The following articles was printed in the June 2005 issue of "The Source"

By Larry Lehnerz, Source staff writer

If you recently passed by the former site of First Christian Church on Broadway, you may have felt a twinge of regret at bulldozers hovering over a yard of debris where the venerable brick and terracotta building stood for more than 80 years. But have no regrets about the congregation. They have successfully merged with Pilgrims Congregational Church to form the now thriving and vibrant All Pilgrims Christian Church, located at 500 Broadway.

When the Rev. Peter Drury and the Rev. Mark Travis arrived at their respective churches around the same time in 1997, they were greeted by dying congregations, each church on the verge of closing. First Christian averaged 40 worshippers on Sunday, while Pilgrims Congregational had no more than 25.

"They were two classic protestant churches dying," says Drury, who is now co-pastor of All Pilgrims along with Travis. "Mark and I had crossed paths in seminary back east. We started talking about a possible merger." First they agreed on two principles, one being that merely surviving would not be the goal. They envisioned a vital, thriving church on Broadway. The second, was that both churches would first review and clarify their own mission and vision. Then, if the two were congruent, a merger might be possible. They were.

The earthquake of 2001 occurred at a time when merger discussions were well under way. When it became clear that damage to First Christian was extensive, the congregations decided to meet at Pilgrims. A formal merger soon followed. All 150 seats at All Pilgrims Church are normally full each Sunday. So popular have the services become that the congregation is now exploring ways to add a second service.

After attending a recent worship service, the Rev. Sandy Brown, Excecutive Director of the Church Council, felt inspired. "All Pilgrims is a vibrant congregation, and I found worship there to be very spiritual and deeply meaningful," says Brown. "All Pilgrims has a world of need on its doorstep. It's wonderful to see it reaching out to its community in real, life-giving ministry. I left church after my visit thinking, this church is going somewhere."

What Co-Pastor Drury enjoys most is the diversity which matches that of the Capitol Hill area. "As I'm preaching, I look out to the pews and see a homeless person sitting beside a Microsoft attorney, an accountant beside a young person with purple hair and a nose-ring, a retired businessman beside a prostitute. There is no separation between the haves and have-nots." All Pilgrims Church offers the type of diversity imagined at the heart of Christianity.