REVERE — Nick Granitsas stood on Revere Beach on July 2, 1974 and wondered how a young pastor from a small town was going to lead an inner-city congregation.
It didn’t take long for the Harvard and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary graduate to find his answer. Half the people attending First Congregational Church were born in the 19th century, so Granitsas revived the church youth group.
“Only a couple of kids were attending church, so we reached out to the community,” he said.
Granitsas retired on Aug. 31 and his five decades spent as First Congregational pastor and his service to Revere make the 71-year-old city resident Essex Media Group’s 2020 Revere Person of the Year. Reaching out to the Revere community for help has proven to be a winning formula for Granitsas: The youth outreach effort led within a couple of years to First Congregational opening a daycare center.
“Two people loaned us $1,000 each. We had an empty church and a need to fill,” he said.
In true 1960s and 1970s fashion, the church launched a coffee house in its basement featuring music. Although the coffee house has closed and reopened across the decades, Granitsas’ and First Congregational’s enduring legacy has been the food pantry launched in 1983.
He said opening the pantry was a natural next step on the path of community outreach First Congregational embarked on when he became pastor. “We had people knocking on our door looking for food,” he said. Support from other Revere churches has kept the pantry, now located at 196/200 Winthrop Avenue, alive. St. Anthony’s Church traditionally hosted a holiday concert and invited people attending to donate food.
“They would bring a truckload over to us,” Granitsas said.
Open Wednesdays, 7-8:30 p.m., the pantry is staffed by volunteers overseen by Wendy Baur, who Granitsas said finds time outside her career as a research biologist to help feed people.
The pandemic has challenged the pantry to help many more families than the number who sought help in the 1980s. Granitsas said Revere has stepped up to meet the need.
“Revere has a togetherness – a respect — a good spirit,” he said.
Granitsas’ faith journey began when his Greek Orthodox father and Catholic mother embarked on a spiritual search that sparked their son’s interest and led him to a youth faith conference in 1963, where he found his calling.
As he completed his theological education, Granitsas set his sights on ministering to an urban congregation. His ministry at First Congregational across the decades has been marked by joyful events offsetting challenges.
“I have one family where I married the grandparents, their kids and their kids. The city has been amazing.”
