The Sangre de Cristo Church plans a new church for a lot at 2095 Galisteo Street, south of St. Michael's Drive. (EDDIE MOORE/JOURNAL)

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A Santa Fe church that has been operating out of the Genoveva Chavez Community Center for more than a decade may have found a new home.

The citys Board of Adjustment on Tuesday unanimously approved a special use permit that would allow the Sangre de Cristo Bible Church to build a 9,306 square foot structure at 2095 Galisteo Street, north of Siringo Road and east of St. Francis Drive. The 4.23 acres of property is currently zoned for residential use.

Pastor John Romero said Sangre de Cristo Bible Church is an independent, non-denominational church founded in 2001 and now with a congregation of about 120 people. It has been holding services in the community room at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center almost its entire existence.

The new church would be a metal building with a stucco facade with seating for 244 people. A parking lot capable of accommodating 76 cars would also be built on the property.

Under questioning from board members Romero said ideally the parking lot would be paved, but putting in an asphalt lot initially would be dependent on funding.

Romero said getting approval to build the church was just a first step. The next step is for the church to buy the property, owned by Playschool of the Arts located across Galisteo from the proposed site.

A 9,306 sq. ft. building for the Sangre de Cristo Church is planned for a lot at 2095 Galisteo Street, (EDDIE MOORE/JOURNAL)

The church didnt get all it wanted from the Board of Adjustment. It originally planned to construct a 25-foot sign facing St. Francis, but Daniel Esquibel, a senior land use planner for the city, said the height of the sign didnt meet the citys code for signage in a residential area.

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Santa Fe church may have found a home

April 01, 2014

The interior of O'Neills pub in a former Presbyterian church in Muswell Hill, north London. Thanks to a steady decline in religion and the high costs of maintaining these historic buildings, a rising number of churches are being given new lives that may have horrified their founders. AFP pic, April 1, 2014.At one church, the only thing being worshipped is beer at another, gleaming cars are on sale. Increasingly, it seems, a different kind of conversion is taking place at some of Britain's churches.

Thanks to a steady decline in religion and the high costs of maintaining these historic buildings, a rising number of churches are being given new lives that may have horrified their founders.

Behind the imposing red-brick facade of one Presbyterian church in north London's upmarket Muswell Hill district, throbbing pop music and barrels of Guinness are the first clues that there's a new congregation.

The soaring Gothic arches remain but instead of an altar there's a huge bar, while tables, stools and slot-machines stand in place of the pews. Built in 1902, the church's beautiful exterior remains unchanged. Inside, it's an Irish pub.

"If it was a church, there would be only two or three people here but on Fridays and Saturdays, it's packed," said John Earl, a construction worker, as he nursed a pint.

"It is weird," he admitted. "I feel I kind of have to respect it. I don't mind being drunk here, but I don't want people carving the pillars."

At another table, 33-year-old Yamini pronounced the pub "beautiful".

"It has a different look from the other pubs," she said as she sipped red wine with a friend. "And it's being used instead of being abandoned."

Religious worship has been declining in Britain for years, and church authorities are increasingly forced to rethink the management of their huge and very expensive estates.

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Fort Myers-based J.L. Wallace Inc. has completed construction of the Next Level Church Gateway Campus.

The new campus is the first satellite location for Next Level Church. It was constructed on 7.5 acres at 11081 Gateway Blvd. The new campus reflects the same style as the main Next Level Church campus on Plantation Road, which was built by J.L. Wallace in April 2011.

The new facility is about 19,500 square feet and includes and auditorium, foyer, classrooms for children and offices for staff.

J.L. Wallace has provided general contracting, design/build and construction management services in Southwest Florida since 1997.

For more information, visit http://www.jlwallaceinc.com or call (239) 437-1111.

Naples chamber holds ceremonies for three members

The Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce recently hosted ribbon-cutting ceremonies for three chamber members celebrating grand openings, reopenings, remodelings or anniversaries.

Jewish Family and Childrens Services (JFCS) is a non-sectarian social service agency providing various services to Collier and southern Lee counties. Services include mental health counseling, caregiver support, geriatric case management and the JFCS Food Pantry. In January, JFCS opened a senior center in Collier County.

On The Course Tee Times Inc. is a privately held concierge service that partners discreetly with select high-profile golf facilities across Southwest Florida. It connects tourists and other golf enthusiasts with their ideal golfing experience.

New Journey Weight Loss & Wellness focuses on traditional weight loss with one-on-one coaching, nutritional guidance and dietician-certified meal plans.

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It's Your Business: Construction complete on Next Level Church campus

Photo by: Rick Danzl/The News-Gazette

Desks inside the former United Methodist Episcopal Church, which was founded in 1886 and now serves as an office building for the Savoy Public Works Department.

SAVOY A prominent piece of Savoy's history may soon be up for grabs.

On the north side of Church Street, in the part of town locals affectionately refer to as "old town," stands the former United Methodist Episcopal Church. The building currently serves as offices for the Savoy Public Works Department but will soon no longer be needed as the village pursues a redevelopment of the area.

The building at 114 W. Church St. is actually the second Savoy Methodist Episcopal Church at the location.

In 1886, a building committee from the Methodist congregation was formed with the intention of constructing a church building on the property, which committee president J.H. Dunlap donated for that purpose. The building was blown down once during construction, but was completed and dedicated on Jan. 9, 1887.

On Feb. 10, 1895, fire destroyed both the church and the parsonage. Just seven months later, the new church building the one that still there today was completed.

By 1970, the Methodist community had grown to 179 members, and a new church building was constructed on Graham Drive. The name was changed to the Savoy United Methodist Church. A year later, the original church building was sold to the village of Savoy for $12,500.

The building was used as the Savoy Village Hall from 1971-2004, when the new Savoy Municipal Center at 611 N. Dunlap was completed. After that, the former church building was converted to the offices for the village's public works department.

Now, a new public works building is being constructed just west of the Savoy Municipal Center. Once the building is complete, all public works offices will be transferred there, and the former church will be left vacant.

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Savoy plans may mean end of former church

Falls Road Baptist Church broke ground March 9 for a sanctuary and classroom building on its new campus at 3144 Benvenue Road.

Construction likely will begin in early April, Larry Todd, the churchs secretary, said in a telephone interview Tuesday. The project will move quickly.

Were the trusting the Lord for the first of October, he said of the projected completion date.

The sanctuary will seat about 200 people, the Rev. Steven Harduk, Falls Roads pastor, said Wednesday in a telephone interview. The other building will have six classrooms, a nursery and an office.

Together, they will have about 12,000 square feet of space and cost more than $1 million, Harduk said.

At the groundbreaking, Harduk gave a devotional from the book of Nehemiah and offered a prayer of thanksgiving and dedication for the building and Gods blessing on the churchs ministry, a release says. Members of the board of deacons also spoke on how they envisioned God would use the building and property in the coming years.

The new campus, which is on the north side of Benvenue Road just west of Thomas A. Betts Parkway, offers the congregation room for expansion.

As we get this completed, hopefully if the ministry grows, we certainly have ample room for expansion, Todd said. We have over 40 acres of property out there.

Said Harduk: As the Lord would provide and bless, there are plans for additional classrooms and a family life center that would include a gymnasium. ... Thats something well just have to wait upon the Lord (for).

Mike Marguerat of Landmark Construction also gave a presentation at the groundbreaking on the appearance and layout of the building, the release says. Floor plans also are on display in Falls Roads current sanctuary at 734 Falls Road.

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Church starts building project

Dozens of people turned out Sunday morning to protest a cell phone tower proposed behind Grace United Methodist Church as worshippers attended services.

But the church's council later Sunday voted to enter into a lease with AT&T so the wireless carrier can move ahead with plans to erect the controversial tower behind the church building at 1089 Fairfield Woods Road, according to a statement from the Rev. Kun Sam Cho, pastor of the church.

"This was a difficult decision and one which the council took with the greatest of care," the pastor said in the statement on the Fairfield Grace website. "I pray that we all will continue to show concern for one another and respectfully accept the decision that was made."

Cho had declined to comment to the media immediately after Sunday's 10 a.m. service, but said a statement would be released after the council's vote.

Several protestors who assembled in front of the church property, carrying placards to promote their opposition, said Cho came out before the service to greet them and shake their hands.

Krissy Dorn of Woodridge Avenue, one of the protestors outside the church from around 9 a.m. to noon, said the tower would be 100 feet high atop a 50-by-50-foot base, and within 250 feet of Fairfield Woods Middle School, Jennings School, the church's preschool and Child Link, a preschool in Jennings School. She said a total of about 1,200 children attend those schools and that a state law says cell phone towers -- because of health concerns -- should not be erected within 250 feet of schools or day-care centers, although that can be overridden by the Connecticut Siting Council.

"First and foremost are concerns for children's health and safety. Having radiation emissions near our children for eight hours a day for 10-plus years is a long time for them to be exposed, especially since they're young, developing bodies," Dorn said. She said Fairfield Woods Branch Library, where many children attend programs, also would be within 250 feet of the tower's proposed location on the church property.

Colleen Sullivan of Palamar Drive said a cell phone tower near 1,200 children "would seem to be in contrast to what our state statute says."

"There isn't enough research, and, in order to understand the effect of a cell tower on children's development, you'd need a long-term, longitudinal study on children," Sullivan said.

John DeMassa, who lives near the church, said he was a research chemist for 23 years and that substances introduced into the marketplace later have been banned because of their effects on health. "I see a lot of the cell technology as relatively new technology, and since it is, I think there are open questions," he said. "I'm not hysterical about it, but where there's doubt and where there's children, we ought to be very conservative about how we deploy this technology."

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No saving 'Grace:' Protesters oppose cell tower on Fairfield church property

ABINGTON Before it was hemmed in by stores, offices, hospitals, and homes, Abington Presbyterian Church stood apart in the Montgomery County landscape, a Romanesque sanctuary "whose steeple, crowning the hills, can be seen afar for many miles," as a pastor wrote in 1889.

For 70 years before the current church was built, the church occupied a simpler stone meetinghouse. And for 70 years before that, congregants worshipped in a modest log cabin nestled beneath a tree on a corner of the reverend's farm.

This year, Abington Presbyterian is stepping back in time to celebrate its 1714 founding with a series of history-themed events, concerts, and guest preachers.

On March 16, the church held a recital for its newly restored Mller pipe organ, which had been out of service since 2011.

And on Saturday, a group of volunteers built a replica of that log cabin, roughly 12 feet by 20 feet, with simple slab benches similar to the original pews.

"I lay up at night and think about how it's going to look," said John Dean, a banker and amateur carpenter who planned the construction. "Nobody truly knows what it looked like."

Dean said he and architect Brian Fey, both members of the congregation, designed the cabin as accurately as they could by relying on descriptions from old church records and books.

Church leaders hope the cabin, standing in clear view of the endless stream of drivers on Old York Road, will spark meditation on a simpler time and respect for the forebears who made Abington what it is today.

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Abington Presbyterian celebrates 300 years

Dozens of people turned out Sunday morning to protest a cell phone tower proposed behind Grace United Methodist Church as worshippers attended services.

But the church's council later Sunday voted to enter into a lease with AT&T so the wireless carrier can move ahead with plans to erect the controversial tower behind the church building at 1089 Fairfield Woods Road, according to a statement from the Rev. Kun Sam Cho, pastor of the church.

"This was a difficult decision and one which the council took with the greatest of care," the pastor said in the statement on the Fairfield Grace website. "I pray that we all will continue to show concern for one another and respectfully accept the decision that was made."

Cho had declined to comment to the media immediately after Sunday's 10 a.m. service, but said a statement would be released after the council's vote.

Several protestors who assembled in front of the church property, carrying placards to promote their opposition, said Cho came out before the service to greet them and shake their hands.

Krissy Dorn of Woodridge Avenue, one of the protestors outside the church from around 9 a.m. to noon, said the tower would be 100 feet high atop a 50-by-50-foot base, and within 250 feet of Fairfield Woods Middle School, Jennings School, the church's preschool and Child Link, a preschool in Jennings School. She said a total of about 1,200 children attend those schools and that a state law says cell phone towers -- because of health concerns -- should not be erected within 250 feet of schools or day-care centers, although that can be overridden by the Connecticut Siting Council.

"First and foremost are concerns for children's health and safety. Having radiation emissions near our children for eight hours a day for 10-plus years is a long time for them to be exposed, especially since they're young, developing bodies," Dorn said. She said Fairfield Woods Branch Library, where many children attend programs, also would be within 250 feet of the tower's proposed location on the church property.

Colleen Sullivan of Palamar Drive said a cell phone tower near 1,200 children "would seem to be in contrast to what our state statute says."

"There isn't enough research, and, in order to understand the effect of a cell tower on children's development, you'd need a long-term, longitudinal study on children," Sullivan said.

John DeMassa, who lives near the church, said he was a research chemist for 23 years and that substances introduced into the marketplace later have been banned because of their effects on health. "I see a lot of the cell technology as relatively new technology, and since it is, I think there are open questions," he said. "I'm not hysterical about it, but where there's doubt and where there's children, we ought to be very conservative about how we deploy this technology."

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Static for cell plan: Protesters oppose AT&T tower on Fairfield church property

HOUSTON -

Churchgoers returned to Heights Presbyterian Church Sunday, four days after an electrical fire gutted part of the historic building at 18th Street and Rutland.

A joint service was held Sunday morning with another congregation, Beacon Light Outreach Ministry, which also meets at the church.

Despite everything lost in Wednesday's fire, leaders from both churches found reason to celebrate.

What we see as destruction, God says it's all about construction.," said Pastor Travin Roquemore, of Beacon Light Outreach Ministry. "There's going to be something new on this campus. If we didn't have a mark on this Heights community, we got it now.

The building that housed a modern worship center and classrooms was destroyed by the fire, but church members are thankful firefighters were able to protect the sanctuary from fire damage.

In the days that have followed, the churches have also seen an outpouring of support. Two fifth-graders donated $40 they raised by selling bracelets, and a girl scout sold and then donated more than 200 boxes of cookies.

I've seen the church and these two congregations draw together with a unity, and an energy and encouragement, strength that's come even in the midst of this loss, said Pastor Lynne Buckridge, of Heights Presbyterian Church.

Buckridge said an environmental assessment will have to be conducted on the sanctuary before it is able to be used again. In the meantime, they are trying to replace plastic Easter eggs and candy that was destroyed by the fire.

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Church sees outpour of support after fire

SIOUX CITY (KTIV) - A project four years in the making at a church in downtown Sioux City is close to crossing its final hurdle in beginning construction.

Shepherd's Garden, a park proposed for the lot adjacent to the First Presbyterian Church at sixth and Nebraska, is about 20 thousand dollars away from hitting their 850 thousand dollar fundraising goal, but they're sitting with hands tied at the moment.

But what may look like a broken down concrete lot is much more, according to those with big plans for the open space.

"Something needs to be done with the lot. We have a need between Mercy Medical Center and the church. One very appropriate use for that lot would be to have this contemplative garden," Bill Stoneburg, Shepherd's Garden board member.

And a group of people in Sioux City intend to make the empty lot at 6th and Jackson street just that.

"Someone could go freely from the hospital or anywhere downtown, they could have lunch, just a quiet beautiful green spot," Stoneburg said.

The ball started rolling on Shepherd's Garden park back in 2010. Now, four years and 830 thousand dollars later, the empty lot has had some contracting work done, and is ready for the final steps in the makeover.

"Going back to June of 2010, this has all been done with donations. Everything that we've done has been paid for," Stoneburg said.

But construction may not start as soon as the Shepherd's Garden board originally thought.

"We're in a bit of a delay pattern," Stoneburg said.

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Downtown Sioux City park proposal hits a road block