STEAMBURG — Pastor Michael Brooks is a “saving grace” for a little rural church to overcome a challenging time. Of huge faith, he is on a mission to resurrect the Steamburg Community Church.

The Steamburg church has a “Little Engine That Could” kind of story with a congregation determined not to give up. The dedicated members have hung on through church closure and reopening, as well as the death of several pastors who intended to fill the pulpit.

Undeterred in the face of a seemingly insurmountable situation, the congregation has held hope to breathe new life into their little struggling church.

Congregation members Connie Gross, Dick Morgan, Nancy Luce and Myrna Young have managed to keep services at the non-denominational church going for about three years by taking turns as lay pastors each week. After Gross passed away, the remaining members kept doing the services.

“That’s how we managed to keep the church open and going until God answered the prayer that we needed a full-time pastor,” Young said. “We’ve been doing this since the United Methodist Church shut it down. Then Rusty and Shirley Finch of Randolph bought the parish, church and grounds.”

According to Young, the congregation found Pastor Brooks by word-of-mouth through member Gayle Anderson, a sister of the pastor’s late wife, Lani. Anderson told Luce about her brother-in-law, who had been filling the pulpit at a few other churches, and Luce contacted him.

“I prayed about it and filled the pulpit every Sunday at the end of January, February, March and then Easter Sunday,” Brooks said. “After Easter Sunday, they asked me when I could start full-time, and I decided to take the pastor position. May 4 was my first official Sunday.”

Prior to this position, Brooks filled in at several local churches, including the Little Valley Wesleyan Church and a church in the town of Red House.

“I’m not ordained, but I felt very called into the ministry,” he said. “Pastor Paul Moore of the Little Valley Wesleyan Church encouraged me to take the pulpit. He recognized that God was calling me and very much supported me in assuming the role.”

ORIGINALLY FROM Little Valley, Brooks attended Houghton University and majored in Religious Studies, but soon realized it wasn’t the path God was going to take him on.

“I stepped back, followed God and filled the pulpit every chance I got. It’s all led by the Holy Spirit and what God has taught me,” he said. “That’s probably what makes me a little bit different than other pastors. I haven’t been taught church doctrine, a specific religion and all of that. I’m more about people’s relationship with Jesus Christ than I am the religion of the church.”

Brooks said he encourages the congregation to build and work on their own relationship with God, because that is ultimately what he thinks Jesus Christ came to die for — to return people to a relationship with the Father.

“Your relationship with God is not going to look exactly like mine because we are different people. He has a different calling for your life than He has for mine, so why would they look exactly the same? I’m a sinner; I’m going to get (there) on my knees as a beggar. I don’t have any room to judge anybody,” he said.

Along with his late wife, Lani, Brooks was co-owner and operator of the former Brooks Market in Little Valley and Cattaraugus. With the retail business in his blood, he’s now general operations manager for Ross John Enterprise, which owns the NAFCO Quick Stop, Burger King and car wash in Salamanca. Currently a Napoli resident, he has four grown children, Mackenzie, Shelby, Rachel and Michael Jr., as well as several grandchildren.

THE THREE LAY pastors who held things together until Pastor Mike’s arrival still do things in the church, Young said. Morgan takes care of the music, Luce leads prayer time and she gives the children’s sermon.

Church attendance depends on a given day, according to Young. She said if the weather is bad, they have only six or seven show up, but it runs about 20 to 25 in attendance most Sundays and the numbers are starting to grow.

Brooks envisions a different kind of church for Steamburg. He thinks it’s going to grow, and it will be that church that is unusual, in the sense that they are not just interested in religion, doctrines and legalities.

“We want to minister to a broken world, and you can’t do that by judging people before they even come through the door,” he said. “I think we’ll be different that way and stand out. God is going to bless that.”

He can relate to broken people because he’s been through a lot, including divorce, death, physical affliction and financial ruin. Now, 20 years later, God has called him again and has prepared him for ministry.

Sunday worship services are held at 11 a.m., and Bible study takes place at the church on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. The church is located at 2642 Lebanon Road. For more information, call Pastor Brooks at (716) 257-0765 or Young at (716) 354-4321.