DOVER — Much can occur in a church over the course of 100 years.

Such is the case with People’s Church of Dover, which has a history of bold actions and expansive building programs.

Located at 46 S. Bradford St. in downtown Dover, the church boasts a cornerstone that reads “1909.” Just a few bricks away sits another block, inscribed “Rebuilt 1923.”

While there’s not yet a third stone, there is a colorful sign pointing out the “Future Home of People’s Community Center.”

This and a steadily scrolling digital board announce activities sponsored by the church and open to all. The two stand together like town criers at the intersection of Reed and Bradford streets on the facility’s south lawn.

Additionally, orange construction fencing draws attention to a key renovation — a storm drain system that will alleviate flooding not only in the church basement but most likely in adjacent properties.

Two renovation phases

“We’ve been talking for a number of years about the renovations that needed to be made to the church,” said Jean Hitchens, head of the capital campaign helping to fund needed work. Using the slogan, “Building on Our Roots, Committed to Our Future,” the initiative will support not only worship needs but also the needs of the neighborhood.

Mrs. Hitchens said that, during a visioning weekend in October 2020, the membership decided to keep the church in downtown Dover while working with a consultant from the United Church of Christ’s Chesapeake Association.

“We decided to be useful in the neighborhood, as God would want us to be,” she said. She and her husband, Glenn — members of People’s Church for more than 50 years — also sing in the choir and have been longterm leaders among the congregation.

Now in week 11 of a 13-week initial campaign, People’s has raised $102,490 or 72% of its goal for this phase, she said, adding that such a massive undertaking will require public and private funding and partnerships going forward.

Scope of work

According to the pastor, the Rev. Dr. G. Derrick Hodge, renovations will occur in two phases — the first under way requiring $50,000 to make certain spaces more usable and pleasant.

The second phase requires $2 million and will make the future church/community center American With Disabilities Act-compliant by adding an elevator and restrooms as needed on all levels, as well as reconfiguring the interior of the first-floor education building.

Eventually, three of the four floors of the church building will become the People’s Community Center, with the main floor being reserved primarily for four diverse congregations: People’s at 10 a.m. each Sunday, with Victory Church later Sundays, as well as Coptic Orthodox Church and Iglesia Getsamani each Saturday.

Other community outreach

People’s Church’s second floor — with its gym and stage, added in 1923 — also features newly painted, updated classrooms with computers and worktables, plus arts and crafts areas.

It will house the People’s Community Center for Children and Youth, including a drop-in after-school program staffed largely by volunteers from the church with some educational professionals. Nonmembers could also participate following an application process.

In this spot, neighborhood children will receive academic support, a snack and supervised recreation — a project piloted last year.

A third floor is for the Returning Neighbors group, which seeks direction and employment for those exiting correction facilities, and the basement is designated for the Neighbors in Need project.

It also houses Code Purple clients during the colder months and supports food assistance. Two recent basement upgrades are showers, plus washers and dryers.

Many of these initiatives are led by church member Sue Harris Hunt.

Pastor’s perspective

The vision fits well within the perspective of the Rev. Hodge. With strengths in church revitalization and community engagement and with a Ph.D. in economic anthropology, he has been leading the flock at People’s for 20 months.

“The church as it should be is a church that is intimately and intricately involved in the lives of the people in the community, whether they are church members or not,” he said.

“Resurrection is what our faith is all about,” he said, “and that means not just the resurrection of Jesus 2,000 years ago but new life coming in, (where certain) forces of death,” such as poverty, addiction and homelessness exist.

History of leadership

This transformative work — some completed and some yet to come — is a familiar path for People’s Church.

According to its history printed in the 2009 centennial celebration booklet, the inaugural members of People’s formed an independent church in 1909 after withdrawing from their Methodist Episcopal roots.

Meeting at the Dover Opera House (the current Schwartz Center for the Arts), an initial 300 worshippers were so motivated that, by 1910, they had purchased land and erected a facility on the present site.

People’s Church assumed a significant leadership role in Dover’s early 20th-century spiritual and community matters. By 1916, under the pastorate of the Rev. Dr. Albert W. Lightbourne, it had grown to 800 members.

“Then, ... in 1923, they started a capital campaign for a church school building,” said James Caldwell, the current campaign’s publicity head. “Their aim was to raise $30,000. Mr. Eldredge Reeves Johnson, who developed the Victor talking machine, gave an additional $70,000 with the hope of making it not just a Sunday school building but also a community center for recreation and events,” he explained.

With its unique basement bowling alley, movie-showing capability, hardwood-floored gym and more, the addition was indeed a bustling neighborhood hub, even through the mid-20th century and beyond. The church itself was often packed.

However, times change, congregations age and church populations in downtown areas diminish, as has been the case at People’s.

‘Fixing broken relationships’

The Rev. Hodge said that — in both the United Church of Christ as a denomination and at People’s — “Jesus came not just to teach us how to die but to teach us how to live, and that means being in a relationship with others. Our faith is about fixing broken relationships.

“I hope those who read this will understand,” he added, “that we are motivated by our faith in resurrection, but what we are doing is not about just being Christian. It is about revitalizing the community with different faith groups and those with no faith at all. We are committed to the well-being of the community by building nurturing relationships.”

Those who wish to volunteer in the church’s efforts or participate in the campaign are welcome to do so. People’s Church is on Facebook, and the office phone is 302-674-4177.

“Come in and talk to me,” the Rev. Hodge said. “Talk to me as executive director of the People’s Community Center. Call the church and speak to me or stop by any weekday afternoon and talk about what we are doing and how we can best help the community.”

Patricia C. Thompson is a freelance writer living in Dover.