Congregation Kol Ami is still in Elkins Park. Its members still live in the area. Its congregation still meets on Old York Road, in the Congregations of Shaare Shamayim’s rented space within Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel, for Friday night services once a month.

And it still counts about 65 households.

It just no longer has its own space in which to meet.

Kol Ami is, as its current leaders like to say, one of those “synagogues without walls.”

But how long can it go on in this form?

With a new rabbi, Nancy Ginsberg, who started in July, members and leaders will explore this question together. The answer is likely a familiar one: Kol Ami needs to find a way to attract young families again.

“Our goal now is to reach out to the younger unaffiliated people,” said Fran Surkin, the synagogue’s board chair.

Kol Ami launched in a basement in 1994, grew to a peak of 205 households in the early 2000s and decreased to about 140 households by 2021. In response to the decline, the shul sold its building on High School Road and began renting space from Beth Sholom Congregation on Old York Road — the famous Frank Lloyd Wright building.

In 2024, Kol Ami’s rabbi of six years, Leah Berkowitz, left because the congregation was exploring a unification with Darchei Noam, another Montgomery County synagogue. The shuls spent a year, from July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2025, examining a possible merger, but ultimately decided to remain apart.

The communities had both structural and liturgical differences. Kol Ami has a board of trustees and is affiliated with the Reform movement. Darchei Noam is nondenominational and has a leadership team run by clergy and committee chairs. Darchei Noam also does not use a Reform prayer book.

In a congregation-wide vote, Kol Ami members decided to remain independent.

After that vote, Kol Ami conducted research through studies, meetings and community outreach to search for a path forward.

“Our research showed that many religious institutions are struggling today because people’s need to belong to religious institutions has changed. In order to survive, we have to mold ourselves into what people are looking for today. Our goal is to listen to our members and provide services that meet their needs, whether it be spiritual, educational and/or social,” said Surkin.

After conducting that research, Kol Ami started offering a traditional dues model and a pay-as-you-go model. With the pay-as-you-go model, participants could pay for individual activities instead of yearly membership, but they would still be considered congregants.

“You don’t have to commit to thousands of dollars in dues,” Surkin said.

Then, in 2026, Kol Ami launched a rabbi search.

Ginsberg, who lives in Maryland, saw the posting on Indeed. She served as a cantor for the last 38 years and was ordained as a rabbi in June.

She thought it might be a good fit because it was part-time and would allow her to stay in Maryland for now. But she also liked the Philadelphia area from her early career stop at Main Line Reform Temple-Beth Elohim in Wynnewood.

More importantly, she connected with the identity that the synagogue was presenting.

“It talked about how they were open, they were welcoming and they were accepting of a diverse community,” she said.

She applied, and as she learned more about the synagogue, she liked what she saw. It had a Rainbow Alliance for LGBTQ+ members and embraced interfaith families. It was also a chance to help rebuild a place that still meant something to a lot of people.

“They’ve had a couple tough years. I want to be part of rebuilding it,” she said.

“I want a community that’s going to be open, that’s going to be accepting, that’s going to build that bigger tent for all people. Being accepting of interfaith families, that’s really important to me,” she added.

Surkin said the community was sold on Ginsberg after her in-person visit. The newly-ordained rabbi displayed an impressive cantorial singing voice and a sharp rabbinical skill for delivering insightful Divrei Torah.

“They’re meaningful and very well-written,” Surkin said.

Since her start date on July 1, Ginsberg has been reaching out to members, including congregants who are unsure if they want to stay with the community. Kol Ami had an interim rabbi between Berkowitz and Ginsberg, but now it has a settled leader dedicated to rebuilding the shul.

“It’s been a while since a rabbi has made that effort to have that connection with the congregation, and that’s very important to us,” Surkin said.

Ginsberg is driving up to Elkins Park for one weekend a month. She also leads a Zoom service during the second half of the month and plans programming.

“It doesn’t mean that we won’t ever move to Philadelphia,” she said.

Kol Ami also runs an adult education program once a month, a choir, social activities, a writing workshop and the Rainbow Alliance group.

Surkin said the synagogue wants to hire a marketing person to “help brand us and advertise our activities.”

jsaffren@midatlanticmedia.com