Small church building membership in South Whitley
(Talk of the Town photo by Jennifer Zartman Romano) Tonya Maley Swenson, above, walked with fellow South Whitley Grace Brethren Church members in the South Whitley Fall Festival parade this year. The newly formed church is beginning to grow in members and meets each Sunday at South Whitley Elementary School.
By Jennifer Zartman Romano
Construction takes time and when it is done well, it takes heart, creativity and passion. Building a new church is quite the same.
For South Whitley Grace Brethren Church, it isn’t a matter of building the church from bricks and mortar – instead they are making a church person by person, family by family.
“In May, we started a church in South Whitley branching off of one in Warsaw,” said church member Bryan Maley. Since September, Maley has been taking classes to become the church’s pastor and he’s already taken an active role in leading the church.
Currently, the church is meeting in the cafetorium of South Whitley Elementary School. “We have been blessed with the opportunity to use the school,” Maley said. “We are only able to have a Sunday morning worship as of now though because of it.”
“We are very small and gradually seeing new faces,” Maley said of the church’s growth.
“We have a lot of programs we are trying to get started,” said Maley. “One of them is a women’s group that meets once a month at our house.” The women’s group meets the third Wednesday of each month.
“We are also starting a boys club called the “Sword Bearers,” Maley said. “We are inviting any father-son to join us. Also they are starting a girl’s club, and the first of the year we are going to get a men’s group started.”
Church services begin at 9:30 a.m. each Sunday with Sunday School following at 11 a.m..
For more information about South Whitley Grace Brethren Church, visit their website at www.swgbc.org or contact Bryan Maley at 723-5040 or Tonya Maley Swenson at 723-4806.