A Grandmother stops by to show off a new "grand" baby. A Hispanic woman drops off a plate of homemade tortillas. A street pastor escorts a homeless man inside the door. And a Catholic priest waves through the window as he walks by.
The local community center? Not officially, anyway. It's the Christian Science Reading Room in Dover, New Jersey, sponsored by First Church of Christ, Scientist, Sparta—ten miles away. And it's at the center of the story of how a group of members, by taking the time for committed prayer, got in touch with the heart of a neighborhood's needs.
And there's more. It isn't Sparta's only Reading Room. They've got two.
