Light Street Presbyterian Church stands up and out. It?s not your typical church. Police detained their pastor for protesting the war in Iraq. They preach against pollution. And they invite all of Baltimore in ? regardless of a person?s social status or sexual orientation.
“We?re a safe space, a fully inclusive church ? very progressive theologically and politically,” said Julie Helms, elder at Light Street Presbyterian Church. “We have a very diverse congregation, from a homeless woman who comes every Sunday to Ph.D.s.”
In 1996, the congregation “put it right out there in a very explicit way,” she said about the church?s creed posted at the door.
“Instead of isolating groups, we bring them together,” said Kelli Langley, an Owings Mills resident. “It?s good to cross paths with people whose fabric is different than your own.”
The church is open to learning how spirituality comes in different facets and forms, Langley said.
“This allows people on all levels to intermingle and share experiences,” she said.
Langley hosted a yoga session last summer at the church where one of the oldest participants was a man well into his 90s, she said.
“You never know whose going to connect to a ?nontraditional? [service],” Langley said.
Light Street Presbyterian Church, erected in 1855, played an instrumental role in the gentrification of Federal Hill then only known as South Baltimore, according to Helms.
Former pastor David Pollitt breathed life into the church and the surrounding area during his service from 1978 to 2001, Elder Jim Smith said. Led Pollitt, the congregation provided food and housing for those “living on the edge,” Helms said.
Current church members continue in Pollitt?s spirit by taking medicines into Cuba, where drugs are scarce partially due to an U.S. embargo.
A U.S. Department of Commerce export license allows the Light Street congregation to legally supply Cuban residents with medicine. According to church documents, the Cuba Partnership has carried more than $2,000 worth of prescribed medicines to the country.
“We?re people helping people regardless of where they live or under what regime,” Helms said.
“Anyone seeking God can come to Light Street,” Langley said. “They will be welcomed.”
