CHICAGOâ€â€A garden was the first order of church business for Rev. Meigan Thiel, who recently agreed to pastor the Church of the Epiphany. According to the Chicago Tribune Thiel's first impression of the church was that it looked deserted. The new minister wanted that to change, fast.
Thiel said there was no curb appeal to the old church five weeks ago when she stood looking at it from across the street. Closed wooden doors atop cracked and lumpy front steps were unwelcoming. A forsaken playground nearby wasn't helping the poor impression the historic church was giving passersby either, she said.
So Thiel rallied the West Side church's 23 members, along with the neighboring community and two private companies, to help remove rusted swings and slides and to landscape.
The group planted a 7,424-square-foot garden. By August it should be in full bloom. Thiel expects to hold worship services and weddings in the new space. She also expects the garden to lure neighbors, community members, anyone, even those who are not members of the small congregation. She hopes it will welcome people.
"I want people to come here," she said. "If they never go to church, that's OK."
Members of the congregation are excited about the possibilities of the garden.
"It's like bringing God outside the walls in that church and into the community," said Carolyn Savage, a church member for 45 years.
