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PLYMOUTH &#8211; Pastor Bryan Dodson&rsquo;s first sermon of 2020 included a mandate for his parishioners to love God and love their neighbor.
				What Dodson, pastor of Faith Baptist Church on Gaylord Avenue, could not foresee was that two months later, in the midst of a pandemic, loving his neighbors included opening an emergency food pantry and working closely with borough officials to ensure the needs of residents were safely met.
				So, last week when Mayor Frank Coughlin and Councilman Earl Cunningham made a motion to appoint Dodson as the borough&rsquo;s volunteer chaplain, council members immediately approved their suggestion.
				Dodson, who previously served as a hospice chaplain, said it simply provided opportunity for him to assist those in crisis, including emergency personnel.
				Councilman Alec Ryncavage calls Dodson and his church &ldquo;the core of Plymouth&rdquo; and not because they are located in the center of town.
				&ldquo;When you meet Bryan you are quick to learn he is the teacher we all had in our lives that didn&rsquo;t impact our journeys by teaching us a certain subject, but rather impacting our journey by teaching us about life&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It is his mission to serve that gets him out of bed in the morning bright and early to make the 20 minute drive from his home to Plymouth.&rdquo;
				Support in tragedy
				Ryncavage also credits Dodson with reacting quickly and compassionately when two borough teenagers drowned in the river just blocks away.
				&ldquo;This July he comforted the families of Devin Nicewicz and Jerry Raimondi Jr. when tragedy struck,&rdquo; he said.
				Dodson remembers hearing about the tragedy at a Neighborhood Crime Watch meeting being held at the church.
				Because there were emergency personnel attending the meeting, one-by-one their phones went off calling them into service.
				Finally, Dodson himself received a text from the parents of one of the boys, who had attended the church. He rushed to the riverbank, staying with the parents until the bodies of the boys were found, making sure that he got phone numbers so he could stay in touch with those involved.
				The next day, he realized that not only the parents, but the emergency personnel who responded to the scene may be in need of emotional support, so he reached out to Cunningham who also serves as the borough&rsquo;s EMA director and offered his support.
				Currently, he and Ryncavage are bringing a memorial to the levee where the two boys had been playing.
				The two not only purchased a memorial with donations, but also received grant money and labor assistance from the county to line the levee bed with signs urging caution.
				Dodson is also willing to think outside the box when it comes to helping others.
				During the pandemic, he received a phone call from someone requesting help.
				At first he thought the woman might be requesting financial assistance, something in short supply with a membership of about 30 people in the midst of a pandemic.
				Instead, the woman wanted to work out some emotional and spiritual issues in her life, so he invited her to come to the church, sitting outside with her, socially distancing and listening to her concerns.
				Another man named Bill who came to the emergency food bank with his dog Philly several times, showed up at the food bank recently &#8211; but not for food, but to help pass out foods.
				Bill hasn&rsquo;t made his way to church services yet, but that&rsquo;s not the goal of Dodson&rsquo;s interaction with the community.
				Instead, he wants to help meet both physical and spiritual needs of others as an example.
				&ldquo;As borough chaplain, it&rsquo;s not my goal to get people to come to my church,&rdquo; he said.
				In fact, when Dodson&rsquo;s church opened up the emergency food bank, other churches made donations of food to the church to be distributed.
				A presence in the community
				For his seven years as pastor, Dodson has been committed to making the church an asset to the community.
				&ldquo;That first year, the historical society was launching some serious efforts to clean up the area down around the Avondale mine site,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;So we got a group of volunteers and we went down with them and helped with that.&rdquo;
				Church members have also mowed cemetery lots.
				When the Wall that Heals came to Plymouth, the church opened its community room to prepare decorations for the borough&rsquo;s Main Street.
				Scott Cannon, a member of Plymouth Alive, said, &ldquo;Bryan and Faith Baptist Church are a great asset to our community because of the many food drives, blood drives and other functions they organize. It&rsquo;s a privilege to have him here.&rdquo;
				Dodson looks back to January of this year, when he was hoping to provide audio recordings for the church&rsquo;s &ldquo;shut-ins.&rdquo;
				By March, he said, everyone was a shut-in and not leaving their house.
				So, Dodson, along with more knowledgeable church members, figured out a way to live stream services on Facebook.
				Cannon and Ryncavage also provided input for bringing the church&rsquo;s service to the internet, suggesting an appropriate laptop and camera.
				&ldquo;So, in all of this, we have served the community and the people in the community have helped us out as well,&rdquo; Dodson said.
				Ryncavage points out that Dodson&rsquo;s contribution to the community is invaluable.
				&ldquo;I can affirm that Bryan is not only a hero, but an asset to our community that no amount of money can buy,&rdquo; he said.

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A mission to serve: Dodson named borough chaplain for Plymouth