ALLENTOWN The reopening of South Main Street to heavy truck traffic following the completion of the new county bridge is having repercussions that are being felt downtown and around the corner on Church Street.

The incessant shaking and rattling from the increasing number of heavy rigs rolling through the neighborhood these days recently prompted one longtime borough resident to bring her camera out into the street to document the problem.

Now that the bridge is fixed, and the (NJ) Turnpike is having repairs and expansion done, there is an inordinate amount of truck traffic on Church Street, homeowner Frances Brown told the Borough Council on May 22.

I sat out there a couple of days in a row, about an hour each day, and within an hour, there were 37 trucks that went by so that means there was more than one truck every two minutes, Ms. Brown told the governing body. Im in an 1840s house that shakes, and Ive had plaster and other things fall off my house.

Ms. Brown, who has lived on Church Street 25 years, noted a section of underground sewer pipe that runs beneath Church Street to the curb in front of her home broke due to the weight of the heavy truck traffic, and it cost her $1,500 to fix it. The borough also has had to foot the bill for broken pipes elsewhere under Church Street, she pointed out.

The county has jurisdiction over Church Street because it is a county road (Route 526). After Route 526 crosses west into Robbinsville, it is known locally as Robbinsville-Allentown Road. Borough residents said many trucks rolling down Church Street are headed for construction areas on Interstate 195 and the Turnpike, which the trucks are accessing via the I-195 entrance ramps on Robbinsville-Allentown Road.

Mayor Stuart Fierstein said that during the recent reconstruction of the South Main Street bridge, the county set a temporary 10-ton weight limit and 15-mph speed limit on the span, which kept the heavy truck traffic out of Allentown. Now that the bridge is done, and the weight restrictions and lower speed limit have been removed, more heavy trucks are back using roads in the half-square-mile boroughs downtown area.

The mayor told Ms. Brown the solution was the construction of the westerly bypass at the southern end of town, a county project that has gone nowhere in the past decade. The county is under tremendous pressure, he said, because of opposition from Upper Freehold officials and residents of housing developments in the township located near where the new road would be built.

In 2003, the county built a bypass off Route 526 in Upper Freehold near the Hope Fire Company and Reed Park that directs traffic around the north end of Allentown to Exit 8 of I-195. Allentown officials have been lobbying the county for a similar bypass at the southern end of the borough that would link High Street (Route 539) to Ellisdale Road in Upper Freehold and eventually connect to Robbinsville-Allentown Road (Route 526) in Robbinsville.

Weve spent the last 10 years expecting that if one bypass is built, well get the other bypass, Mr. Fierstein told Ms. Brown.

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ALLENTOWN: Heavy truck traffic rattles Church Street residents

News

Nailbenders lend hand to Scranton church

Tuesday, May 29, 2012 9:39 AM CDT

In 11 days, First Baptist Church of Scranton saved an estimated $50,000 to $200,000 on the cost of its family life center, which is now under construction and will open in August.

How'd they do that?

With a little help from their friends.

The help came from Nailbenders for Jesus, a Baptist Church volunteer organization that helps put up buildings. For 11 days this month, between 15 and 25 members of the organization have been doing interior work on the family life center. They came from all across Arkansas, and parts of Missouri and Tennessee.

Charles Morris of Clarksville has been a part of Nailbenders for 15 years. The Scranton job is the 180th he's been a part of since joining the group.

"We're mostly all retired people but we do have a few who take vacation a week at a time to help us," he said last week.

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Nailbenders lend hand to Scranton church

Michael Waterson Napa Valley Register | Posted: Wednesday, May 30, 2012 3:28 pm |

AMERICAN CANYON After years of holding services in a gymnasium, American Canyons Holy Family Parish may finally get a dedicated home at the expense of a tourist-based business.

City officials recently announced ongoing discussions with church leaders to move into the building now occupied by Napa Sonoma Visitor Center. City staff and church officials were scheduled to continue discussions this week.

A representative of the diocese said Wednesday the move was still in the talking stage.

I know they are contemplating a move, but theres nothing definite at this time, said Deacon Mike Urick, finance officer for the Santa Rosa Diocese.

Victor Leach, executive assistant for the parish, confirmed that church members had discussed the move with the buildings landlord, Constantine Shishkin of Sonoma.

Longtime church member Victor Rivera said the location is ideal, since the church owns undeveloped land directly behind the visitor center. Rivera said the church needed a more permanent home since the present situation holding Sunday services in the Community Center gymnasium was depleting church membership.

We could only hold one Sunday Mass. For some people 9 oclock (Mass time) wasnt convenient and some people dont feel comfortable worshiping in a gym, Rivera said. There was also competition from other groups to use the space, he said.

Rivera estimated there are about 350 to 400 members of Holy Family Parish in American Canyon. According to Rivera, long-range plans, including construction of a rectory on church land behind the building, were discussed at length during Sundays service.

The head of the diocese, Bishop Robert F. Vasa, is in favor of the move, Leach said. We do have the bishops support.

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American Canyon's visitor center may become church

2m church hall plan gets approval at last

7:00am Thursday 31st May 2012 in News By Reg Little

A NORTH Oxford church hopes to make it a year to remember after its 2m scheme for a new church hall was approved by Oxford City Council.

St Andrews Church, in Linton Road, plans to replace temporary buildings with a two-storey extension and is now busy fundraising for what has been christened the Jubilee Project.

It is hoped that construction will begin before the end of the year.

The extension will include a new hall, large meeting space, meeting and youth rooms, creche, kitchen, cafe area and offices.

It will be connected to the existing church through a lightweight glazed link, which will double as a concourse space.

While churches across the country have been facing dwindling congregations, St Andrews says the churchs membership and the popularity of its youth centre have placed severe pressure on space.

The vicar of St Andrews, the Rev Andrew Wingfield Digby, said the extra space would allow the church to expand its youth and childrens work.

In the winter church members were asked whether they wanted to go ahead with the project in a vote.

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£2m church hall plan gets approval at last

MONSON, Mass. The town's oldest church had lost its steeple twice before.

It happened first in a windstorm in the 1880s, then again in the hurricane of 1938.

So when a tornado tore off The First Church of Monson Congregational's steeple on June 1, 2011, the pastor knew rebuilding already was a tradition.

"We can look back and say, 'The church has been through a lot in its history and we're going to get through this,'" the Rev. Bob Marrone said Wednesday.

Across Massachusetts, three people died in the storm that also left $200 million in damage to insured property in its wake. In Monson, First Church became a disaster relief center in a town where 40 families lost their homes.

The kitchen of First Church, a member of the United Church of Christ, turned into a hub where volunteers served 30,000 meals to tornado victims in the weeks after the storm. Sunday school classrooms became space where people could donate or collect free clothing and household supplies.

Without electricity after the tornado, the church also became a place for residents to swap news. People shared tidbits about which house to head to for cold milk or where to go for showers that also were sometimes cold, church music director Michael-Thomas Gilman said recently.

"We went to bed at dark and got up at dawn. It really brought the town together. It really was a Norman Rockwell moment," he said.

A year later, First Church's steeple still is missing. The organ still needs a $30,000 cleaning to purge dust and plaster deposits.

But some physical damage to the structure already is fixed. And Marrone says the congregation of about 360 people also is rebounding when it comes to their spiritual side. Ranks of the faithful even grew by about 15 members after the tornado. This year, the congregation also will mark 250 years since the church's founding.

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Year after deadly tornado, Mass. church that offered relief is rebounding, replacing steeple

SWAINSBORO, GA (WTOC) -

Sunny skies mirrored the moods of Calvary Methodist Church members who awaited their congregation's groundbreaking for a new building. The oldest member, Sarah Johns, 99, is ready to see construction begin.

"I'm absolutely glad. I can't remember anything in my life that I'm more pleased with. Cause I have prayed when it was bad that it would somehow get fixed," said Johns, known to the congregation as Momma Sallie."

She and others watched in horrorthe morning of Sept. 29, the day after her birthday,as Calvary burned to the ground. Police later arrested two men, Steven Davis and Anthony Williams,for starting the fire as, investigators say, theystole copper and other metal from inside.

"All I could think to do was cry and that's what I did. I just asked the Lord to help us get what we had back," she recalled.

She saidprayer has helped her forgive them for what they did to her church. Members are excited for construction so they can see progress when they ride by every day.

"In the past, everything was behind the scenes, trying to get the plans ready, trying to get the contracts and that sort of stuff," explained member Randall Kersey.

"It is good to get the rubble out of the way. When the rubble was here, it looked like devastation, like trouble. Now, it looks like hope. It looks like something good can happen," added Pastor Nick Hazleton.

Insurance will pay for a large portion of the new sanctuary and classroom building. However, they have also seen donations filter in from across the community and beyond. The mailing address to make donations is:

Calvary United Methodist Church P.O. Box 683 Swainsboro, Ga. 30401

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Church begins construction after arson claims building

28-05-2012 19:55 CONFIRMATION MESSAGE: This message will stay public for as long as the Lord directs and re-posted as He instructs! THIS IS "NOT" A RAPTURE INSPIRED MESSAGE!!!

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Church Building: Do NOT build! - Video

Alexandra Posadzki Globe and Mail Update Published Tuesday, May. 29, 2012 11:45AM EDT Last updated Tuesday, May. 29, 2012 1:50PM EDT

Police have removed what they believe to be a pipe bomb from a Brampton church after a suspicious fire broke out at the building early Tuesday morning.

Investigators are also trying to determine if the fire is linked to another blaze that destroyed three units of an under-construction townhouse complex nearby.

A blaze broke out at St. Jeromes Parish, a Roman Catholic church on Chinguacousy Road, shortly before 5 a.m.

What [police] suspect is that there was a pipe bomb or something thrown into the building, said Mariam Mesbah, a spokesperson for the city of Brampton. They think what happened was the sprinkler system went off and sort of kept it at bay.

The blaze was discovered by a maintenance worker who had arrived to clean the church.

When Bramptons firefighters arrived on scene, the fire had already been extinguished by the churchs sprinkler system.

It really was a smoke fire, said Ms. Mesbah. There was more smoke there than actual flames.

When firefighters spotted a suspicious package lying on the floor, they left the church and called police.

The explosives unit of Peel police arrived and sent a robot into the building. The robot located what police believe to be a pipe bomb, although they say it may be a fake.

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Police remove suspected pipe bomb from Brampton church

Work is well under way on the renovation of the Ipswich Baptist Church near McDonalds. It is being turned into a new community performance space especially for young performers.

David Nielsen

THE much-anticipated transformation of the former Ipswich Baptist Church into a community performance venue is only months away.

The church in the Top of Town section of Brisbane St is next to the 24/7 McDonald's restaurant that opened in December 2009.

As part of its application to build the store, McDonald's pledged to restore the disused church and hand it to the community.

In January 2009 McDonald's added a tasty topping to the deal, pledging $50,000 towards renovating inside the 133-year-old building.

Since then, Ipswich City Council had been able to garner financial support from the Federal Government to help make a dream become reality.

The council said the project was due to be finished in September/October and would be opened shortly afterwards as a state-of-the art performance space especially for use by organisations working with young people.

"The renovation and restoration is being made possible with the assistance of $1.5 million of Federal Government funding under the Better Regions Program. The upgrade includes $500,000 for staging, lighting and sound," councillor Charlie Pisasale said.

"In-kind and cash was contributed by McDonald's.

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Church to be performing arts spot

PERRY, IA. The Rev. Gregg Davison has stood before his fledgling congregation and told them, If we build it, they will come.

Davison is halfway there. More than 300 Pentecostals from across the country traveled to the heart of Iowa last week to build a house of worship for his church.

The building seemed to literally go up overnight as part of the Church in a Day program created by United Pentecostal Church International, headquartered in Missouri. Professional contractors, many of them volunteers, finish the foundation, plumbing and electricity before erecting the building itself in about 24 hours. More than 80 churches have been completed, including now three in Iowa.

The smell of freshly cut wood on Saturday mingled with the clank of hammers and the buzz of saws. A bustle of men, women and children all calling each other brother and sister worked together toward one purpose.

It has been a long journey for Davison, 41, and his wife. They first came to Perry seven years ago, he said, to start a Bible study at the behest of God. It was two years before the first townsperson joined them. Their faith never wavered.

Without a test, we cant have a testimony, Davison said. We knew if we planted the seed, God said he would bring up a harvest.

Not even the weather has seemed to cooperate. An ice storm hit when the Davisons moved to Perry for good in 2007 to start a home mission.

On Friday, a cold rain pummeled the work site, but the Christians soldiered on. The 20 or so roofers, fed by a steady supply of food and drink by women and children, did not come down until the project was completed. By then the crew had endured several downpours, said Warren Amling, 57, of Dubuque.

The storm dropped hail on parts of central Iowa. The church was sheltered from the pelting, said Amling, who has been in Perry since Tuesday.

It was just one family, one goal. The Lord definitely had his hand in this, Amling said.

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Against all odds, Perry church built in 24 hours