Faith in every story: how three congregations reopened their doors
Small churches on the north side spent a decade shrinking. This year, three of them are growing again — by opening the building to everyone.
On a Wednesday evening at Grace Chapel, the sanctuary is full — not for a service, but for a homework club that has become the busiest hour of the week.
Three north side congregations have taken the same approach over the past eighteen months: keep the building open, invite the neighborhood in, and let worship be one part of a longer day.
“We stopped asking how to fill the pews and started asking who was already outside,” said Pastor Ruth Ellery.
Attendance numbers tell part of the story. The rest is in the tutoring lists, the food pantry logs and the after-school van that now runs two routes.
