Second Church of DorchesterNorfolk Street is a busy thoroughfare that winds its way from Blue Hill Avenue in Mattapan Square to Codman Square. As the neighborhoods it traverses have changed to dramatic effect over the last century, numerous churches of diverse congregations have sprung up along the route, many of their houses of worship offering stark contrast to the stately edifices of longtime mainstream congregations like Second Church in Codman Square, religious home of Protestant worshippers going back to the early 19th century, and Stanton Street's St. Matthew's Catholic Church.

During the fall, the Reporter engaged with a team of journalism students from Northeastern University to set out and take the measure of church life along Norfolk Street in 2010.

Their report follows:

Sounds of hymns and sermons
It is Sunday morning on Norfolk Street, and the sounds of hymns and sermons can be heard on the blocks between Capen Street and Milton Avenue where the Mount Olive Kingdom Builders’ Worship Center, the New Jerusalem Evangelical Baptist Church, the Bethlehem Baptist Church, and, up a bit on Stanton Street, St. Matthew’s Catholic Church project their faiths. More.

The goal: Communal outreach, support
Just 50 feet beyond Milton Avenue is the stark white building of the Prayer Tower Apostolic Church, which sits so close to the street that it touches the sidewalk at 141 Norfolk St. Although the church has a barren front, its side door welcomes those who are seeking God through an apostolic community. More.

‘God talks to me, I talk to members about the best ways to follow Him’
Eglise Evangelique Bethel Le Rocher and Christ Tabernacle Church are the first houses of worship churches a traveler comes to along Norfolk east of Morton Street. Located at the corner of Middleton Street, they share a building next to the Pauline Agassiz Shaw School and across the way from Metropolitan Baptist Church. More

Tying churches to their community
St. Angela’s Roman Catholic Church sits at the corner of 1540 Blue Hill Avenue and Fremont Street, the southwestern anchor to the string of religious houses that runs along Babson Street and onto church-rich Norfolk Street. More