Article published October 17, 2009
Teenage pastor leads East Toledo church
Chaz Boes, 17, started preaching at age 12
Chaz Boes, 17, preaches at the World Healing Center of Praise in East Toledo.
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THE BLADE/JETTA FRASER
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By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
The first words Chaz Boes ever spoke were "Gloria a Dios" - Spanish for "Glory to God."
At age 5, he insisted on wearing suits instead of the athletic wear his mother had bought him.
He also persuaded his parents to set up a chapel in their garage.
With stained-glass windows, pews, and a sound system, young Boes was kindergarten age when he had his own church and told everyone he was a pastor.
The bilingual, pint-sized preacher raised money for his ministry by selling homemade lemonade.
Now age 17, the veteran preacher, evangelist, and musician is also the pastor of a church in East Toledo.The World Healing Center of Praise, 831 Yondota St., celebrated its grand opening last month. Services are held at noon every Sunday, with Sunday school at 11 a.m.
"I've been preaching here basically my whole life and really grew a small following, and they've been trying to get me to open a church in Toledo for several years," Mr. Boes said.
A local follower, Melinda Sanchez, spotted the vacant wood-framed church on Yondota Street and notified Mr. Boes and his bishop, Bishop Joseph White of the Church of the Living God International, Inc.
"I've shown him other churches that were for sale but they didn't work out," Ms. Sanchez said.
This time, the seller was asking $50,000 but wound up selling it to Bishop White for $12,000.
"It was meant for him to have this church," she said.
Ms. Sanchez, 55, of Millbury, said she first heard Mr. Boes give a sermon when he was 12 years old.
"He was preaching at a church on Collingwood Boulevard and I'm not a person that gets up for altar calls, but I remember him preaching that God has more power than anybody. And when I went up I just touched his hand and that changed my whole life. I've been following him ever since. It's the power of God," she said.
Mr. Boes, who was born in Austin, lived for years in Defiance, and most recently has been living and pastoring in Cincinnati. He plans to relocate to Toledo in the near future.
He said that even though he has always felt called to be a preacher and evangelist, it has not always been an easy path to follow.
"I grew up in the church, loving the church, but the people in the church really hurt me bad. They really hurt me very bad," he said.
A musician as well as a minister, he said pastors and music ministers were afraid he was going to take over their ministries.
"I think they were jealous," he said. "A lot of people cannot accept a young preacher, they cannot accept preaching from a young man."
He said his grandparents, Raul and Laura Alvarado, at first tried to steer him away from the ministry.
But eventually "they got on board" and started traveling around the country with the fiery young Pentecostal preacher.
"We traveled around but it really didn't pay, not like the big evangelists who get $100,000 for one night," Mr. Boes said. "I'd go and spend $100 on gas for one night and come back with $25, if that."
That's why he sold lemonade at the Wauseon homecoming festivals and the Bullthistle Festival in Fayette, he said.
In addition to preaching, Mr. Boes plays keyboards and guitars, and sings. He started taking lessons when he was 3 years old and has recorded two praise-and-worship CDs.
A third one is in the works, but there's no release date in sight because "that's not on my priority list right now," he said.
Mr. Boes said his only musical inspiration is Bishop White, and that he doesn't listen to the radio or CDs. He also said his only reading materials are the Bible, his college textbooks, and books by Watchman Knee.
He is a second-year student at Links Theological University, where his GPA is 3.9.
Mr. Boes said everything he preaches comes right from the Bible - the King James Version - and that the truth can be painful.
"We're not a motivational church, we're a change church. If you don't live right, there is a time when God is going to come back and you're not going to be ready. We want people to operate in the gifts of the spirit," he said.
If his message seems harsh at times, it's because that's the way the Bible tells it, Mr. Boes said.
"I preach the word of God but really, I - and this is often misunderstood - I don't have anything harsh to say. The word of God has harsh words to say. You can't be saved under any name except Jesus," he said. "Homosexuality? I don't have anything to say about it. It's not what I say, it's what the word of God says about it."
Asked if he ever worries about being politically correct, Mr. Boes said no.
"I'm not a politician, I'm a preacher. I could have been a politician, but if I continue down this road I'm worsening my chances because somebody will bring a sound bite from one of my sermons."
Mr. Boes said his East Toledo church can seat about 130, and he has no desire to build a megachurch.
"I don't know why people go to a church where the pastor doesn't know their name," he said.
Contact David Yonke at:
dyonke@theblade.com
or 419-724-6154.
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