Jean Vilot Mars
Pastor of Schilo
Our Story
Founded in 1960 in a living room, and forty years on the road before a home on Hope Street.
1960
It Begins
A Living Room. A Growing Vision.
The journey begins in the living room of the Smith family, where a small group gathers with a big desire: to share the Seventh-day Adventist message.
The room soon becomes too small.
And so begins a search for a place to call home—a search that would span four decades.
-1970s -1990s
Wherever There Was Room
Many Places. One Church.
The congregation worships wherever doors open across Stamford.
From the Protestant Church on Long Ridge Road, to the Jamaican Church on Richmond Hill Avenue, a residence on Washington Boulevard, and St. Luke’s LifeWorks on Pacific Street—where the church would spend more than twenty years.
The addresses changed.
The people stayed. The faith grew.
1993
Broad Street
A Place to Call Our Own… Almost.
A laundromat building on Broad Street is purchased with hopes of transforming it into a permanent church home.
But major renovations stand in the way.
Unable to worship there, the congregation continues its journey—meeting at Spruce Street, then at Jean 3:16 Pentecostal Church on Pacific Street, and later at Church of God on Atlantic Street.
The building wasn't ready. But the church was not giving up.
1999
Cove Road
Another Door Opens. Another Challenge.
The Broad Street property is sold, and a laundromat on Cove Road is acquired.
For a moment, it seems the search may finally be over.
But the city will not grant a renovation permit. The reason?
Not enough parking for the size of the congregation.
Once again, the church must move forward.
2004
The Way Is Made
Making Room for a New Beginning.
The Cove Road building is sold.
What looks like another ending becomes the beginning of something greater:
the way is made for a new church home on Hope Street.
After years of waiting, moving, praying, and persevering, the journey is finally leading somewhere.
TODAY
977 Hope Street
A Home on Hope Street
After four decades of searching, the congregation finally worships in a place it can call home:
977 Hope Street, Stamford.
From a living room to rented halls.
From borrowed churches to laundromats.
From one street to another.
From uncertainty to a permanent home.
The addresses changed.
The seasons changed.
But God never changed.
One church. One faith. One incredible journey home.
Our story is more than a history of places.
It is a testimony of faith, perseverance, and God's faithfulness.
1960 to today
A long search for a place to call home
Schilo was founded in 1960 by a group of individuals eager to spread the Seventh-day Adventist message. Their place of worship then was the living room of the Smith family, but they eventually outgrew the space, and so began a long search for a place to call home: one that would last four decades.
For over thirty three years the congregation travelled between rented establishments and homes in Stamford. The places of worship, in order, were the Smith family residence, the Protestant Church on Long Ridge Road, the Jamaican Church on Richmond Hill Avenue, a residence on Washington Boulevard, and St Luke’s LifeWorks on Pacific Street, where the church spent over twenty years.
In 1993 the church purchased a laundromat building on Broad Street. It required major renovation and could not be used as a place of worship, so the congregation kept meeting elsewhere: on Spruce Street, then at Jean 3:16 Pentecostal Church on Pacific Street, and then at the Church of God on Atlantic Street.
In 1999 the Broad Street building was sold to acquire a laundromat on Cove Road, which the church hoped to convert. It served as a temporary place of worship, but the city would not grant the permit for the renovation the building needed, because there was not enough parking for the size of the congregation.
In 2004 the Cove Road building was sold, to make way for the new building on Hope Street.
Those who have served
Our pastors
