The Pompton Lakes Reformed Church is ready to lay down the foundation for a more pulchritudinous parish.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE POMPTON LAKES REFORMED CHURCH

The Pompton Lakes Reformed Church's plan for a Legacy Garden seeks to create an outside sanctuary on church grounds.

Pastor Thomas Bartha said the church's Endowment Committee is working on a long-term project to beautify the church's grounds.

It is currently holding a fundraiser to begin work on the greenery next to the playground.

Bartha said right now the project is focusing on just a triangular area.

"Often there are people waiting for meetings there and they want to just sit outside and have a cup of coffee or a lunch," he said.

The plan is to plant new shrubbery and install benches.

"They just want to make it beautiful," he said. "Right now it's just a patch of grass, and that's it."

To raise the funds for the project, which is called the Legacy Garden, the church is selling commemorative bricks that can be inscribed and installed in the ground.

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Pompton Lakes Reformed Church plans to build garden

Pastor Rene Molina moved among the sea of believers, bestowing blessings with his touch. He placed a hand on one worshiper's head, sparking such emotion that the man fell to the floor.

"Jesus was an immigrant and outsider too," Molina said, speaking in the Spanish of his native El Salvador. "God is here in Los Angeles as you struggle. God is there with your family, in Mexico and Guatemala.... Don't doubt your value, no matter what society says."

This is Sunday morning service at Restauracion Los Angeles, emblematic of how the practice of Christianity here is being reshaped.

Latino Pentecostals have become an integral part of L.A.'s religious fabric over the last two decades. New arrivals, from countries such as Guatemala and El Salvador, already were believers. Others grew up Catholic but were attracted to the more intimate Pentecostal experience, finding comfort there after leaving family and friends behind.

Now, with storefront churches dotting street corners and larger congregations beginning to take flight, an American-born generation is bringing fresh energy and expectations to the faith.

Stout, toffee-skinned and wavy-haired, Molina is one of the movement's most intriguing leaders. When he began preaching in Los Angeles, there were 30 believers in his pews. Now he leads a mega-church with a membership of roughly 3,000 in a renovated movie house in South L.A.'s Crenshaw district the longtime heart of black Los Angeles.

"The special sauce here is the Holy Spirit," he said, noting that speaking in tongues and faith healing are central to his church.

Just as important is Molina's message. "He has a clear emphasis," said Juan Martinez, a vice provost at Pasadena's Fuller Seminary who is overseeing the pastor's pursuit of a master's degree in divinity. "Society may have you in the shadows because of your immigration status or your economic status. But this is a church that says, in God's economy, you have total worth."

Restauracion is made up almost entirely of recent immigrants restaurant and construction workers, janitors and nannies or their sons, daughters and grandchildren. Most are either in the country illegally or started out that way, said Molina, who once sneaked across the border himself.

"In the crowd here you see the faces of Los Angeles," Molina, 51, said. "You see the reality of today."

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Spreading the Pentecostal spirit

KUCHING: Church committee from St Francis in Kota Samarahan is disappointed by the explanation given by Public Works Department for its rejection of the construction of a car park between the church and the road.

According to the department, the proposed parking lot would entail filling up the mud drain along the land reserve and this may be cause rain water to spill from the main road into the churchs compound.

Priest in-charge Reverend Dennis Gimang told The Borneo Post yesterday: If there is a will, there is a way. If there is no will, there will be excuses.

He added that the level of the churchs compound which is lower than the main road is used as the major excuse to reject the proposed project.

However, he reasoned the drain which is supposed to catch and channel water spilling from Jalan Datuk Mohammad Musa is dysfunctional as it is blocked at both ends after the completion of two roads leading into the churchs compound years ago, said Dennis.

The mud drain is stagnant for the past few years and is now a breeding ground for mosquitoes and a danger to pedestrians. It serves no purpose.

Dennis pointed out that three Penghulus from the nearby villagers had agreed to sign a petition letter to the authority and they were backed by Asajaya assemblyman Datuk Karim Rahman Hamzah.

In a recent interview, Dennis revealed that the proposed parking area measuring 180 metres long and 14 metres

wide could accommodate at least 60 vehicles for their parishioners.

He also said that parking was chaotic on weekend Mass and during church activities which will involve all the 12 chapels under its wing.

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Church committee upset over rejection of car park plan

CLINTON Without looking closely, the large, weather-worn rock near the entrance to First Baptist Church would seem to be purely decorative; however, the stone actually serves as a landmark for the church's vast history.

The rock began its tenure with the church 175 years ago, providing an uplifted surface for women to mount and dismount from their horses, said the Rev. John Roberson, who joined the church in 2003 and became its 41st pastor in 2005.

It's quite amazing to be celebrating something that, quite frankly, many churches may never reach, he said. There's nothing that brings stability to a community better than a well-rounded church, and (First Baptist) has delivered people the true gospel for 175 years.

First Baptist, currently located at 220 Illini Drive in Clinton, has called four church buildings home since its founding on Feb. 1, 1839.

Though we don't have any photos of the first church, it was described as having the humble beginning of a log cabin, he said.

The change in location throughout the years was driven by various factors, including torrential tornado damage in 1878 and disruptive noise from the railroad when it came to Clinton in the 1890s.

The church has expanded greatly since the time of its log-cabin roots, and the current building was constructed in June 1967. It sits on five acres of land, covers about 22,000 square feet and contains about 25 rooms, Roberson said.

For Clinton resident and church secretary Nancy Neatherly, First Baptist has played an immense role for three generations of her family. Her father even installed the electrical foundation for the current building during its construction.

When I was a child, (the church) was all I knew; it was my social life, and it was my family life, she said. I'm amazed that the church has been here so long, and I'm proud that my children are a part of that.

Though many cosmetic changes have taken place over the past two centuries, First Baptist's methods have stayed the same, said 72-year-old Barb Stone, who began attending the church in 1959.

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Clinton's First Baptist Church remains a steady foundation for its members

EDMONTON The Stella Maris Church Hall is one step closer to getting a wheelchair ramp thanks to one man a Canada-length away.

CLAC Alberta Representative Simon Fedun, left, presents a cheque for $1,000 to Jon MacInnis for renovations to the Stella Maris Church Hall in Pictou. SUBMITTED

Jon MacInnis, who grew up in North End New Glasgow but works in Edmonton, applied for and received a $1,000 grant for the church.

The funding came from CLAC, an independent Canadian labour union, as part of their Building Communities Together program.

The church, built in 1865 and recognized as a Canadian heritage property, was nominated by MacInnis, a member of Construction Workers Union, Local 63, affiliated with CLAC.

MacInnis is an electrician who has travelled out west for the past 10 years and is currently employed by PCL Energy Inc. in Edmonton.

This church hall provides huge benefits to a rural community in Nova Scotia, said MacInnis. The hall is in need of a new wheelchair ramp because currently it is not inclusive for all individuals using the Stella Maris Church Hall.

Because his mothers family has a connection with the church that spans 50 years, the church was the ideal candidate for CLACs grant. He hopes the inclusion of an indoor wheelchair ramp will make the hall more inclusive for all members during community gatherings.

There is no ramp going into the downstairs, which holds receptions for funerals, dinner parties, and community gatherings, said MacInnis.

CLAC is an independent Canadian labour union representing over 55,000 workers in a wide range of sectors: construction, health care, retail, service, transportation, manufacturing, and others. Based on principles that promote the values of respect, dignity, fairness, and integrity, CLACs approach to labour relations stresses membership advocacy, co-operation, and the long-term interests of the workplace community.

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New Glasgow native in Alberta awarded fund for Stella Maris Church Hall

Water of Life Community Church held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new worship center at its campus in northwestern Fontana last Sunday afternoon.

Construction of the new center, which will cost about $20 million, will begin in March and is expected to be completed in the latter part of 2015.

Church leaders said there is a huge need for the new facility, because Water of Life has been growing steadily over the past 24 years and now has an average weekend attendance of 6,400. Water of Life is listed as the 50th fastest growing Protestant church in the United States and has the 89th largest attendance of any Protestant church in the country.

"We started with 10 people in my living room," Pastor Dan Carroll told the large crowd which gathered for the ceremony. "It's an amazing thing that God has done."

The new center will provide room for several thousand more people to attend services at the church, and there are also plans to build a parking garage and additional off-site parking.

Church leaders said Water of Life has been approaching or exceeding capacity during optimal service times for several years. At current growth rates, the church would have to turn away hundreds or even thousands of people without the new center.

Mayor Acquanetta Warren, who attends Water of Life, said she had been very concerned that the church would be forced to move to a location outside of Fontana because of lack of available space here.

"I did not want to see that happen," she said.

Carroll said the church was "very blessed" because of local developer Reggie King, who "sold his property at a discounted rate."

The non-denominational church, located at 7625 East Avenue, offers five services each weekend. In addition, live worship and videotaped messages by Carroll are provided at satellite locations in Upland and Rancho Cucamonga.

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Water of Life Church holds groundbreaking ceremony for new worship center in Fontana

Before he reached the top of the Mafia in Canada, Nicolo Rizzuto owned a construction company that won municipal contracts in Montreal.

The late patriarch of one of the worlds most powerful Mafia clans was a municipal contractor 50 years before the authorities decided to investigate whether organized crime had a hold on the construction industry and public contracts in the province, The Gazette has discovered through an examination of municipal archives, and business and real-estate records from half a century ago.

Rizzutos resum included in his companys bidding documents at the time claims he even participated in the construction of Montreals cherished Expo 67, the Universal and International Exposition of 1967 that put the city on the world map.

The company, Grand Royal Asphalt Paving, also landscaped, paved and laid sewers and pipes in a dozen public parks in Montreal under four municipal contracts between 1963 and 1966 that The Gazette discovered in the citys archives. The search also turned up contracts that Rizzutos company bid on and lost, but a tally would require searching every municipal contract the city awarded during those years.

Grand Royal Asphalt Pavings resum also vaunted projects for the municipalities of Laval, Pierrefonds and St-Lonard and miscellaneous work for Ville de Jacques-Cartier, a town that was known as one of the most corrupt municipalities on the South Shore at the time and is today absorbed into Longueuil.

In fact, municipal, real-estate and business records trace Rizzutos career in the construction sector starting almost immediately after he arrived in Canada from Sicily in the 1950s to be the standard-bearer of his father-in-laws Sicilian Mafia clan, and ebbing around the time that he reportedly withdrew to Venezuela during a war with Calabrian rival Paolo Violi in the 1970s. Rizzuto returned to Montreal and seized control of the underworld after the 1978 assassination of Violi, who had succeeded Montreal Mob boss Vic Cotroni.

Rizzuto was killed by a snipers bullet while at home in Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough at age 86 in 2010. His son, Vito, who succeeded his father at the helm of the crime family, died of natural causes at age 67 in late December.

THE EARLY YEARS

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Rizzuto's construction links traced to '60s Montreal

VALLEY CITY, N.D. In the early morning hours of Oct. 21, the Rev. Jolene Knudson-Hanse received a phone call: Her church was burning.

I just kind of went into response mode, like when you get a call from the hospital in the middle of the night, you just go and you dont really think about it, she said. It really didnt hit me until a few hours later when we were sitting down and trying to figure out our next step when we realized we wont have a building. Then it really hits you, all the work that lies ahead and the sadness of losing that place of worship, and thats a workplace for myself and our employees.

On Sunday, the Faith Lutheran Church Council voted during its annual meeting to build a new church on the ground where the old one burned in downtown Valley City. The building sustained $2.5 million in damage from the fire, which investigators later ruled was arson set to cover evidence in a burglary. Three other church burglaries in Valley City before the fire are still being investigated.

Faith Lutheran Church Council President Tory Hart said church officials will meet with architecture firms to plan how to move forward. Hart did not expect the new building to be open for a year or longer, and Knudson-Hanse said construction might not begin until fall or spring 2015.

After the fire, the congregation began holding services at an empty space in a Valley City office building owned by congregation member Greg Burchill, who offered a cut-rate rent that will be paid for a year by the churchs insurance company. Knudson-Hanse said it was a new experience having neighbors, and the church shares the building with CP Rail, Nielson Insurance Agency and the Barnes County Sheriffs Office.

One thing that the people liked was that the sheriffs office was right next door. After the fires and burglaries, it made people feel safe, Knudson-Hanse said.

The church has a congregation of roughly 800 members, but the temporary location offers seating for only 170 people during services. Hart said the size of the worship hall is adequate but the fellowship hall can get crowded.

The accommodations for our worship are good, but were used to a really large fellowship hall where we can gather, have coffee and meals together. Thats the big piece thats tight and were dealing with it the best we can, Hart said.

Fire and forgiveness

Hart said he watched the firefighters battle the blaze firsthand because he had left for work early that day, and he immediately knew it would be bad for the church.

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Valley City church to rebuild after arson

A Day in the Life of San Diego Fil-Am Construction: Michael E. Robinson
This is a video montage on the San Diego Fil-Am Church Construction Site - 1-24-14. More videos will keep you updated as progress is made!

By: RyRyBoyz63

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A Day in the Life of San Diego Fil-Am Construction: Michael E. Robinson - Video

BMBC new church construction 2013 Nov

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BMBC new church construction 2013 Nov - Video