Graydon Snyder, retired professor from Bethany Theological Seminary and a member of Chicago First Church, gave a history of the congregation highlighting its roots at the “center” of the denomination. The church served as the congregation of Bethany Seminary when it was in Chicago, and close by is Bethany Hospital, begun by the Church of the Brethren. The church hosted and gave office space for Martin Luther King Jr. during his Chicago campaign in the mid-1960s, and then the neighborhood around the church was decimated by grief and violence following King’s assassination. Hard times followed for the church, but it has come back with the renovation of its building and establishment of a neighborhood center, adjacent garden plots, and the presence of two other congregations that also worship in the building. Most recently, explained pastor Orlando Redekopp, the area around the church also has had incidents of the shootings of school children that has plagued Chicago in recent months. (Photo by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford)