Update on the Hill congregation

The Hill church has begun holding Sunday worship services now.  They are renting office space in a church building in the Hill and are using the Boys & Girls Club as their worship space.  They have had a few times the cooperative store has been open (this is like a garage sale - or tag sale as they say around here - but all of the items being sold were donations and the profits go towards paying those who staffed the store), the mentoring program is up and running, and we are beginning to think about next year's sports camps. 

As the weather gets colder there will be a new challenge for this fledgling church -- transportation.  Cars are much more of a luxury in New Haven than most of America.  The city was laid out back in the horse and buggy days and downtown is quite walkable.  Consequently parking is ridiculously hard to find and property taxes are incredibly high.  Most undergrads go without cars as do many grad students and many of the city's poor.  However, once the weather gets cold and snowy, people only go where they have to.  No one feels too bad for the undergrads since they live on campus and can suck it up and walk the quarter mile to class, but for those who don't have adequate clothes and those for whom church is 2 or 3 miles away, this can become a big deal especially for the small children.  A local school recently had to close its doors and is looking to sell its mini-bus for under $10,000.  If they can raise the funds, the Hill congregation would love to purchase the vehicle and pick up members every Sunday morning.