PASTOR KENDALL GRANGER PROFILE

Kendall Granger was born and raised not far from Highway 50 in East St. Louis, IL, a city plagued by poverty, crime and neglect. Though he initially intended to pursue an engineering degree, while in college Granger found himself with a different calling; he gave up engineering, entered the seminary, and founded his own non-denominational church right in his hometown.

The New Life Community Church started small - with just 12 people - but in the nine years since its inception has grown to have a faithful following of 600. The philosophy of the church is one of inclusion and practicality; Granger calls it a "real world, Monday-Friday" kind of church, where the dress is casual, the choir music is contemporary, and the pastor approaches Christianity in "a contemporary, creative, sometimes unconventional way - a way that makes sense to our generation."

From the beginning, Granger and the early founders of the church intended for it to be not just a place of worship, but a community center - it's no accident that the word "community" appears so prominently in the church's name. Among the services New Life provides is the Men's Mentoring program, which Granger considers his most important ministry. His goal is to repair his community by rebuilding families, and he's starting with the men. He teaches courses designed to support men in taking responsibility for themselves and their families, and encourages them to be active parents and role models. To Granger, it's the single most important step towards the recovery of his city. As he says: "that's what it's going to take to get East St. Louis back - not stimulus, not gambling boats, not just jobs, but men and families coming together to guide that next generation."

And what makes Granger's work an even more inspiring story of American Character? He has a speech impediment, and says the last thing he ever expected was to wind up with a career in public speaking. It's just one more way Granger serves as powerful role model for the young people he's worked so hard to help - by demonstrating that no impediment is too great to overcome.