Church aims to better a neighborhood

The congregation spent most of the past three years reclaiming the space, the former St. Leo Church. Retired tradespeople among them did carpentry work daily or wired electricity. Plumbers refitted pipes and built bathrooms in their spare time. Others hammered nails on Saturdays or swept floors when their paying jobs ended for the day.

“It’s a working church,’’ Weeks said.

Yesterday was the day for hallelujahs, praises, and tears - the opening of the sanctuary - complete with purple ribbon cuttings by the church’s 93-year-old founder and baptisms for the newly saved on the pulpit. The organist played “This is the Day the Lord Hath Made’’ as members came decked out in sparkling gowns and fine hats to celebrate.

 Now, Weeks and church members said, they want to increase their neighborhood outreach, to feed and clothe people and bring them closer to God. The church’s old location in the South End provided an important base to serve a diverse community, but the need is even greater here, said Talia Rivera, who leads a nonprofit youth services group affiliated with the church and is also an active member. That community engagement is part of the reason she and others joined the church, she said.

Renee Brown, who lives about a block away, came to yesterday’s opening service after church members placed a flier on her door.

“I’ve been watching the church being built,’’ said Brown, a nursing assistant.

She said she had been inspired by the members who had been refurbishing the property while meeting for services in a trailer. Brown is raising three teenagers and was glad to have one of them attend a recent church outreach party.

“I’ve been looking for this in our community for a long time, because I think our community needs this help,’’ she said.

Though relatively new to Dorchester, the congregation dates to 1958, when the pastor’s father, Thomas J. Weeks, a native of Montserrat, opened a storefront church in the South End, after he had what he has described as a vision of a tree laden with fruit at that location.

The church later moved to another South End location, a former Syrian Orthodox church near Boston Medical Center, before its recent move to Dorchester.

The younger Weeks, who took over her father’s ministry in 1994, said the congregation outgrew its former space and members had trouble finding parking without getting tickets.

The new space allows the church to expand its extensive community outreach, which includes outdoor summer services with meals for the neighborhood, a monthly food distribution to poor families, after-school programs, a computer lab for nearby residents, and an offshoot nonprofit group that reaches out to gang members and other youth.

In early 2006, Bethel bought the current church site, along with three adjacent buildings, for $2 million from the Boston Archdiocese. Bethel sold its South End property for about $1.9 million. Despite performing most of the renovations in-house, the church holds a debt of about $1 million due to interest, materials, and contracted stone work and roof replacement.

The building now smells of new carpet. Its oak floors shine. The purple cushion seats are spotless.

“When you look at what’s here now, you almost can’t remember how horrible it was,’’ said David White, a 58-year-old church elder from Milton who has been attending the congregation since he was 9 years old.

The elder Weeks spent most of yesterday’s service in the front row with his wife of 69 years, crying in awe of what his storefront church had become, as a pair of flat-screen televisions broadcast the service for those standing in the back.

“I’m just thinking the greatness of God, what God can do, can take anything and make something out of it,’’ said Weeks, who wore a gray three-piece suit for the occasion.

Noah Bierman can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .