Christal Daviston sings during Sunday worship at Zion Christian Church in Carrick, Sept. 7, 2025. Led by Pastor Dan Cramer, the church provides space for programs that assist Carrick’s growing Hindu population. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
Carrick, Brookline and Overbrook are home to growing immigrant communities, enlivening a religious landscape reshaped by parish consolidations and new congregations.
Editor’s note: This story was first published in a Pittsburgh’s Public Source neighborhood zine. Look for our printed zines now in Brookline, Carrick, Overbrook and Oakland.
In 2012, couple Frank and Stephanie Rondon founded Carrick’s Iglesia Sion, or “Zion Church,” to provide Christian worship in Spanish. “In the past 10 years, I’d say, Hispanics have discovered that Pittsburgh is what we believe to be the best city in America for Hispanics,” Frank Rondon said.
Though still predominantly white areas, the South Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Carrick, Brookline and Overbrook have grown more diverse. Immigrant populations more than doubled in Brookline and Carrick between 2008 to 2012 and 2018 to 2022, according to a University of Pittsburgh analysis. In all three neighborhoods, the number of Hispanic people grew significantly between 2010 and 2020.
For many new families, a church can make a city feel like home.
South Pittsburgh’s newcomers have contributed to the reshaping of the area’s spiritual life, with places of worship such as Iglesia Sion and Shree Krishna Temple of Pittsburgh, a Hindu temple, opening within the last 15 years. At the same time, recent church closures and parish consolidations have changed where local Christians worship –– and who they worship with.
People worship at Shree Krishna Temple of Pittsburgh on Aug. 14 in Carrick. Since 2020, Shree Krishna Temple has provided Hindu worship and community to Nepali refugees in Pittsburgh displaced from Bhutan. (Photo by Quinn Glabicki/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
In 2018, the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh decided to condense 188 of its parishes into 57. The move, which some residents found challenging, affected several parishes in South Pittsburgh. Three parishes in Brookline and Beechview merged to become St. Teresa of Kolkata Parish. Holy Apostles Parish, already the result of a 2016 merger of one parish in Overbrook and two in Carrick, merged with two others to form Blessed Trinity Parish.
Other churches have closed, including Concord Presbyterian Church in Carrick. The former Concord Presbyterian building appears to have been purchased by Alfatimiah of Pittsburgh, a Muslim group, according to county property records. Public Source was unable to reach the group by press time.
Robert McMurray and Dave Williams collect offertories from congregants at Spencer United Methodist Church on Aug. 10 in Carrick. (Photo by Caleb Kaufman/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
Worshiping together
Closures and consolidations have led Christians of various value systems to more frequently worship together, said Rev. Dylan Parson, senior pastor of Carrick’s Spencer United Methodist Church. Many former Concord Presbyterian attendees now worship at his church.
So far, the mix of faith expressions at Spencer has gone better than Parson imagined. Spencer “has to be a big tent” that welcomes people from a variety of backgrounds, he said.
“Whenever you’ve got people coming in from all these different traditions, or none –– which is, I think, more common from people coming in off the street –– you’ve got to be a place that is recognizable and comfortable, at least to some degree, for everybody,” Parson said.
Traci Bell and Denise Kolenda prepare food to distribute to people experiencing homelessness on Aug. 10 at Spencer United Methodist Church. (Photo by Caleb Kaufman/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
Creating an inclusive atmosphere meshes with the Methodist tradition, according to Rev. Margaret Bowman, Spencer’s associate pastor. She’s worked or has been trained in “just about every denomination there is,” either as a pastor or as a musician. While Methodism has certain customs and practices, “they’re very welcoming,” she said.
Sunday mornings in South Pittsburgh
Iglesia Sion traces its roots to Zion Christian Church in Carrick, led by Stephanie Rondon’s father, Pastor Dan Cramer.
From left, a churchgoer raises their hand in praise as Judy Schmigel of Mt. Oliver, Janet McCloskey of Brookline, and Linda Rybka of West Mifflin lead singing at Zion Christian Church on Sept. 7. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
On a Sunday in August, worshipers filtered in for the 10 a.m. service at Zion. A full band — multiple vocalists with keyboard, drums, guitar and saxophone — led the music. A large monitor displayed the lyrics, and blue lighting with the stained-glass windows cast a cool, colorful glow.
People often gather after the service to eat lunch. Sometimes there’s sandwiches or tacos, and there’s always potato salad, fruit and vegetables. Some end up staying as late as 4 p.m.
The church has withstood external pressures even as it has undergone changes. “I just think God wants us here,” Cramer said.
Several years ago, Jewish Family and Community Services (JFCS) asked Cramer if the church could provide space for programs assisting Carrick’s growing Hindu population.
“I was like, ‘This is really outside the box,’” Cramer recalled. “And I said, ‘Sure.’”
Since then, Zion and JFCS have offered programs providing furniture, clothing and more to Hindu residents, many of whom are refugees from Bhutan. Some of the immigrants Zion has worked with are interested in Christianity, Cramer said, while many others follow different religions.
A few years after Iglesia Sion was founded in 2012, the congregation outgrew its building in Carrick. The congregation moved to Brookline for about five years before going to Green Tree, opening up additional locations along the way in East Liberty and New Castle.
Spanish-speaking people flock to Iglesia Sion from all different parts of Pittsburgh and elsewhere, according to Frank Rondon.
“When you find God, you will do anything you can do to get more of that,” he said. “If you experience God in a certain environment among certain people, an hour, 35 minutes, whatever it is, is not a long drive.”
Matt Petras is an independent writer and adjunct professor based in Pittsburgh. He can be reached at matt456p@gmail.com.
This story was fact-checked by Emma Folts.
This article first appeared on Pittsburgh’s Public Source and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
