CHICAGO (AP) — The new House of Hope looks more like a superstore or sports stadium than a church. Instead of a steeple, it has a 30-foot neon marquee that on Sunday flashed the words "It's time to celebrate!" as nearly 10,000 people streamed in for the inaugural services.
Inside, two large video screens flank the giant stage so parishioners seated on the far bleachers could see the preacher. Strip away the thousands of chairs and floor covering and three regulation-size basketball courts — with locker rooms and concession stands — are ready for games.
It's so big, the Chicago Bulls plan to use it for basketball camps later this month, and the church hopes to raise money by renting it out for concerts and conventions.
"This is a great day," church member Lakesha Milsap, 30, said as she attended one of the first services there Sunday. "We're so blessed to have this church."
The 203,000-square-foot, cream-colored House of Hope on Chicago's South Side replaces the Salem Baptist Church's old house of worship, a brown brick building with twin steeples that still stands nearby.
The congregation and its leader, the Rev. James Meeks, have been an anchor for a neighborhood pocked by economic struggle.
Boarded-up storefront lines several streets, and derelict factories form a skyline, but the church has campaigned to turn things around. It started a tutoring program for neighborhood children, created a prison ministry and plans to use the new church for a neighborhood activity center.
When Salem Baptist was founded in 1985, the congregation had fewer than 200 members.
Today, it has some 22,000 and is among the nation's largest, said Michelle Pullen, its membership director.