Sausage factory reclaimed for The Lord

In crisp white clothing and with voices raised in hosannas, a Newhallville, Connecticut, congregation that had been praying for two years at a police substation marched two blocks to a former sausage factory renovated as a new spiritual home. Bishop Michael Clyburn, bearing a staff and a Bible, led 50 members of his Grace and Peace International Ministries Church from the Winchester Avenue, New Haven, police substation on a ceremonial procession to mark a new chapter in their church life.



The Pentecostal church was based in Milford until two years ago, when it sold its building. It temporarily set up in the police substation while it looked for a permanent home in New Haven’s Newhallville neighbourhood. “I had a vision from the Lord that told us to move to this spot,” said Clyburn. The spot indicated in the bishop’s vision turned out to be 271 Starr St., near Shelton.

The empty building had most recently been owned by the Howard Sausage Company, which used to manufacture pork rinds, among other products. No longer. The church members raised $300,000 to renovate the100-year-old brick building with shiny wooden floors and panels, recessed lighting, and a dais that features art work including embroidery, sculpture, and a gilded frieze on the centre wall with shepherds blowing trumpets of praise.


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When they arrived at their new home, Bishop Clyburn and other officials stood before the doors, framed by flowering beige hydrangeas. Clyburn invoked Psalm 68, which includes passages about God entering his sanctuary. “The building you see was a dump once. God said, ‘If you come, I will give you this building.’ He has brought this to pass. Let us enter,” Clyburn said. Then he withdrew keys from his pocket and did precisely that.