Start-up church helps Trinity Episcopal Church

What happens when one of the youngest churches in Niles is “adopted” by one of the oldest?

The new church — in this case Connect Church — decks the halls of the old church — Trinity Episcopal Church — with a new paint job and video projector system, just in time for the Christmas season.

Connect Church Pastor Greg Nasstrom said it is his congregation’s way of saying “thank you” to Trinity Episcopal Church for their willingness to open their doors, and hearts, to a start-up church.

“This is what the church does — we take care of each other,” Nasstrom said. “There’s even more renovations that we are planning to do.”

Nasstrom and his wife, Lori, started Connect Church, an Assemblies of God church, as a bible study in the basement conference room of the Niles District Library in September of 2012. When that space was no longer available, Greg reached out to Trinity Episcopal Church and senior warden Gary Neumann. That was about a year ago.

“It just sounded like a good idea because they needed a place to meet and we had space here that wasn’t being used all the time,” said Neumann. “It looked like a good match.”

Since then, Connect has been holding its weekly 6 p.m. Saturday services in Trinity’s social hall. That’s where Connect members applied the paint job and installed the projector system.

It’s a new touch to a church that was built in 1854.

“They have the oldest church building in Niles with the richest history and they opened up their doors to a brand new church,” Nasstrom said. “That’s what it is all about.”

Connect Church has seen its regular attendance grow from a single person in the library to now around 30 at Trinity’s social hall.

They’ve even instituted an English as a second language program.

“We are a bilingual church, Hispanic and English. About 50 percent of our congregation is Hispanic,” Nasstrom said.

For more information about Connect Church, visit Connect Church Niles online at connectchurchniles.org on Facebook at Connect Church Niles.