Posing for a photo, Pastor Scott Otis stands next to a drum set that looks somewhat out of place in the large sanctuary of Hope United Methodist Church, signaling a change for the Edwardsburg place of worship.

Otis, 56, was recently appointed as the new pastor of Hope United Methodist Church, located at 69941 Elkhart Road, Edwardsburg. With his appointment, Otis is hoping to bring new, fresh ideas into the church, while ushering it into a new era.

Originally from Kalamazoo, Otis has been a pastor for 31 years. Most recently, he has been pastoring in Dorr, Michigan.

Otis received his new assignment in Edwardsburg in July. Since then, Otis has been spending his time getting to know the area.

“If there’s a place in the state of Michigan that I know nothing about it’s this one,” Otis said. “It’s a new adventure, I suppose.”

Though he and his wife Carrie have been able to maintain parts of their old routine, such as running, Otis said the move has been an adjustment.

“Everything is new,” Otis said. “I’ve discovered that I don’t really live in Michigan anymore and I don’t really live in Indiana. It’s definitely Michiana. I didn’t know that state existed, but apparently it does.”

In Dorr, Otis started his own church, called Crosswind Community Church. Leaving the church he started has been a challenge, he said.

“It’s like dumping your kids on the side of the road. It’s pretty painful,” he said. “But you can’t stay in one place forever.”

One of the biggest changes has been adjusting to the nature of Hope United Methodist, which has a much older congregation than the church he left behind in Dorr, which only had two retired people in the church.

“It’s hard leaving behind [Crosswinds], but my hope here is that we can do some interesting community outreach to really let the community know that God loves everyone, whether they’ve figured it out or not,” Otis said. “That would be my goal.”

Creating new and exciting ways to reach out into the community and worship is one of Otis’ passions, he said. One thing he has been involved in since the beginning of his career is called “service evangelism.”

This type of evangelism involves performing random acts of service for individuals, always free of charge. These acts of service can range from small things like raking someone’s leaves to larger things, such as organizing a drive or fundraiser.

A fan of non-traditional worship and rock music, Otis is hoping to bring in a younger crop of worshipers by appealing to them through modern means, such as rock and “head-banging” worship songs.

“I’m very committed to doing worship in extremely creative ways, but that’s more a future thing than a present thing,” Otis said. “I just think that church ought to be fun. We should speak to every generation and do it in a style that will connect with each generation, which may mean we need to offer a number of styles.”

Due to the average age of Hope United Methodist, Otis worries that many in the congregation would not be receptive to these new and innovative forms of worship. However, he is taking steps to integrate new worship in a way that does not alienate the current congregation in various ways, such as offering two Sunday church services, one traditional and one non-traditional.

“The hymns we think of as traditional were written to the bar tunes of the day,” Otis said. “With that in mind, I don’t think it’s so strange what we are trying to do, make worship sound more like what you would hear on the radio.”

Otis would also like to see Hope United Methodist host services outside of the church, perhaps in a restaurant or in a bar, something he did at his old church.

“We’re not [in a place to implement these things] yet,” Otis said. “But we just need to keep working toward those goals.”

Whether or not his new outreach strategies are implemented, Otis said he is excited for his adventure in Edwardsburg.

“It’s all kind of exciting,” he said. “This is a neat place to be.”