It Happened in Crawford County: A life dedicated to God and the ministry

Pastor Jerrill Wyler is a son of Doug and Ronda Wyler, along with his siblings Jethniel, Joel, sister Javonda and Jaron.

Jerrill was born in 1987 in Ashland, and from the time he was 4, the family traveled in an RV while serving in gospel evangelism. Jerrill has traveled to all 48 states, as well as Canada, Mexico and Haiti.

He always liked music, and while not being very good at it, his parents asked him to stick with the project. He played trumpet and harmonica and learned to sing well enough. Since the family was always on the road, the children were home schooled, and Jerrill doesn’t have any one school to claim as his own.

They were a close family. Mom was the main teacher. He looks back on it as a unique childhood, a wonderful experience, and he wouldn’t trade it. Jerrill graduated high school in 2005.

When Jerrill was 17 he began college at Pensacola Christian College majoring in youth ministries. It was a four-year bachelor’s degree program and he graduated in 2008. While in college, he worked at a church in Alabama as an intern. During that time, Jerrill felt the calling from God to be in local church ministries. Jerrill graduated college in 2008, and then went on to Port St. Lucie, Florida, as a sixth grade Christian school teacher for one year. The job was challenging and not what he was trained to do, but it was good.

Building a family, looking for a church to pastor, finding it in Bucyrus

During college, Jerrill had met Andrea Gordon while on one of the family travels. They had probably met much earlier in life since Andrea went to a church where Jerrill’s family had ministered. They could have "passed like two ships in the night." Andrea was from Commerce, Georgia, about a six-hour drive from Pensacola. They had a long-distance relationship during college, visiting each other on occasion. The couple married in 2010.

For the next 11 years, he was a teacher and associate pastor in Port St. Lucie. Starting in 2016, Jerrill received a master’s of arts in Christian studies from Dallas Theological Seminary, an online program, while he was still at Port St. Lucie. Their oldest son Bryson was born in 2013, Elijah was born in 2015 and Gideon was born in 2018 — all born in Florida. Their fourth son, Myles, was born in Bucyrus in 2022.

While Jerrill and family were still in Port St. Lucie and he was finishing his master’s degree, Jerrill was looking for an opportunity to become a senior pastor at a church. The yearlong search process ended with the move to Bucyrus. Ironically, during childhood travels, he had first been to Wayside with his family when he was 4. Now 32 years later, he is the pastor.

Church and school are growing

The Wyler family arrived at Wayside in August 2021, and he officially as pastor in September. He says it’s been good. The church is growing, and full of ministry opportunities. The people in his congregation have a desire for the Word of God, the Bible, and to be taught.

Andrea is Jerrill’s biggest supporter and the love of his life. She is very involved in the church and in raising their sons. The two oldest attend Wayside Christian School.

In May, Wayside Chapel celebrated its 60th anniversary. When Pastor Reuben Leuthold founded the church, he also founded Wayside Christian School, which celebrated its 50th year in May. Wayside Christian School, kindergarten through high school, has 91 students. They recently applied to be a non-public chartered school through the State of Ohio to allow families to take advantage of the EdChoice Scholarship Funds. The voucher program, depending on income, would mean many families could attend school there free, or at a much-reduced cost. It’s a great opportunity for private Christian education focused on the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Wayside Christian School has begun a building project to expand classroom space and improve the property. With the new voucher program, they expect the current enrollment to increase dramatically, and they don’t want to turn anyone away because of lack of space. Wayside is celebrating what’s happened in the past but with great anticipation of what can happen in the future.

In closing, God has lead them to being part of all of this, and Jerrill is very excited. It’s good to see and be blessed by what God is doing. The charter school and building project is “His” thing and they are trusting in the Lord for His provision for this roughly $2 million project. Jerrill says while it’s a big number, it’s definitely not too big for God.

Go online for more of Mary Fox’s stories and photos on bucyrustelegraphforum.com. If you are interested in sharing a story, write Mary Fox, 931 Marion Road, Bucyrus, OH 44820 or email littlefoxfactory@columbus.rr.com.

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Jerrill Wyler and his passion for the ministry led him to Bucyrus