LANSFORD, Pa. — It's been several years since a service has been held at the former English Congregational Church in Lansford.
Grace Community Church Pastor Jeremy Benack and his wife, Vicky, a social worker, hope to reinvent the space and give it back to the community.
"It was always something he had a vision for, which is to meet the needs of the community, and of course, with my profession, we see what the needs are, not just spiritually, but also just financially and social services," Vicky Benack said.
The two have decided to open the church as the Panther Valley Community Center. It would be for those who live in Lansford, Nesquehoning, Summit Hill, and Coaldale.
"We are kind of cut off. It's hard. A lot of people don't have transportation, so you have to go to Lehighton or Tamaqua. So here is going to be an opportunity for people again to receive food, to receive, hopefully, services that they come for different offices as we talked about, you'll be able to have this as a multipurpose—basketball, volleyball, dance," Jeremy Benack said.
One of the main reasons for buying the church was its central location in the borough.
"The complaint is always, 'There's nothing to do around here,' especially for the kids. Well, we want to be able to meet people's needs, whether it's financially, physically, spiritually, or, of course, being able to have a safe place for kids to come and be active."
The first phase of the project is to move the food pantry from Grace Community Church to the new center, which they hope to open in the new year.
The Benacks say a lot of work still needs to be done, like updating the electricity, the plumbing, and the HVAC system.
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