BY ROMAN J. USCHAK

Deliberations in the case of the proposed expansion of the St. Mary and St. Mercurius Coptic Church at 125 Academy St. will be extended for at least another month.

Thursday night's meeting of the Belleville Zoning Board of Adjustment was largely reserved for testimony from members of the audience regarding the expansion, which calls for the construction of a large domed parking structure with underground parking, along with a chapel, a Sunday school, and a multipurpose room. The project would also necessitate the demolition of three homes on Academy Street.

Board chairman A.J. Del Guercio said that April's meeting of the zoning board would entail cross-examination of the planners involved in the case.

"Hopefully we can conclude this next month," said Del Guercio of the case, which has been going on since last year.

Several residents of Academy Street and nearby Rutgers Court expressed their dismay with the application, officially labeled ZB-2011-03. They hoped that the board would eventually turn it down, as they believed it would severely impact their quality of life and also their property values.

"This project will result in irreparable harm to the community," said Rutgers Court resident James Jones.

There were also fears that the church congregation would swell in size if the church itself physically expanded, and further complicate perceived traffic and parking difficulties on Academy Street and nearby areas.

"The street doesn't have a parking problem," said Academy Street resident Alex Gasbarro. "The church does."

A youth leader for the church, Mark Tanfit, later said that the church definitely needed additional space.

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Church expansion case to continue for zoning board

Beast feast, community festivals further church presence & Gospel in Morriston

We have to let the community know who we are, and that we love them and we want them to come hear about Jesus, Stewart said.

The church recently hosted its largest Beast Feast and Outdoorsmans

Extravaganza when more than 550 Levy County residents visited the church property. It is only one large event through which the church hopes to make its presence known in the community.

The outdoorsmans event featured an archery derby in which the targets were animal mannequins; hunting and fishing simulators; trophy animals with which to pose; and prizes of compound bows and a muzzle loader. Guests feasted on a myriad of wild game dishes and heard Robert Bradow of Cross Heir Outfitters. His message was well received in an area where horse and cattle ranching provide income, and hunting and fishing provide entertainment, Stewart said.

Out of more than 75 decisions made during the event, 23 were professions of faith. Morriston Baptist members are following up on each decision with letters and visits, their pastor said.

Along with the annual outdoorsman event, the church also hosts a fall

festival that about 600 area residents visit annually. The festival has people lining up down the road to get into. They come for the games and booths, cake walks and fish fry, but they also get to hear the Gospel, Steward said. Visitors enter the Fall Festival through the church sanctuary where there is singing and a short Gospel message.

The children may come for the inflatables and games, but the elderly come for the fish fry, he said. They all get to hear the Gospel.

Festival, the volunteers in the church booth hand out replacement batteries for smoke detectors. The batteries are fastened to a card with the plan of salvation and church information.

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Beast feast, community festivals, further church presence & Gospel in Morriston

Published: 6:26PM Thursday March 01, 2012 Source: ONE News

Senior Tongan church ministers are calling for a freeze on big donations and new church buildings as concern grows over spending.

It follows news that a new church in Australia has folded, owing $27 million.

The Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga in Sydney was opened by King George Tupou V three years ago, but is reported to be in voluntary administration and receivership.

According to reports it owes money to Westpac Bank and an industrial paint company which gave the church a loan.

See the full story on TV One's Targata Pasifika tonight at 11.10pm.

The Tongan community raised funds for the building and treasurer Sione Pinomi hopes they will help again.

"Of course it comes with a cost but that's all beyond the point. The most important thing for us is to accomplish our mission here, which is to bring Tonga to Australia," Reverend Pinomi said.

"I'm pretty sure this debt will be finished in the near future with the help of God and help of the people."

However, Mohenoa Puloka, a senior figure who trains ministers, has suggested a freeze on big projects in the wake of the church's collapse.

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Tongan church urges moderation in donations

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino is offering to help Roxburys historic Charles Street AME Church avoid foreclosure and blasting the bank thats trying to seize the house of worship.

I get frustrated when the bank thinks (its) going to take over a church of this magnitude, the mayor told the Herald yesterday. How greedy can they be?

Menino yesterday called the Rev. Gregory Groover Sr. pastor of the church and chairman of the Boston School Committee to offer help in the congregations fight with Hub-based OneUnited Bank.

The nations largest black-owned bank, OneUnited is threatening to foreclose on the church even though the company itself received $12 million in federal bailout funds in 2008.

OneUnited has scheduled a March 22 foreclosure auction of the church, some nearby storefronts and a Milton parcel that once served as the congregations parsonage.

Charles Street AMEs $1.1 million balloon mortgage recently came due, and the church says OneUnited hasnt responded to an offer to keep making monthly payments while the congregation tries to refinance.

The two sides have long been locked in a bitter lawsuit over a separate $3.6 million construction loan that the church took out in 2006 to build an adjacent community center.

Construction stalled after OneUnited halted payment on the last $800,000 and sued to get funds it had already disbursed back.

Church lawyer Ross Martin claims OneUnited is threatening to foreclose on the church itself as a negotiating tacticin the lawsuit a charge OneUnited denies.

It is not the practice of this bank to take steps to foreclose on a mortgage in the absence of a borrowers default, bank lawyer Robert Cooper said, although he added that OneUnited is sensitive to and appreciates the important roles that (institutions like the church) play.

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Mayor sides with church

28-02-2012 12:20 This is a SBS of my current 1/16 project based in Normandy 1944. The Germans are playing cat and mouse as they are pushed further back toward the fatherland. The scene will depict a Mid Tiger (321) waiting in a ruined church. This has so far taken 8 months to build and is part 1 of 2. The 2nd part will show the SBS of the church construction which is now complete. It is time to paint the Tiger and add the 6 120mm figures!! keep watching !

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1/16 " TIGER IN WAIT" NORMANDY 1944 MY STEP BY STEP MOD - Video

29-02-2012 11:11

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MBA Building Excellence Awards Winner Shadyside Presbyterian Church - Video

by Edward Gately - Feb. 29, 2012 10:10 AM The Republic | azcentral.com

The relocation of a church in Fountain Hills could lead to the approval of two more applications to locate a medical-marijuana dispensary in the town.

One medical-marijuana dispensary will be allowed in the town, in a commercial zoning district that includes the area along Colony Drive off Saguaro Boulevard. The town's medical-marijuana ordinance specifies that no licensed dispensary can be within 500 feet of a place of worship.

North Chapel Community Bible Church, which operates in an office building at 16929 E. Enterprise Drive, has been an obstacle for some previous zoning-verification applications.

Last year, Bob Rodgers, the town's senior planner, approved an application by restaurateur Josh Levine for a dispensary on a vacant lot at 16935 E. Colony Drive, at Panorama Drive, and one by Yvonne Wolf, co-owner of Wolf Brothers Construction Co., for a dispensary on a lot at 12008 N. Colony Drive.

Others applications have been rejected, mostly because Rodgers determined they were too close to the church.

Rodgers verified this week that the church will be relocating outside of the zoning district where a dispensary will be allowed.

"The church has pulled permits to do some internal renovations at another location," he said.

Dan Scruggs, pastor of North Chapel, couldn't be reached for comment. According to construction permits, it will be relocating to a commercial center at 17210 Amhurst Drive.

In the meantime, two new zoning-verification applications are pending, including one by the Healing Co. LLC for 17007 E. Colony Drive, and one by Vladimir Buer and Buer Revocable Trust for 16913 E. Enterprise Drive.

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Church relocation to help Ftn. Hills marijuana applications

by Christian Brown, Staff Writer The Downey Patriot

After 10 years of stop-and-go construction, the 4,000-member Spanish congregation led by Pastor Otto R. Azurdia, at last completed renovations to a multi-million dollar church facility, which includes everything from a new 3,000-seat sanctuary to a 24,000-sq.-ft. radio and television production studio.

As enthusiastic church members gathered outside for the ceremony, one-by-one church leaders and government officials praised the new state-of-the-art facility and the congregation, which spent 10 years hosting fundraisers in order to collect the money necessary to finally complete the building.

Split into three main sections, the expansive church facility includes multi-level administrative offices, a smaller secondary sanctuary, the radio and television studio, and the 75,000-sq.-ft. main sanctuary, which can house a maximum of 4,600 people.

Church leaders boast the house of worship is 100 percent digital, complete with pristine sound and lighting capabilities, multiple video cameras, and a large white backdrop behind the stage that can be used to project graphics and scriptures. Church leaders say Ministerios Llamada Final is one of the first churches to own the innovative multimedia system.

The church has also embraced several green technologies on the property including a water-recycling feature that reuses all rainwater and redirects it into the irrigation of the plants and grass near the church.

During Mondays ribbon-cutting ceremony, Congresswoman Lucille Royal-Allard presented the church with a resolution of recognition and thanked the congregation for its dedication to see the building project through until the end.

"The fact that it took 10 years to build this is a testimony of your faith," she declared in Spanish, drawing cheers from the audience. "You never gave up until the dream of your church became a reality. Now this state-of-the-art facility in Downey is finally your home."

However, Azurdias vision of a large Christian temple came 24 years prior when the then-young immigrant from Guatemala was just starting his ministry.

In 1988, Azurdia moved to Huntington Park and founded a small church, which started with just 70 or 80 people. After less than two years, the congregation had grown to more than 800 people.

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Church cuts ribbon on new Downey campus

28-02-2012 07:47 Sunday, February 26, 2012 Sermon Highlights: "Faith Under Construction" Scriptures: Judges 16:21-31 and Jude 1:20 God has given every man a measure of faith. Now you must build upon that measure of faith intentionally, not by accident. You must build strategically so that you won't forget any area. Faith is not built only by coming to church. Faith comes by hearing the Word of GOD and also by fellowship. Hebrews 10:23-25 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. Faith is built through your challenges. It is the bridge between where you've been and where you're going. We have to activate our faith and trust that GOD is bigger than our circumstances. Hebrews 11:1 11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. God's grace is painted on the canvas of dispair, heartache, disappointment, and hopelessness. Psalm 34:19 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all. Please join us on Sundays for Sunday School at 8:30 AM and for Worship Service at 9:30 AM and on Wednesdays for Bible Study at 7:00 PM. Pastor Walter Gillespie Pastors Walter and Sandra Gillespie CHOSEN TABERNACLE MINISTRIES 4310 South Champlain Avenue Chicago, IL 60653

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Faith Under Construction Sermon by Pastor Walter Gillespie - Video

By Beth Healy, Globe Staff

More than a year into a legal battle with a famous black Boston church,OneUnited Bank is taking steps to foreclose on the Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church, its customer of several years.

OneUnited last week ran a notice in a Boston newspaper announcing that it plans to auction off the historic Roxbury church. That was how the church learned of the bank’s intentions, said the Rev. Gregory G. Groover Sr., in an interview.

“It’s unfortunate that they had to resort to that,’’ Groover said today. “This is clearly a result of their anger around the litigation. Or maybe it was simply to humiliate and embarrass us.”

Rev. Dr. Gregory G. Groover. Globe file photo.

Groover vowed that the church would find an answer and would not allow the foreclosure to go forward. The battle between OneUnited -- a minority-owned bank that built its business lending to churches and other community institutions – and the Charles Street AME erupted in public in 2010, when the bank sued the church for failing to repay a $4 million construction loan. The church was building a nearby Roxbury Renaissance Center, to host community events, and fell behind on its payments during the recession.

As bad timing would have it, OneUnited ran into trouble at the same time. The bank lost millions of dollars on investments in 2008 amid the financial crisis and sought a $12 million government bailout, which it has yet to repay. The bank has been coming down hard on commercial customers like the Charles Street AME as it’s tried to shore up its balance sheet.

OneUnited, in a statement, said, “We applaud the important role that Charles Street A.M.E. Church plays in our community. As a Community Development Financial Institution focused on serving low-to-moderate income neighborhoods of greater Boston, OneUnited Bank recognizes the impact the economy is having on our small businesses and not-for-profits.” Bank spokespeople did not comment specifically on the foreclosure proceedings. The statement also said, “We are flexible in our efforts to assist borrowers, while remaining consistent with the safe and sound banking practices. We continue to be hopeful that our efforts will result in a stronger community.”

Groover said the bank has refused to take calls from church officials or their lawyer for months. Meanwhile, the church has continued to make monthly payments on the commercial loan (which is separate from the Renaissance Center construction loan) he said.

“This church, without fail, never missed a payment,’’ Groover said. But in December, the bank returned a payment to the church, in yet another sign of the unraveling relationship. “It’s senseless. It really is.”

Groover said he was confident the church would not lose it’s property. “We’re confident,’’ he said.

Beth Healy can be reached at bhealy@globe.com.

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One United Bank takes steps to foreclose on Roxbury church