This Is Our Neighborhood

Yesterday afternoon I took a break to run a couple of errands.  I needed to go to the local CVS and stop at the library. One of the great things about living where I do is that I can walk to just about anything I need in terms of basics.

So I walked.

And I took my camera.

One of the places within walking distance is my church, and I've been wanting to put together a photo essay for the members to show them what's around the church. Today presented me with the opportunity to start it.

After the 1955 floods the City of Norwalk undertook a period of urban renewal. As part of that project, the City bought out Grace Episcopal Church's property. The parish made the decision to remain in the downtown area and bought property a few blocks away where they built their new church.

Over the years the downtown area went through cycles of decline, renewal, and change.  The neighborhood is no longer what it was 50 years ago.

Grace Episcopal Church is no longer what it was 50 years ago. The congregation has shrunk drastically in the last 20 years. But the church continues to do some amazing work. We provide homes for three other congregations and meeting space for a number of community organizations and a local symphony. We contribute food to local food pantries and supply emergency funding to families in need.

Very few of our members live close to the church. The congregation seems to have lost touch with the neighborhood. So let me show you our neighborhood--places less than a 15 minute walk from our church.



Even a short walk around the church shows that we are in the middle of a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multicultural, and increasingly diverse neighborhood.  It also includes a sizable number of homeless citizens. 

The question is, how willing are we as a congregation to BE part of this neighborhood?