The nonprofit Pioneer Heritage Corporation will not go through with raising the $1.8 million necessary to acquire the Old Rock Church and turn it into a community center, citing a lack of interest from the community.

Dale Astle, the chairman of the corporation and a Providence City Council member, said the building will remain in its current form as the Providence Inn Bed and Breakfast, as well as a venue for weddings and special events.

Weve cut that discussion off, as the board voted not to continue that, Astle said. Weve evaluated the results of community surveys, and then theres the issue of what would we do with the building after we acquired it. Theres just not a lot of interest on the part of the community, especially to turn it into an office building.

Last fall, with the help of the Logan-based Cache Landmark construction company, the Heritage Corporation floated color artists renderings of what the new Old Rock Church could look like as a future headquarters for city government offices, a multi-purpose community gathering place, a cultural heritage center, and a community gardens and park. The hope was that such a makeover would revitalize the historic downtown area of Providence.

In October, Astle and the Heritage Corporation hosted an open house event at the building to gauge community interest in the proposed project. After the event, Astle said he was very disappointed in the events response.

Then the group asked a Utah State University political science class to conduct a survey of 1,000 registered voters in Providence. Potential for the project might have seemed positive on the surface, as it showed that two-thirds of survey participants supported turning the building into a community center.

However, only 10 percent of those surveyed were willing to put dollars toward it, said Astle. Also, only about 45 percent said theyd be willing to put time or dollars toward it. Most of all, 90 percent of respondents did not support a tax increase to help pay for the project.

Astle said he feels very comfortable about the decision not to move forward with the Old Rock Church project. The cost for the project, in addition to the acquisition, would have been an estimated $4.3 million, according to Astle.

I think the very best use for that church is to get it to be an ongoing successful business and for (Karl Seethaler, the owner) to continue what hes doing there. I dont see that it would work as a city center; it would be too expensive.

An ad-hoc group of Providence residents, called Friends of the Old Rock Church, will help Seethaler with better marketing of the bed and breakfast and reception center, Astle said.

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Old Rock Church drama persists: Nonprofit backs out of discussions to acquire Providence landmark

TILTON Village board members voted to send a message Thursday to Vineyard Church officials that they will not rezone land the church had expressed interest in to construct a new building.

Mayor David Phillips told board members he thought the property the church was seeking is better suited to remain zoned as commercial. The land is the site of the former L&L Mobile Home Park, located on the northeast corner of Illinois Route 1 and 14th Street.

When church officials approached village board members, they had said the site fit their needs because it was located close to Illinois Route 1 and I-74.

Phillips said he was simply trying to save the church representatives time because they still had to go through a zoning board hearing in seeking to have the property rezoned and then the matter would ultimately end up in front of the village board for approval.

Phillips said he is willing to work with church officials to find another site for the church and he has already made suggestions about other sites to church representatives.

In another vote, trustees gave tentative approval for the construction of a craft distillery in the village.

Ernie Trinkle and Tyler Langston appeared before board members seeking a lot located on Hodge Street directly south of the UPS facility for the construction of a building that would house a craft distillery.

A craft distillery is a small legal still that is capable of producing distilled spirits. A craft distillery is able to produce up to 5,000 gallons of distilled spirits a year under federal law.

Trinkle told board members that 16 percent of the distilled spirits sold in the U.S. is produced by craft distilleries. The distillery would only sell to businesses with a liquor license and would be prohibited from selling directly to the general public.

The pair intend to produce rum in a 27-gallon still. The still will be fired by natural gas and would create minimal odor according Trinkle and Langston. The pair said their business would be called Bottoms Up Distillery and would market their rum under the name Rum Shine.

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Village denies church lot near I-74

DANDRIDGE (WATE) - A tip led to arrests and charges Friday for two convicted Tennessee sex offenders working at a church construction site in Dandridge.

Sheriff G.W. "Bud" McCoig got a tip Friday morning that a sex offender was working construction at First Baptist Church on Highway 92. The church is the biggest one in Dandridge, where a daycare and preschool is run on-site. At least 100 children are on the property on any weekday, according to staff.

He found Ricky Dean Moore, 49, of Edgewood Drive in Knoxville, and Michael David Sadler, 51, of Valley View in Knoxville, both working there.

Moore was convicted in 1995 of child rape, attempted child rape and sexual exportation of a minor. Sadler was convicted of sexual battery in 2000.

The men were helping display a large sign in front of the church that said "Shame on Pastor Brown."

"They showed up in February and have been here Monday through Friday everyday since then," explained Pastor Bob Brown, whose name is on the sign. He said the church is undergoing a renovation, and somehow his name was dragged into a labor dispute between a subcontractor and the company that hired Moore and Sadler.

"They hired them and paid them minimum wage to hold the sign," said Brown, telling us how he held no grudges against the two men at the time. He said the pair became a common sight on the property.

"I'd wave at them coming into work. I've taken food and water to them. We had a good relationship with them, never knowing they were convicted sex offenders," Brown said.

The church has a daycare and, by law, a sex offender cannot be within 1,000 feet of a daycare. The men were arrested for violating the sex offender registration law.

Both were working for Mid South Carpenters Regional Council.

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2 sex offenders arrested at Dandridge church construction site

PANAMA CITY In front of a nearly full auditorium, and despite several protests, Bay County commissioners agreed Tuesday to abandon public rights of way associated with two Hiland Park alleys.

The decision clears the way for Hiland Park Baptist Church to break ground Sunday on a $7.9 million expansion.

About 150 people, most from the church, attended the public hearing. The churchs attorney, Nevin Zimmerman, and pastor, Steven Kyle, said the church has been looking to expand for almost a decade, but the project was put on hold because of the economy. The church has 2,000 members and is building a sanctuary with seating for 1,575 people. The congregation already has contributed $1.5 million to the expansion, according to church officials.

We dont have room for everyone, which is a great, great problem to have, Kyle said. We have followed every code and every requirement to date. We believe weve done everything exactly as required by law.

While both alleyways are surrounded by church property, they have served as an entrance and exit for three area property owners. The church offered a permanent easement to the owners, and commissioners required it as a condition of approving the abandonment. The easement would run through the church parking lot and between two stormwater ponds.

What we have here is a Walmart-sized project being squeezed into a neighborhood of small homes on 50-foot lots with little, and in some cases no, communication with the neighbors. The only difference is Ive never saw Walmart leave a house in their parking lot surrounded by stormwater ponds, neighbor Lee Clements said.

Other property owners said they were worried about the safety of driving through a construction zone and then a parking lot and others were concerned about what would happen if the stormwater ponds failed to contain runoff caused by the paved parking lots.

Those ponds are going to overflow and all the water is coming down on us right there, said Bishop Jordan Williams Jr., of Trinity International Outreach Ministries.

Williams suggested the church buy out adjacent property owners, but executive Pastor Carl Fondren said the church was not interested in buying the properties because they were not necessary to accomplish the churchs plan.

Most of the speakers praised the churchs good works in the area but complained they had not been consulted on the expansion plans that will have a significant impact on their neighborhood and they asked commissioners to postpone deciding on the rights of way until community meetings were held to work out differences.

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Church request gets county blessing

By Luzi Ann Javier - 2012-05-16T09:43:02Z

Xstrata Plc (XTA), the worlds fourth- biggest copper producer, risks missing a 2016 target to begin extracting about $60 billion of minerals from its project in the Philippines because of opposition from the Catholic Church.

The central government in January rejected the companys request for an environmental compliance certificate for the $5.9 billion Tampakan copper and gold project, citing a ban by regional lawmakers on open-pit mining. With local polls due next year, South Cotabato legislators are reluctant to amend the law because they risk the ire of the Church, said Arthur Pingoy, the regions governor.

There are petitions and resolutions to amend the local law pending, Pingoy said in an interview. No one dares touch them because they fear a backlash from the Church, with priests campaigning against their re-election next year.

Xstrata is running short of time to bring the copper project in Mindanao on line by its 2016 target, a feat that would help ease global shortages of the metal used in power transmission, plumbing and autos, as well as boost economic growth. Opposition from the Church and other groups on environmental grounds is compounded by threat of attack against mines and workers by armed communist and Islamic rebels.

The issues that this project face are illustrative of intensifying political, social and environmental challenges that miners are facing in growing production, Gayle Berry, a London-based metals analyst at Barclays Plc (BARC), said in a May 8 e- mailed response to questions. There is now a long list of projects that have been delayed or faced big increases in capital costs as a result.

Copper futures traded on the London Metal Exchange have gained 18 percent in the past two years to $7,650 a metric ton, as global production failed to keep up with demand for a third straight year. Worldwide copper stockpiles have fallen to 463,618 metric tons as of May 15, the lowest since Sept. 10, 2009, according to data from exchanges tracked by Bloomberg.

Shares in Xstrata fell for a fifth day, losing 3.5 percent to 964.9 pence at 9:57 a.m. London time, set for the lowest close since Dec. 28. Indophil Resources NL, a partner in the Philippine venture, lost 5.1 percent to 37 Australian cents, the biggest decline since March 1.

We will surely vote against those who favor this project, said Dinualdo Gutierrez, a bishop who leads the Catholic Church in South Cotabato and Saranggani, two of the provinces that need to approve the mine. The local elections are set for May 13.

There are about 400,000 Catholics in South Cotabato alone, Gutierrez said by phone yesterday. That compares with 736,884 registered voters in the province, according to the Commission on Elections. The Church has also gathered 106,000 signatures calling on President Benigno Aquino not to allow Xstrata to start mining in Tampakan, he said.

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Xstrata $60 Billion Philippine Mine May Stumble at Church’s Door

By Sean Dalton sdalton@heritage.com Twitter: @seankdalton

Webster Township'saltruistic activist congregation is making a second push for funds for its community outreach ministry in time for Memorial Day this year.

The church, at 5484 Webster Church Road, is offering provisions, including barbecued chicken, baked beans, cole slaw, potato salad and corn with dessert choice of cookies or cake, to those who want to eat on site or take their food on the go into the village for the Memorial Day parade, to another park area or a backyard.

The May 28 barbecue will cost $11 per adult and $6 for children 12 and under. The event will take place in the fellowship hall of the church near the FarrellRoad entrance. Weatherpermitting,organizerswill have picnic tables set up outside, picnic style, and inside as well.

"A lot of people like me usually end up working in the yard all day and the last thing you're thinking about is making food," saidWebster Church of Christorganizer Judy Bemis. "We expect that a lot of people who have the day off and will be at the Dexter parade would rather have someone else do the cooking."

The congregation has held a barbecue with takeout option in the past and has brought the tradition back from five years ago to build on the $2,000 raised earlier this year with a live concert fundraiser held earlier this year to fund the efforts of the various ministries within the church.

Bemis said her congregation is attempting to aid Camp Take Notice, as well as fund upkeep of camp grounds that the church board have considered selling to the Department of Natural Resources at one point, but church members decided that the camp ground had too many good memories and potential for more in the future to let go for any sum of money.

"We have a lot of people who say they have good memories and there were many good events from their childhood there," Bemis said.

Webster Church of Christ also sponsors Habitat for Humanity houses, raises fresh vegetables for Food Gatherers and is looking for a replacement for the Ghana ministry that is winding down in the final time of the 10-year period of commitment that the church initially committed to. That ministry has resulted in the construction of a dozen water wells, aiding villages and refugee camps, and providing school and scholarship money to better the lives of several African children.

"Our community outreach efforts have been very successful," Bemis said. "We have had many peoplefrom the community who weren't members or regular church goers or friends of Webster, but they showed up because they wanted to support the camp."

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WEBSTER TOWNSHIP: Webster United Church of Christ to hold barbecue fundraiser after Memorial Day parade

Disgraced Roman Catholic bishop Raymond Lahey has been stripped of clerical duties by the church because of a child pornography conviction.

The Catholic Church announced the decision regarding Raymond Lahey today.

"We have been informed that the Holy See has dismissed Raymond Lahey from the clerical state, one of the most serious penalties that the Church can impose," according to a news release from the office of the bishop, Diocese of Antigonish, N.S.

"This will mean that he will no longer function as a cleric, will no longer have the rights and duties of being a cleric, is not permitted to exercise any ecclesastical offices or functions and is not permitted to preside at any of the sacraments or religious services. However, any sacraments that he performed prior to this decision continue to be valid and effective."

Lahey, a Newfoundlander, was acting as bishop of the Nova Scotia diocese of Antigonish when he was stopped at the Ottawa airport in 2009.

Police found a large quantity of child pornography on the computer he was carrying.

Last January, Lahey was sentenced to 15 months in jail for possessing and importing the images.

The Crown's case against Lahey involved 588 photos and 63 videos, with the Crown pointing out that some involved adolescent boys engaged in sex acts while wearing a Crucifix and rosary beads.

Some of the images shown to the judge depicted scenes of bondage, featuring young men who were bound and on all fours.

At a sentencing hearing in December, Lahey apologized for his actions, describing himself as a man who became addicted to internet-based porn "on an indiscriminate basis."

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Catholic Church strips Raymond Lahey of duties

Hiland Park Baptist Church asked, and it received: The Bay County Commission on Tuesday unanimously agreed to abandon two rights of way so the church can embark on a $7.9 million expansion project, despite objections from neighborhood residents.

From a general perspective, the Commission did the right thing. The church owns the land on either side of the alleys in question. It has complied with county regulations. It was not seeking a rezoning of the property.

Some residents who live near the church oppose the expansion, arguing that the increase in paved parking will create stormwater runoff problems. Others expressed concern about additional lighting, fewer trees and having to drive through a construction area and between stormwater ponds.

The church did make one concession Tuesday. It offered a permanent easement to the residents that runs through the parking lot, and commissioners required it as a condition of approving the abandonment.

The church played by the rules. As Commissioner Mike Thomas said, It appears to me the things they are obliged to do, theyve done.

Hiland Park Baptist followed the letter of the law. But it perhaps could have done more in the way of following unwritten protocols.

One common complaint residents lodged was that they were caught unaware of the churchs expansion plants and desired an opportunity to discuss it with Hiland Park Baptist officials before breaking ground. This seems to happen a lot projects proceed without reaching out to those who might be affected by them.

Those snubs can stiffen peoples opposition. They feel picked on, ignored, powerless. Sometimes you can modify plans to satisfy their concerns. Other times, just listening and explaining things to them cools things down, even if the project isnt changed. People at least feel like they were taken seriously. (Of course, theres always some who wont be satisfied unless they get their way, period). This is especially important when dealing with residential neighborhoods.

Its the Golden Rule: Treat others as you would like to be treated.

Although Hiland Park Baptist has been planning to expand for several years, residents say the latest project is different than initial plans that were discussed in 2007. And this time, they say they werent briefed by the church beforehand.

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Church outreach

Augustus Conant was a man with a purpose even if it meant drifting away from the family business.

Conant was born Oct. 16, 1811, in Brandon, Vt., to Ebenezer Conant and Fanny Clifford. He later went on to help form the First Christian Congregation of Geneva, later known as the Unitarian Church in Geneva and now the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva. The church is part of the Central Geneva Historical District, which was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The Kane County Chronicle is taking a look at area buildings on the register this week.

The soon-to-be minister had aspirations of a liberal education and profession, wrote Robert Collyer in the 1905 biography Augustus Conant: Illinois Pioneer and Preacher. Conants father, Ebenezer, wanted him to stay as a farmer in Vermont. He left behind his family in Vermont in September 1832 for what was then called the far west the prairies of Illinois. He kept a daily journal of his travels that he continued writing in even after he came to live on his own in the state.

When Conant finally made it to Chicago, Collyer writes: [Conant] found nothing worth his notice except Fort Dearborn. He thought the town was so situated that it would eventually become a place of considerable importance. Conant spent only an hour in what is now the city limits of Chicago. After traveling throughout the state, he settled in Des Plaines.

He actually went back to farming, the family business, once he the found the perfect land parcel. His family joined him shortly thereafter after Conant discovered that the soil was great for farming.

Conants diary entries, obtained through the Geneva History Center, continued, including this one dated Feb. 25, 1840: Preached at Geneva. Read Norton on the Trinity. Made soap. Boiled sugar. Wrote a sermon on the Aim of Life.

A couple short years and a Harvard ordination later, he began preaching in Geneva full time. On May 8, 1842, he wrote, We had our first meeting to day [sic] on the subject of forming a religious society in Geneva but there was a doubt as to whether the right time had come to begin and a declaration of principles that had been circulated and signed by twenty persons was reserved for further consideration.

That day was the first preliminary meeting to plan what is now the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva. On June 12, 1842, the First Christian Congregation of Geneva was formed, according to a church document obtained at the Geneva History Center through the Des Plaines Historical Society.

The name was chosen because Conant teamed up with other denominations, including Unitarians, Presbyterians and Episcopalians, according to church records. The congregations members met in various locations throughout Geneva, including the old courthouse.

In a letter to the Christian Register dated March 18, 1843, Conant said, The Court House, in which we have held meetings in the summer, is out of repair and without a stove. He also noted how the church needed its own building. A fair was later held in May 1843 with the help of one of Genevas leading merchants at the time, Polly Patten, and her brother, Charles Patten, to raise money to build the church.

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History Made: Church keeps history alive every Sunday

Thousands attend the groundbreaking for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Provo City Center Temple in Provo Saturday, May 12, 2012. The temple will be constructed on the site of the Provo Tabernacle, a community landmark and gathering place from the time it was built in the 1880s until it was destroyed by fire in December 2010.

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

PROVO Dale King sang with a choir at a Christmas celebration in the Provo Tabernacle days before a fire gutted the historic building in late 2010.

The Provo resident sang with a choir again on the site Saturday, when leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dedicated the property for the construction of Provo's second temple to be built inside the tabernacle's shell.

For King, who lives just a few minutes from the historic building that was originally constructed from 1883 to 1898, the temple groundbreaking signified the rising of something beautiful from the ashes of devastation.

He and more than 5,600 people gathered on the grounds of the historic site for the ceremonies, during which Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve spoke and offered a prayer of dedication. Also delivering remarks were Sister Patricia Holland, Elder L. Whitney Clayton of the Presidency of the Seventy, Elder William R. Walker of the Seventy and Elder Cecil O. Samuelson, emeritus Seventy and president of Brigham Young University. The proceedings were broadcast to LDS meetinghouses throughout Provo and Springville.

The Provo City Center Temple is expected to be completed in three years and will include underground parking.

During the groundbreaking ceremony, church leaders were joined by government and civic leaders in turning over shovels filled with soil to signify the beginning of work on the site.

Built in the heart of Provo, the historic tabernacle was a community gathering place for meetings and cultural events for decades.

Elder and Sister Holland attended their first LDS Church meeting together on the site in 1963, nearly 50 years ago. Elder Holland said he and his family have been sharing experiences on the site ever since.

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Rising from ashes: Ground is broken for LDS Church's 2nd temple in Provo