Bridging Divides: Mansfield clergy and civic leaders call for faith in service to community

MANSFIELD — A skyline full of steeples and sanctuaries in the early 20th century defined Mansfield as the “City of Churches.” 

It was a moniker earned when passengers stepped off the train at the foot of the hill — near where the Ohio Brass building now stands — and raised their eyes to a collection of church spires piercing Mansfield’s horizon.

Over the years, many of those congregations migrated outward and downtown transformed into office towers and modern facades. But that history still hangs, quite literally, in the sanctuary of St. Luke’s Point of Grace. 

A digital mural created in 2013 by Timothy McKee blends more than 60 old photos into a massive portrait of 16 downtown churches — recalling an era when faith was the city’s most prominent landmark.

But if steeples once defined Mansfield’s horizon, today’s faith leaders said the measure of the church is what happens beyond its walls.

Pastor Mark Cobb has come to be known as the “face of grief” among Black youth and families in Mansfield. In the past five years, he’s presided over more than 200 funerals — but estimates only six were members of his own Providence Baptist congregation.

“We need to show the community that church matters, that the church cares beyond the pulpit,” he said. “I’ve tried to embrace other pastors and community leaders to say, ‘Let’s open up our doors to show the community that we care beyond the church walls.’”

Faith & public service matter

In Shelby, Mayor Steve Schag’s faith is the bridge between his ministry and his civic leadership. His voicemail even introduces him as, “The Reverend Mayor Steven L. Schag.”

“I do not check my faith at the door, but I’m not overbearing in it,” he said. “I may bring Bible principles into a conversation, but in day-to-day operations I always want to bring a sense of God-consciousness — that we are one nation under God.”

Schag anchors that conviction in scripture, drawing from Ecclesiastes 9:10 — “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” — as a call to excellence in public service. He also leans on Psalm 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,” and prays Proverbs 3:5-6 every morning to seek God’s guidance in his work.

“As a public servant, I want to be the best I can be, for the honor of the Lord,” he said. “I still want to do my dead-level best, but it’s all under that banner of letting Him lead and guide my paths.”

Growing up as the daughter of a minister, State Rep. Marilyn John sees her own faith as both a foundation and balancing act.

“I grew up in a very strict household where women had a specific place, and there were no women ministers in the church I grew up in,” she recalled. “But I remember my mom stood up to speak in a business meeting and got called down by the minister. That stuck with me.”

John said that experience, along with the examples of her grandmothers, shaped both her leadership and her marriage.

“I was very intentional when I picked my spouse. I’m not a child to him, I am his partner,” she said. “But sometimes it can feel conflicting because my position at work is different than my position at home. To some extent, though, it’s a relief — I can go home and take off the mask.”

A discerning heart matters

Bridging the divide between personal faith and public life is something Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. endeavored to do with his sermons — ​​ speaking in a moral language that transcended any one denomination.

Yet Dr. Lerone Martin, director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University, cautions some interpretations of faith can be misused as a justification for harm. 

King’s safeguard, he explained, was to ask a simple but searching question: Does this law or practice uphold human flourishing?

“If there is a law in place, or a practice or custom, that is not geared toward human flourishing, then we have to call that into question,” Martin said.

Too often, he said, people approach scripture with confirmation bias — looking only for proof of what they already believe. 

“We can sometimes come to sacred text and just only look for evidence or proof of something we’ve already decided we believe,” he said. “In those moments, we’re not coming to church to be challenged or change; we’re just engaging in a ritual of affirmation.

“People certainly should not remove their own experience, but they certainly should acknowledge it and be honest about that,” he continued. “Then we can recognize our interpretation of the text is not necessarily authoritative. It’s just the meaning for you, and your life, and your experience.”

Cobb recognizes that same cognitive dissonance. 

“Before I study my text, I ask the Lord and the Holy Spirit for this thing called discernment,” he said. “When you don’t have a spirit of discernment, you will only comprehend what you want to. You use your faith as a weapon as opposed to restoration…as opposed to relief.”

Being eternally vigilant matters

For Cobb, his faith remains strong against religious hypocrisy because his sense of self is even stronger. 

“It’s all about knowing who you are, and whose you are,” he said. “I’m 53, and I’m so good with who I am and whose I am. Early on in my life, I probably would’ve been offended by the audacity. But I began to figure out who Christ wants me to be as an individual.”

That grounding in faith is something “Shop Talk” creator Damien Beauford shares — especially when it comes to bridging divides. 

“Growing up in the church, I’m a believer,” he said. “The other side of this thing is Heaven or Hell. And I’m thinking, what does Heaven really look like? It’s not all White. It’s not all Black. It’s not Democrats or Republicans. It’s a mixture of people from all different walks of life living harmoniously together.”

Beauford points back to King’s warning to be “eternally vigilant” against division. In today’s fractured world, he believes that vigilance takes the form of everyday courage.

“We live in a hurting world. And we have a responsibility for it,” he said. 

“True leadership in divided times looks like having tough conversations, breaking down walls of division, and making sure people feel valued and you’re meeting them where they are.”