A Springfield, Missouri church formed by slaves in the 1800s is getting some repairs.
The Pitts Chapel United Methodist Church, one of Springfield’s last remaining historically African American churches, is undergoing a much-needed remodeling project.
The chapel was built in 1911, and a fundraising campaign to save the deteriorating church began in 2020.
Lead pastor Tracy Wolff said, “Nobody expected little Pitts Chapel to be able to raise close to $250,000 but we almost have.”
“Pitts Chapel staying alive tells Springfield that the Black community is still alive. We’re still here, and as several of my members like to say, ‘We aren’t going anywhere.’ We’re going to be an important part and we are an important part, always have been an important part of Springfield and that will continue.”
Wolff is the former lead pastor at North Hills United Methodist Church in St. Louis and associate pastor at St. Andrew UMC.
She served as the Food & Fitness director at Mercy Ministries and the Connections pastor at Grace UMC and was a board member with DOORWAYS, which provides emergency and permanent housing to the impoverished and homeless population affected by HIV/AIDS in Missouri and Illinois.
While serving as Pitts Chapel lead pastor for less than a year, Wolff is familiar with the Springfield area.
She walked onto the Missouri State’s women’s basketball team in the mid-1980s as a sophomore before becoming a full scholarship student.
Following graduation, she spent two years as a graduate coaching assistant for the Lady Bears before leaving for Milwaukee in 1991 to serve as Marquette University’s assistant women’s basketball coach, a post she held for 10 years. After Marquette, she worked as Director of Women’s Basketball with Athletes in Action, the sports ministry of Cru Ministries, formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ.
Wolff became Pitts Chapel pastor last summer when Rev. Russell Ewell was assigned to lead a congregation in Kansas City. She also had been working at the church through the Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church NextGen Ministries, a ministry for college students.
To support the renovation effort visit www.givelify.com/Pitts Chapel or mail a check to the church at 600 N. Benton Ave, Springfield, MO 65806.
Services at the church have continued, they are just being held in the basement.
“What it will mean to the congregation to be back in the sanctuary, you can only imagine what it’s like to be in your church but not be in your sanctuary for a year,” Wolff said.
For the full version of this article, visit Historic black church in Springfield being remodeled (ozarksfirst.com).
