Religious Life

As part of our Lakeside Online series, join fellow Lakesiders during Lent for a virtual Lenten Study: Journeying through Lent with Hymns of the Faith, led by Rev. Dr. Charles Yoost, Lakeside’s Senior Director of Religious Life & Pastoral Care.

The one-hour study will be held on Zoom at 7:30 p.m. every Wednesday from March 1-29. The series will be based on the book Unrevealed Until Its Season: A Lenten Journey with Hymns, written by Rev. James Howell, a United Methodist Pastor from Charlotte, North Carolina.

Books may be ordered online through The Fine Print bookstore or another source. Participants will find it helpful to read the book prior to the study, though it’s not required.

Each week, we’ll explore several familiar hymns, which will be sung and played by Michael Shritz, Lakeside’s Summer Director of Worship & Music. The Lenten Study will be co-led by Lakesider Amy Gingerich, Executive Director and Publisher for MennoMedia, the publishing arm of the Mennonite Church.

For the inaugural year of Lakeside Online, the virtual programs are free-of-charge and easily accessible via Zoom. To participate, sign up for one or all virtual experiences. Zoom links will be sent via email 48 hours in advance of each program. For questions, contact Jeannie Fleming-Gifford, Vice President of Programming, at jeannie@lakesideohio.com.  

Click Here to Register Purchase the Book

Listen Along on Spotify

This year’s study is inspired by hymns. As you go through the reading each week, we invite you to listen along to accompanying hymns using the Spotify playlists linked below. Playlists were curated by Amy Gingerich, incorporating these familiar songs through a variety of voices and musical styles.

1. Week 1 
2. Week 2
3. Week 3

Rev. Dr. Charles Yoost is Lakeside Chautauqua’s Senior Director of Religious Life & Pastoral Care, a position he has held since September 2018.

After 17 years as Senior Pastor of Church of the Saviour, a 1,500-member United Methodist Church (UMC) congregation in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Yoost became Pastor Emeritus in 2015. He has also served as District Superintendent and Dean of the Cabinet, Senior Pastor of Church Hill UMC, and Pastor of Northampton UMC in the East Ohio Conference.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Akron and his Master of Theology and Doctor of Ministry from Boston University School of Theology.

Michael Shirtz, a performer, producer, composer and conductor, is known for his versatility with jazz, contemporary and classical music. Credited as a “songsmith” for his vocal interpretations and arrangements, Shirtz is an active singer, vocal coach and music director for educational, repertory theatre, collegiate and pops music productions. 

He has served on the faculty of the Conservatory of Music at Capital University, American Music Academy, Music Faculty Chair and Dean of Business, Arts & Communications at Terra State Community College, guest director with Pellissippi State College, and Associate Director/Project Manager of the Tri-C JazzFest.

Shirtz currently teaches music composition and arts entrepreneurship at the Heidelberg University School of Music & Theatre. He is the conductor of the Symphony Chorale and Firelands Symphony School of Music and artistic producer of the Jazz@8 Series presenting jazz concerts and workshops with artists-in-schools programs.

Shirtz received a Bachelor of Music in jazz studies from Capital University and Master of Music in conducting from California State University, Los Angeles.

Amy Gingerich is a member of Lakeside’s Religious Life Advisory Team and a Lakeside homeowner. She has a passion for the intersection of faith and life and helping people of all ages make sense of how they fit together.