NEW CHAPTER FOR MISSION BUILDING
York's iconic 'God is Love' site sold
The iconic 'god is Love' sign at the former grace & hope Mission building at 119 N. George St. in York has been a fixture of the York streetscape for more than 60 years.
The sprawling apartments on the upper floors of the grace & hope Mission building at 119 N. George St. in York.
The stained glass windows are dedicated to mission founders Mamie Caskie and Jennie Gorantla at The grace & hope Mission building at 119 N. George St.. in York.
The sprawling apartments on the upper floors of The grace & hope Mission building at 119 N. George St. in York.
PENNSYLVANIA
The iconic "God is Love" neon sign below the cross of Grace & Hope Mission at 119 N. George St. has been part of the downtown York streetscape for decades. The building has been sold, complete with its contents, and is ready for its next chapter.
On Aug. 5, a York Daily Record photographer explored the building from basement to top floor, and learned about the people who brought this mission to York for over a century.
According to Helen Meewes, a 65-year veteran of the mission and current president and superintendent of the Grace and Hope Mission in Baltimore, two women opened the first Baltimore mission in 1914.
Early on, the mission branched out and York was the second mission opening in the fall of 1921, Meewes said. The first location was 34 S. George St. and the second location was in the 100 block of W. Princess St. In December 1930, the final location in York at 119 N. George St. was dedicated.
Meewes served at the York mission as a young worker around 1964, adding that the facade of the building looked as it does now with its iconic neon sign.
During the tour, the neon sign was momentarily switched on. Much of the sign still illuminates with a green border and red "Love" still shining bright.
The mission's doctrine is "to rescue the lost, help the poor and needy, (and) visit the sick and dying," Meewes said, adding that during the Great Depression the mission had soup lines in York, and in the early decades, a yearly "harvest time brought farmers into York who would give out fresh produce."
Meewes said that each mission building is anchored by a non-denominational, Christian-based church, which is what you find entering the York location that seats nearly 100 in wooden theater-style seats with green cushions. There is a podium area and a piano up front.
The sprawling second and third floor consist of large apartments with communal living space and separate bedrooms that housed missionaries. The third floor was dedicated to taking care of retired missionaries, Meewes added. The upper floors have a separate street entrance in front, but a second stairway at the back of the building leads from the first floor to the upper floors.
Biblical messages were common on mission buildings, Meewes said. The Buffalo, New York, mission also had a "God is Love" sign, but not neon. A couple of missions said "The light of the world in Jesus" and a couple others said "Christ died for our sins." "They always had a scripture verse on it to remind people that this was a house of God," Meewes said of the mission building facade signage.
Meewes said that in the past she remembers "lots of children in (the mission's) Sunday school … but over the years things change … it was a flourishing work and we are still going on as long as we can."
The mission, which at one time had 14 locations in different cities, continues with three remaining locations in Baltimore, Norfolk and Boston. The Baltimore mission is currently serving the unhoused.
The York mission officially closed in May of 2025.
"This is bittersweet for us," Meewes said reflecting on a century of serving York, "but it's just the reality of our life. There is a time to be born and a time to die, and it's the same with organizations, I guess, if the Lord sees fit for someone to step into our place then so be it."
For more information about buying or leasing the building, contact listing agents Ben Chiaro and David Albright, TRUE Commercial Real Estate, LLC at 717-850-8783.
Reporting is by Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record, for USA TODAY Network.
