..... Meet The Pastor and his Family

Thank you for visiting the Maple View website.  I would like to take a moment to introduce you to our family.  The photo here was taken June of 2008.  It includes Amy and myself as well as our oldest son, Brendan.  Brendan is a freshman at a local community college pursuing civil engineering.  The two younger boys, standing in front, are our sons Joel and Shawn.  Amy is holding our ‘soon to be’ newest addition, Matthew.  We hope to finalize his adoption this spring and bring him home from the Dominican Republic in 2009.  He turned two January 16th.

We also have a daughter, Mandie who met her husband to be shortly after moving to Ohio.  She and Kevin were married in May of 2007.  In the past year, she has completed college with a degree in human services technology, while Kevin will be done later this year with a degree in nursing.

   We have loved living in north east Ohio.  It was a bit of a culture shock having lived so close to New York City, but have become quite comfortable living in Geauga County.  I came to Maple View as the youth pastor in 2005, and really believed I would work with youth for many more years.  My wife and I have always loved working with teens, but in 2007 God called me to take the position of senior pastor.  The people at Maple View have been so loving, making us feel like we have been here most of our lives.  I have also been encouraged seeing that they love God so much and understand what it means to share that love with others.

   As a pastor it is my desire to teach God’s word clearly to our church.  It is within God’s word that we find the answers to the questions of each day.  We must remember that none of us are perfect and we all desperately need God’s tender grace in our lives.  We would count it a privilege to get to know you better.  Please consider visiting us and getting to know the Maple View family.

God Bless,
Pastor Ernie Francis
Senior Pastor
Maple View Mennonite Church