ROCK HILL With demolition just weeks away, two plans have been offered to keep the historic Rock Hill Presbyterian Church.

Both plans would need several hundred thousand dollars to carry out, and neither is close raising that kind of money.

But if neither plan succeeds, the church may find new life at a winery in Warren County, city administrator George Liyeos said.

In an interview after an aldermanic meeting Tuesday night, Liyeos said that the construction company that will build a gas station on the site of the church, at McKnight and Manchester roads, would disassemble the church and reconstruct it at the winery.

Robert Brinkmann, chief executive officer of the builder, Brinkmann Constructors, could not be reached for comment, nor could the owners of the winery, Cedar Lake Cellars in Wright City.

A group called Save The Rock Hill Church has been raising money for its plan to save the church by moving it and the adjacent city-owned Fairfax House to Rock Hill Park, just south of Manchester.

The group says the venue would be attractive for brides wanting to have a church wedding and reception at the same site.

The group estimated it would need $700,000 to carry out the plan. Chris Musial, a spokesman for the group, said Tuesday his group had so far raised $4,710 with about $2,000 more in pledges.

Rock Hill Alderman Edward Johnson told fellow aldermen Tuesday night that he had a Plan B if the first effort failed. He suggested moving the church to 215-217 Almentor Avenue, an empty lot the Temple Hall Club owns. The site is south of Manchester and east of Rock Hill road.

Johnson suggested the move late last year, but aldermen supported the first group, which had presented a business plan.

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Old Rock Hill church could be rebuilt at a winery, official says

Tom Fedor/The Gazette Members of the Christian Life Center gather to celebrate the construction of their new church building with a ground breaking on the Ijamsville on Sunday. The church, based in Gaithersburg since 1974, has been housed at Damascus High School for about six weeks.

A church that has been holding services in a Damascus school building is beginning work on a new facility on 64 acres in Frederick County.

The Christian Life Center, based in Gaithersburg since 1974, has been housed at Damascus High School for about six weeks, according to the Rev. Ron Libby. He said the church sold its property to help pay for the new construction.

The high school has been a temporary fix for the 1,000 parishioners who attend each week, Libby said.

The congregation of the new Christian Life Center, at 3154 Green Valley Road in Ijamsville, broke ground Sunday. The church declined to say how much the new church cost. However, its website shows $1.6 million was raised to build the facility in 2008.

The new site is 64 acres up from 6 acres at the Gaithersburg site.

But the switch has challenges, Libby said. The church holds services from 10 a.m. to noon on Sundays at Damascus High School, 25921 Ridge Road in Damascus. The church must bring equipment to the school for services as its needed and dismantle it following the service.

Libby said the new church was needed to ease overcrowding at the churchs previous location, at 11800 Darnestown Road.

Itll be a state-of-the-art building, he said. It will be quite considerably larger. Our sanctuary was packed out down in Gaithersburg.

The churchs new 65,000-square-foot building will seat about 1,200 and includes an area for youth.

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Gazette.Net: Former Gaithersburg church to move from temporary home in Damascus school

The Mormon church is attempting to remake downtown Salt Lake City by opening the shopping mall portion of a $2 billion mixed-use space that spans two city blocks.

Church partner and retail operator Taubman Centers Inc. expect 50,000 visitors on Thursday, when City Creek Center's nearly 90 stores open.

City Creek Center has outdoor walkways, retractable glass roofs and a winding creek. Waterfalls, fountains and a trout pond are part of the village-like development, which includes condominiums and is joined by a pedestrian bridge over Main Street.

The residential towers were built by City Creek Reserve Inc., a for-profit firm owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The church is a multibillion-dollar organization with tentacles in business and real estate.

The church paid for City Creek Center with cash and says no member tithing was used. For the most part, it will be like other shopping malls, except that the stores close on Sundays _ the church wanted the day of peace for its nearby Temple Square.

It will be operated like Taubman Centers' other upscale malls in Los Angeles and Denver, said Robert Taubman, chairman, president and CEO of the Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based company. Two of the restaurants at the Salt Lake City mall will serve liquor, but there are no bars. Its anchors include Macy's, Nordstrom, Tiffany & Co. and the Swedish fashion chain H&M.

Built during the recession, which lowered construction costs, City Creek Center is the only large mall of its size _ around 700,000 square feet _ scheduled to open in the country this year, officials said.

"It's about the rebirth of this city and the fabric of downtown," said Robert Taubman, chairman, president and CEO of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Taubman Centers Inc., who said the design of City Creek Center was unique.

"We opened the mall to the sky and sunny weather that's here with these amazing retractable roofs," he said.

No other U.S. shopping center has retractable roofs, says Linda Wardell, City Creek Center's general manager.

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Mormon church hopes mall helps Salt Lake downtown

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Church on hook for left turn lane

Posted: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 8:45 am | Updated: 8:50 am, Wed Mar 21, 2012.

Atascocita United Methodist Church is embarking upon a bold and ambitious expansion plan designed to carry the church into the next decade. The campaign, called Field of Dreams, will be raising funds to build a 550-seat Sanctuary, a Music Arts room, additional classrooms, and a large gathering space.

This project is the culmination of extensive feasibility studies that have been conducted by members of the church over the past 18 months, which showed that the church has experienced the same strong growth that our community has experienced.

We are rapidly outgrowing our facilities in every way, said Andy Noel, senior pastor of the church. Without a bold step forward, we are going to be challenged to stay relevant in our rapidly expanding community.

The church views this campaign as a means by which exciting new ministries can be offered to the community.

Construction will begin in late 2012 with expectations of expanding into the new space by Christmas 2013. The Field of Dreams campaign is chaired by Jim and Marlene Mastin, active members of the church and the community. The Mastins, along with Pastor Andy Noel and Associate Pastor Kristin Bogart, have gathered an extensive Campaign Leadership Team of more than 70 people.

It is really impressive to experience the vast amount of talent and dedication that this leadership team brings to the campaign, said Jim Mastin. I am confident that this campaign is going to respond to the calling of our church in a powerful way.

Atascocita United Methodist Church is located in Atascocita at 19325 Pinehurst Trail Drive. To find out more about the church and about this campaign go to http://www.aumc.org.

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Atascocita United Methodist Church launches building campaign

Roxburys historic Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the 11th hour to halt a foreclosure auction that its bank had planned to hold tomorrow.

The short story is that there will be no foreclosure at all. We stopped the bank dead in its tracks, the Rev. Gregory Groover told the Herald last night after the church filed for bankruptcy in federal court.

The move came less than 40 hours before Boston-based OneUnited Bank, which couldnt immediately be reached for comment, had planned to seize the church through a foreclosure auction.

OneUnited, which bills itself as the nations largest black-owned bank, launched foreclosure proceedings after the 194-year-old congregation failed to make a $1.1 million balloon mortgage payment in December.

Charles Street said it never missed a monthly payment on the 5-year-old loan, but couldnt refinance when the balloon payment came due because of an ongoing legal dispute with OneUnited.

The bank sued the church in 2010 over a roughly $3.6 million construction loan that Charles Street had taken out to build an adjacent community center.

OneUnited stopped disbursing funds for the project in 2009, which the church said prevented it from finishing construction and raising funds to repay the loan.

Church lawyer Ross Martin said Charles Street plans, as part of its bankruptcy reorganization, to restart the project using a $1.5 million grant from the African Methodist Episcopal movement.

He added that the church will ask a bankruptcy judge to let Charles Street repay its OneUnited debts over 30 years at 5.25 percent interest.

Groover said that means the congregation wont violate the Bibles Thou Shalt Not Steal commandment.

Continued here:
Church stops bank 'dead in its tracks'

By Beth Healy, Globe Staff

With their lender unwilling to negotiate or halt foreclosure proceedings, members of the Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church voted Tuesday night to file for federal bankruptcy protection, heading off OneUnited Banks plan to auction the historic congregations property this week.

At a special meeting held at the Roxbury church Tuesday evening, lawyers for Charles Street AME laid out options for avoiding foreclosure on a $1.1 million loan. The estimated 250 members members in attendance voted to proceed with a Chapter 11 reorganization filing, to forestall the threatened sale of the church on Thursday, the churchs lawyer, Ross Martin, said.

The action comes after a pitched battle between two prominent black institutions over roughly $4 million in loans. OneUnited, among the nations largest black-owned banks, ignored pleas from lawmakers, ministers, and business leaders to talk, and ultimately left the church with little room to maneuver.

Their decision to immediately move to foreclosure, and the senseless way that they did it, from the churchs viewpoint, is inconceivable, Reverend Gregory G. Groover Sr. said in an interview with the Globe. The bankruptcy filing, he said, allows the church to go on and continue to operate and focus on our ministry.

Under the bankruptcy petition, which lawyers planned to file electronically Tuesday night, Charles Street is offering to repay the money it owes OneUnited -- totaling about $4.2 million -- over 30 years. That includes both the $1.1 million loan secured by the church property and $3 million the church borrowed to build a community center a block away.

The bank could not immediately be reached for comment. In recent weeks, its officials have insisted that it gave Charles Street plenty of time to repay its loans, and declined to discuss its high-profile customer.

Under the bankruptcy petition, the church is looking to keep all its property, including a house in Milton that has served as a pastors residence (its not currently in use) and retail space near the church. Its looking to extend the payments for the loans over 30 years, more like a home mortgage than a commercial loan, at a rate of 5.25 percent.

The umbrella organization that includes Charles Street, the First Episcopal District of Philadelphia, would raise $1.5 million to help repay the debt.

In 2007, OneUnited chief executive Kevin Cohee touted his partnership with Charles Street as a show of commitment to the community and a catalyst for opening his new Grove Hall bank branch that year. He agreed to lend the church $3.7 million to build the Roxbury Renaissance Center, even though the church couldnt afford the $800,000 down payment, according to legal filings. When the church needed an extension on the loan in 2008, he granted it.

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Charles Street AME Church to file for bankruptcy to block OneUnited's foreclosure action

Building God's Way architect Don Mahoney and a team of experts in the areas of church building, church growth, church fundraising, church finance and leadership will address key strategies for facility expansion and renovation to reach a new generation.

(PRWEB) March 21, 2012

The seminar speaker panel will include experts in the areas of church architecture, church construction, fundraising, finance, leadership and church growth. Each of the speakers have worked with hundreds of ministry-based organizations across the country and will share vital information about how successful and vibrant ministries are responding to the largest generational shift in U.S. history.

Not Your Parents Church will shed light on how the new generation is impacting the way ministry space is being designed, utilized and funded. Building God's Way architects have designed more than 500 facilities for churches and Christian schools and will share new perspectives on master planning and design that are key in reaching the Millennial generation. Recent research indicates that a paradigm shift is bringing about new economic realities for ministries. As giving declines, churches must prayerfully seek out new and creative ways to fund ministries and outreach. In one seminar session, entitled, The Church Facility...its not just for Sundays anymore, the architects will share about how facilities that are planned and designed properly can play a key role in financial sustainability for churches.

The architects and the local BGW construction partner, Collage Companies, will also share about a unique construction delivery model that is changing the way churches and Christian schools are being built. With a foundation based on relationships, stewardship and outreach, this proven process is delivering a consistent 20-30% savings compared to standard design and building methods - without lowering quality. The program focuses not only on lowering up-front construction costs, but also has a huge impact on long-term operation and maintenance costs. The construction session will provide detail about the key elements that lower costs, including a unique pre-construction process and an exclusive network of suppliers for building materials, products and furnishings.

BGW Architect Don Mahoney has extensive background in church, school and performing arts architecture, designing prominent facilities with worship seating in the thousands. His expertise in architecture has been recognized with a number of national design awards, including multiple WFX Solomon Awards for Best Church Architect, Best Church Design, Best Special Project and Best Digital Church; The LCEF Arts & Architecture Award for Best Liturgical Design, and recognition among the 7 most innovative churches in America by Ministry Today.

Pastor Terry Bates will headline the fundraising and growth tracks of the seminars. Terry has personally led several congregations through barriers to incredible growth and have helped ministries across the country to inspire and motivate their congregations to successfully fund their God-given vision. Terry Bates is currently the pastor of OKC Faith Church in Oklahoma City and is the author of Positioning Your Church. Terry previously worked with Dr. John Maxwells Million Leader Mandate, in which he was involved in training more than 250,000 in Asia and Africa.

Pastor Bates will share some keys to developing momentum in any economic environment, momentum that can lead to increased attendance, greater member involvement and increased giving capacity. In another session, the pastors will provide an overview of a radically different concept in capital fundraising called Hearing from God. This refreshing approach is having dynamic results with ministries around the country without the high pressure and manipulation tactics common with most capital fundraising campaigns. Attendees will learn how their ministries can cultivate spiritual sensitivity as their congregation joins together to pray, fast and respond to the individual vision that God has for them.

David Sims, President of BGW | Financial, will share about Biblical-based, creative, comprehensive and coordinated strategies for church financing that can help get your project funded, even in the toughest economic environment. David earned his undergraduate degree in Business Administration/Finance and hislaw degree from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida (1983, 1986). He subsequently earned a Masters in theological studies from ReformedTheological Seminary, Orlando and a doctorate from the University of Durham in Durham, England. In addition to his Florida law license, David holds the Series 6, 24, 62, 63 and 65 FINRA securities licenses and is Life and Health Insurance licensed. David is currently writing three new books, Preparing for the Coming Tax Tsunami, Building Responsible Stewardship and Tax Free Retirement.

For more information or to register for a BGW Not Your Parents Church seminar, visit the BGW Events Registration web page.

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Not Your Parent's Church Seminar Coming to Orlando March 26 and Tampa March 29

An Arnold construction company says a St. Louis County church shorted the firm thousands of dollars in fees related to a new $1.4 million high school on Smizer Station Road in Fenton called Living Faith Christian Academy.

Commercial Source LLC provided construction services and materials to Southwest Christian Church for its new school and is owed $127,266, according to a mechanic's lien filed in St. Louis County Court. The debt was owed six months prior to the January filing.

Jason Courtney, manager of Commercial Source, declined to comment because the dispute is in mediation.

Loren Copp, pastor of Southwest Christian, also guarded his comments.

"There is a lot more to it than that right there," Copp said of the lien. "I would be happy to give you my side of the story," once mediation is over.

Last July, Copp was featured in a front-page story in the Post-Dispatch that laid out a history of financial struggles, including bankruptcy, unpaid bills and allegations of deception and poor management.

Jack Horas, an attorney for Southwest Christian Church, said Commercial Source saddled the church with $300,000 in cost overruns that weren't allowed in the contract. "The bottom line is that this has nothing to do with Loren Copp, it has to do with whether or not Commercial Source breached its contract with the church," Horas said of the recent lien.

Copp formerly worked as a preacher around Benton, Ill., and was a builder in Indiana and Illinois before he moved to St. Louis in 2003. His financial woes primarily stemmed from construction projects he was accused of not finishing. In 2005, a judge approved a negotiated settlement of $203,400 to satisfy a suit brought against Copp by the Illinois attorney general, a sum that was said to be a portion of what was owed.

In addition to pastor, Copp is president of Ma-Ji-Ryu Christian Karate Association, which teaches martial arts. The nonprofit is the governing organization of the new high school and a pre-kindergarten to eighth-grade school in south St. Louis that Southwest Christian Church is supporting. The private schools also charge tuition.

According to court records filed in January, Ma-Ji-Ryu owes the Missouri Department of Revenue $450. Copp said Tuesday that he didn't know about the debt. "If I found out that that's the case, my organization will be sending in the 450 bucks," he said.

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Construction firm says church failed to pay fees for new Christian high school

Staff Writer

SARA CALDWELL/STAFF

Bryan Matthews serves as the pastor of New Life Christian Center, which recently began a campaign to raise money to build a 65,000-square-foot facility.

SPECIAL

A computer rendering shows a new building on Lewiston Road planned by New Life Christian Center. The church, which is currently located at 3336 Wrightsboro Road, recently began a capital fundraising campaign to build the new 65,000-square-foot building.

A 1,500-member church plans to move to a new site in Columbia County in spring 2013 when its building is torn down for a new Walmart Supercenter on Wrightsboro Road.

New Life Christian Center, 3336 Wrightsboro Road, recently began a capital fundraising campaign to build a 65,000-square-foot building on Lewiston Road about a mile from Interstate 20, Pastor Bryan Matthews said.

Money from the sale of the property to Walmart will be added to its $3 million fundraising goal to build the facility, which will cost $5 million to $7 million, Matthews said.

The land were moving to, weve had for 16 years, he said. We knew at some point in our future we would be moving to that location.

Walmart approached the church last summer about building a 152,000-square-foot store on its property near North Leg Road. The company announced plans for the store in January and has since said construction should start in March 2013.

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Church displaced by Walmart moving to Columbia County