BROWNSTOWN — A church in Bedford was in need of a pastor.

Richard Blocker of Brownstown, who retired in 2014 after 42 years in ministry, applied for that role, but the church chose someone else.

The next day, a building at 1056 W. Bloomington Road a few blocks from his home became available. He and his wife, Sherri Blocker, decided to make that their new home of Broken Pieces Ministries.

“This opened up, and everything has fallen in place,” Richard said. “When it falls this easy, I’m just going to sit back and praise my Lord for that.”

The first services are planned for 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. March 3. Those will continue on Sundays, and there also will be a service at 7 p.m. Wednesdays.

At this nondenominational, spirit-filled church, the Blockers welcome everyone, especially the broken. That has been their mission since starting the ministry more than three years ago.

“I was asleep one night, and then three times before I opened my eyes, I heard ‘Broken Pieces Ministries,’ and it woke me up. That’s really literally what woke me up,” Sherri said.

“I got to thinking, ‘What in the world do I do with that? What is it?’” she said. “I noticed we started setting conferences up, and all of the type of people that we got were all of the broken, the ones that nobody else wanted, thought that it was too late for them, thought that God wouldn’t want them because of how bad they’ve been. That’s what we’ve been getting, so that’s what Broken Pieces stands for.”

One time, a young woman with tattoos on her arms broke down and started crying and said pastors in town told her she can’t be saved. Sherri said, “Come here. I’ve got some good news for you.”

“When Jesus was on planet Earth, he didn’t go to the uppity-ups. He went to the lowlifes of the land,” Richard said. “That’s what we’re about, and we’ve already got people that said they’re going to come.”

The Blockers look forward to welcoming anyone to their church.

“There are just a lot of people that are just lost in the world that we’re living in today. They don’t know what to do. They are down on their luck. Some of them are even homeless as far as that goes, and drugs and alcohol are as bad as they have ever been,” Richard said. “People need a place where you can begin to build new hope into them so that they’ll clean their lives up and feel important.”

Broken Pieces Ministries is that place.

“I considered myself a successful pastor because I had some success no matter where I was at, and one of the reasons is you walk in that door first time, you’re a visitor, but if you dare to come back, you’re part of the family and I find something for you to do,” Richard said. “It may not be much of anything, but we get you involved in some way so that you feel that you have a purpose and you can get your self-esteem back and feel important.”

Since his start in ministry in 1977, Richard has maintained that philosophy.

“That judgmental spirit has no place here,” he said. “You don’t have to tell these people they’ve done wrong. You don’t have to tell them that they are sinners. They know they are. They are looking for help. They just want to belong to something.”

Since his start, he also has never asked for money or passed an offering plate.

“I’ve never had to beg or ask. Once in awhile, I’ll let people know ‘We’ve got a big need coming up. You pray about it. Put your money back there (in the offering box),’” Richard said.

“We’ll never pass a plate because it’s not about the money,” Sherri added. “We don’t want someone that can’t give by someone who can and feel embarrassed because the plate is passing around. If you want to give, there’s a box back there.”

Settling into their first church as Broken Pieces Ministries, the Blockers were fortunate to find a building that suited their needs.

Richard knew the owner, Eugene Peters, and stopped by one day and asked if he wanted to rent it. At first, Peters said no, but then he said he would talk to his wife and touch base with him.

“He came back a couple days later, he said, ‘Richard, I’ve known you for a long time. My wife knows you for a long time. You’re a good man. We’re going to rent this thing to you,’” Richard said.

That came at a reasonable monthly rate that included utilities, yard work and snow removal.

“He does it all. All I’ve got to do is come, and I’m only three and a half, four blocks away,” Richard said, smiling. “I won’t call that a miracle. I give God the credit for it, yes. (Peters) just did that to help us out.”

They also have been fortunate to receive chairs and music and sound equipment as donations. They didn’t ask for those things. People just knew what they were doing and wanted to help.

“Everything you see in here, God has supplied,” Richard said. “We have not bought anything. We’ve got everything we need right now to get church rolling, and it didn’t cost us a penny to do this.”

How does he describe that?

“A miracle,” Richard said.

“That’s the difference trying to force things to happen and then God supplying it. Everything is just lining up for this. It has blown my mind,” Sherri said.

“When God’s in it, he supplies the way and makes the way,” Richard added.

The only things they would like to have are a couple of monitors so the congregation said see the words to music. The way things have worked out so far, the Blockers may have those donated, too.

Looking forward, beyond the regular services, the Blockers hope to host men’s and women’s ministries and have a grand opening for the public.

For now, they are just happy to have their own place where they can continue to minister to anyone who needs it. Richard is happy to pastor a church again, and Sherri will continue evangelizing and pastoring.

“I retired in 2014 because I had a massive heart attack and wasn’t expected to live. I’ve got a triple bypass and nine heart stents in me, and I’m stronger today than I was before I had the heart attack,” Richard said.

“I married (Sherri) August three years ago, and I thought I was retired, but I wasn’t,” he said, smiling. “I’m going to be 73 in May. I’ve got a lot of life in me yet, and she has been good for me as far as that goes. She keeps me alive and vibrant, and my heart has come back and my spirit has come back to where I wanted to get back into it again. The word of God says that his call is without repentance. It just doesn’t go away.”