{"id":3411,"date":"2023-02-16T21:01:41","date_gmt":"2023-02-16T21:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/church\/?p=3411"},"modified":"2023-02-16T21:01:42","modified_gmt":"2023-02-16T21:01:42","slug":"lititz-welcomes-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/church\/2023\/02\/16\/lititz-welcomes-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Lititz welcomes school"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"People
Lititz Church of the Brethren congregation<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This story originally appeared in Messenger. Subscribe to Messenger here<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Community hospitality is a key part of Lititz (Pa.) Church of the Brethren<\/a>\u2019s identity. It has a large, accessible playground next door, hosts Meals on Wheels and various community events, and works with refugee resettlement. So when a local Christian school found itself without a home, the church opened its doors\u2014and much of its building\u2014to give it one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lititz Christian School learned in spring 2021 that it would lose its lease after the following school year, sending it scurrying to find a new space. An extensive search turned up nothing that fit its space and financial parameters, however. A member at Lititz Church of the Brethren is a middle school English teacher at the school and raised the need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe said, \u2018This seems like a really crazy idea, but would the church consider . . . ,\u201d Lititz pastor Jim Grossnickle-Batterton said. \u201cWe have a lot of space that goes unused six days a week, and we decided to see if it might be a temporary fix.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school had to reduce some of its programs to fit in the church\u2019s space, but it signed a three-year lease, and the building\u2019s rooms and halls are now filled with hundreds of students each week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve basically taken over every square inch we would allow them,\u201d Grossnickle-Batterton. said. \u201cAny hour of the day, I can step outside my office now, and there are people buzzing around, lots of kids. It\u2019s a part of our broader vision of trying to make room for the community here in our church.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lititz Church of the Brethren on Facebook<\/h3>\n\n\n\n