How it all started...
State Street Community Church started on Easter 2010 with a vision to be a thriving faith community in downtown LaPorte, Indiana.
When we planted the State Street Community, we sought to be purposeful in our engagement with our surrounding community. We had witnessed many forms of division happening within our neighborhoods. Many of these patterns of brokenness were present already in childhood: patterns of poverty, loneliness, and despair. There was no absence of forces and collectives that sought to divide those within our communities. But what if we sought to be a particular community that countered those voices of division with that of unity and reconciliation?
Following the opening of State Street Community Church, it was evident early on that a food insecurity issue was left unattended. So, by the end of 2010, a food and clothing pantry and weekly community meal began to serve the needs of those in the community.
It's always been the goal of the State Street Community to encourage the formation of the Christian faith humbly and with a mind for love and justice worked out in the flesh. Since its inception, State Street Community Church has grown to have a few hundred in attendance each week and many more impacted by the everyday ministries of impact.
Expanding the vision...
After over four years of having a food pantry and serving community meals out of the church, a generous donor gave the church a former nightclub and bar in downtown LaPorte, allowing for the creation of the Pax Center. In addition, it allowed the justice ministries to expand and move into a permanent location on Washington Street (a few blocks away from the church.)
Since 2015, The Pax Center is working to engage food insecurity and improve our community's health through access to healthy and nutritious foods, community education, and advocacy.
Where we are headed...
The scriptures say that 'faith without works is dead.' The State Street Community continues to put our faith into action with flourishing projects like the Jackson Street Community Garden (on the corner of Jackson and Jefferson in downtown LaPorte) and the Brighton Street Green Space (on the corner of Brighton and Pulaski in LaPorte.)
The Brighton Street Green Space is a million-dollar investment in partnership with the Healthcare Foundation of LaPorte, the city of LaPorte, generous businesses and supporters, and State Street Community Church. Its location in a food desert helps address food insecurity and nutrition issues directly while providing a beautiful park-like setting for neighbors to enjoy.
