SHARON - For more than nine years, Connection Church has made its Medina Road facilities available to practicing Christians in Medina County and beyond.

The church had also held its regular services in other buildings in the Medina area for four years prior to moving into its current building. But on Dec. 4, Pastor Tony Myles and members of Connection Church welcomed Pastors Darryl and Yolanda Tolliver and members of the Cleveland-based House of Glory Church to the Medina church's building.

As part of a new partnership, House of Glory will now hold services in the Connection Church building every Sunday at 2:30 p.m., in addition to Connection Church holding its services at 10 a.m. Connection Church is a non-denominational church, whereas House of Glory is often described as an Apostolic Prophetic church.

Myles said he has been praying for his church to be able to start a regular partnership with another church.

"We always thought there would be a greater use for our facility," he explained. "One of Yolanda's members reached out and approached us asking to use our space."

Myles said this is not the first time other organizations have used his church building for their functions. He explained the building is often used by families for special events, as well as by several other local groups. He said he wants to make the most of this church building through its use by outside organizations, including House of Glory Church.

"We'd much rather have a used building with signs of wear than a church building that is never used," Myles said.

House of Glory Pastor Yolanda Tolliver explained throughout the nine years her church has been around, services have been held in a few other buildings in the Cleveland area, the last one having been located on Broadview Road on the south side of the city. She explained one thing she hopes to focus on with this new partnership with Myles is helping the young people in their congregations.

"I just want the young people to come out of so much stress and negativity and come into a place of being free," she said. "Pastor Tony and I both have a heart for the young people."

The first House of Glory service at the Connection Church building started with a speech delivered by Medina Mayor Dennis Hanwell. In it, he exemplified the goal of this new partnership - the uniting of two cultures to serve the same purpose of serving God.

"We both want to see the name of Jesus Christ lifted up and that's where both of our visions overlap," Myles said of the partnership's mission.

The service continued with the Tollivers' daughters, Hope and Faith, leading the church in song through gospel music. Afterward, Faith performed a dance routine illustrating the messages of the music played throughout the service. Yolanda then delivered the day's sermon before the collection plates were passed around to the congregation.

Myles said he hopes parishioners of both Connection Church and House of Glory gather a sense of both strengthening and rest from this new partnership.

"When you do something on your own, you still need motivation so you don't go weary," he said.

"We preach the truth of Jesus Christ," Yolanda said. "We love people with the Word of God. We really want to be a positive influence in this area."

In addition to its Sunday services, House of Glory holds a Bible study session every Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Connection Church building.

More information on Connection Church, including its organizations and programs, can be found online at connectionchurch.org.