons, Cooper said she was walking to support the church, and Danny Parsons Sr., 61, her uncle and the pastor’s father. Despite battling renal cancer, he took part in the walk.

“We wanted to focus on cancer this time,” Danny Parsons said. “There are a lot of people afflicted with it.”

The walk took participants south on Broadway to North Ridge Road, where they headed east Lake Avenue and again turned south to continue the walk into Elyria, ending at city hall about 4:30 p.m. with a total of 60 walkers. “We had people join us along the way,” Parsons said. “We got a lot of honks, ‘good job’ and ‘God bless you’s.’ ”

For more information, call (440) 714-0820 or go to www.churchofthenewharvest.org.

Contact Steve Fogarty at 329-7146 or sfogarty@chroniclet.com.

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