A VIDEO going behind the scenes of the delayed Church Street West sewer works in Radcliffe has been released by United Utilities.

Last month bosses at the water company confessed the 1.7 million scheme which saw the busy town centre road shut last July for an estimated eight months was not on schedule.

The Radcliffe Times revealed delays meant Church Street West would not reopen at the end of the 40-week period this March and could be shut for months more into the summer.

United Utilities has today released a video citing work to clear plants and erosion on the embankment due to heavy rain as the reasons for delays.

In the video, construction manager Lee Hall says: Initially before we started we had a survey done, and it found we had a lot of invasive species on the embankment; Himalayan Balsam, Japanese Knotweed and Giant Hogweed.

We had to clear this and have the ground treated on three separate occasions before we could come to work on the embankment.

Just before Christmas we had some erosion on the embankment due to heavy rainfall, and we had to carry out some emergency stabilisation repairs which stabilised the ground.

The works we are carrying out at the moment are adding to the stability of the slope.

Frustrated residents have faced traffic chaos since the closure, with a diversion through Blackburn Street and Spring Lane causing delays of up to an hour, and the large compound erected in front of shops means trade in the town centre is also struggling.

Bosses at United Utilities have refused to give a precise new reopening date for Church Street West but said they will update businesses and residents as soon as a date is known.

Continued here:
VIDEO: United Utilities bosses blame heavy rain and weeds for Church Street West delays

Regional News of Tuesday, 10 February 2015

Source: Graphic Online

The Dompoase Mount Sinai Society of the Methodist Church, Ghana, is constructing a drain to check erosion and the frequent floods in Dompoase, a suburb of Kumasi.

The project is being funded through harvest sales, special levies and contributions by the church members and is estimated to cost about GH100,000.

According to an elder of the church, Mr Fredrick Nkrumah, the project was conceived to help lessen the flooding in the area whenever it rained heavily, in order to protect roads and ensure their longevity.

He said the project was under the supervision of the Department of Urban Roads and members of the church were providing labour for its construction.

He added that, besides promoting the spiritual development of its members and community generally, the church was committed to ensuring progress in education, health, infrastructural and social development in the country, particularly for those living in rural areas.

Mr Nkrumah said that there was the need for churches in the country to partner the government to provide infrastructure for deprived communities.

The construction of the drainage, therefore, was a fulfilment of the churchs responsibility to the community.

According to Elder Nkrumah, the church had spent about GH6,500 on community development projects in the area. He therefore called on the government and public-spirited individuals and organisations to play their roles to facilitate the development of Dompoase.

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Church assists community with drainage

Orlando will prepare the way for a new soccer stadium in Parramore by closing off a part of the neighborhood's namesake avenue.

Without discussion, City Council voted unanimously Monday to permanently vacate Parramore Avenue between West Central Boulevard and West Church Street for the future home of the Orlando City Lions, a Major League Soccer expansion franchise.

The new 19,500-seat stadium, slated to open in time for the start of the MLS season in 2016, is part of a broader economic-development vision for the predominantly African-American neighborhood, which has been plagued for decades by crime, housing foreclosures and chronically high unemployment.

The city hopes the venue and other planned "catalyst projects" will help lure new entrepreneurs and investors to the depressed neighborhood, which has seen its population shrink from 18,000 residents in the 1960s to about 6,100 today.

But not everyone is sold on the stadium's hope-building potential and some say it comes at the cost of Parramore's rich history.

Closing Parramore Avenue and building the $110-million sporting venue "literally will destroy one of the most historical communities we have," said Lawanna Gelzer, a community activist who has been an outspoken critic of Mayor Buddy Dyer's administration and the city's efforts to land a professional soccer team.

Other critics recently complained that the stadium will bring only noise, traffic congestion and low-paying jobs.

The city decided to build the stadium on Parramore Avenue after year-long negotiations broke down for a Church Street site owned by Faith Deliverance Temple. Church leaders once demanded $35 million for the property, which was appraised at between $300,000 and $700,000. The city's top offer was $4 million.

Parramore Avenue will lead to the stadium and, Dyer said, the area that can become a "kind of city center."

"The neighborhood itself is a historic neighborhood, and certainly there's significance to the street named Parramore," said Dyer.

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Part of Parramore Avenue to close for soccer stadium

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Since the outbreak of the Ebola virus in Liberia and Sierra Leone, ELCA members have provided $275,000 to support the work of Lutheran companion churches in both African countries.

A new five-part resource that invites ELCA members to reflect on how this church makes a difference in the world is now available.

ELCA members provided nearly $400,000 in humanitarian assistance to help support ELCA partners who serve thousands of unaccompanied minors arriving in the United States.

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Home - Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

More than 600 people attend Zion Baptist Church on Sunday mornings.

The church sits along highway 351 and Zion road in Henderson, where construction is already underway to make the road safer for drivers.

"The biggest concern is that curve on the road and at night if you're not used to it, it can be a dangerous curve to negotiate," said Worship Pastor Bill Chase.

The road work will directly affect people driving to and from Zion Baptist. In an effort to get ahead of the construction, the church has already begun to communicate detour information to the congregation.

"We've put some fliers in our worship bulletins in the last couple of weeks. With those detours we also have all that detour information on our website and just really trying to communicate it to them," said Equipping Pastor Dr. Marcus Daly.

The church made a map of four detour routes and posted it to their website to help people get to church once Zion road closes. Church member Renee Russell says she tried one of the routes and it took her longer than she expected.

"An extra like fifteen to twenty minutes to me it did. It felt likeI was going on a long trip," said Renee Russell.

Pastor Bill Chase says he is more worried about newcomers trying to visit the church for the first time, but he is glad the dangerous road will soon be fixed.

"Our biggest concern is the person who doesn't know anything at all and they're just driving out highway 351 and they get to this construction site and don't know what to do," said Chase.

Ultimately, the church feels they will not lose their congregation presence because of the road construction.

Link:
Zion Baptist Church Reacts To Highway 351 And Zion Road Construction

Brian Wentzel, director of music at First Evangelical Lutheran Church, loads the salvaged pipes from the churchs pipe organ into a truck in September after the church was destroyed in an arson fire. CHRONICLE FILE

LORAIN A decision on the new First Evangelical Lutheran Church is expected by months end, according to the churchs pastor.

The Rev. Jimmy Madsen said Sunday that parishioners are deciding whether to build a new church or relocate to a former church building. If a new church is built, a decision hasnt been made on whether it will be at the site of the old church at 603 Washington Ave.

Weve been looking at all kinds of options, said Madsen, adding that the new location would probably be in Lorain.

The church, built in 1924 at the corner of West Sixth Street, burned in an arson fire Aug. 28. No arrests have been made, but the fire, connected to a church basement burglary, remains under investigation.

Madsen said parishioners by an 86-1 vote Sunday approved a vision statement for the new church. The statement said the new church will be built, on the heritage of the past, appeal to the current congregation, is appropriate to the size of our worshipping community and has the flexibility to serve the needs of future generations.

Among the goals for the new location: good acoustics for music the church was known for its acclaimed pipe organ recitals modern, environmentally friendly technology without detracting from sacredness and a full-service kitchen. Madsen said insurance is expected to cover most of the more than $2 million in damages, including replacing a $1 million pipe organ.

Madsen said its premature to say when construction will begin if a new church is built. While a decision is being made, church services are being held at Johnnie Wilson Middle School, 2700 Washington Ave.

Input on the decision is coming from members of the New Building Committee and the Working Space Working Group, which toured newly built or newly renovated churches in Akron, Canton and Solon on Jan. 31.

Group member Barbara Macgregor, a parishioner for 70 years, said the group will tour churches in Columbus on Saturday. Macgregor said she supports the statement and hopes the new location will have more space than the old one. Macgregor said she is unsure about whether to rebuild or relocate. She noted some nearby churches have closed due to declining numbers of parishioners

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Lorain church plots future

HD Church Time Lapse Remodel - St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church 2014
North Hollywood, California 8 Minute Construction Time Lapse Video with Before After Photos HD 1080p option available in settings.

By: Anthony Parrillo

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HD Church Time Lapse Remodel - St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church 2014 - Video

Christ Church construction February 3rd 2015!
via YouTube Capture.

By: George Nuber

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Christ Church construction February 3rd 2015! - Video

THE MANAOAG shrine at the backdrop of a procession of the image of the Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag WILLIE LOMIBAO/ CONTRIBUTOR

MANAOAG, PangasinanFrom a small chapel built and visited by Augustinian missionaries in 1600, the church called Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag will finally be proclaimed a minor basilica, the highest title that a Catholic church outside Rome can earn, on Feb. 17.

This is really an honor and prestige for the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan. The title minor basilica is given only by the Pope and no one else, said Fr. Ronald Mactal, the churchs chaplain and liturgist.

Pope Francis bestowed the churchs new status on Oct. 11 last year, more than three months before he visited the country on Jan. 15.

As a minor basilica, the church has been recognized for its devotion and for its role as center of liturgical celebration, Mactal said.

It earned its new status after a tedious documentation and validation that began in August last year. The process required the church leaders to answer a 14-page questionnaire in Latin.

We documented everything: the vessels, the vestments, how many masses, sacraments, baptism. In a secular way, [getting the] minor basilica [status] is like [going through an] accreditation. We are being accredited by the Pope himself, Mactal said.

The church became a parish when the Augustinians turned it over to the Dominicans in 1605. But it was only in 1701 when the construction of a big church at its present location began, according to the Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag website (www.manaoagshrine.org).

It was destroyed by an earthquake in 1882 and what was left of the building was burned by revolutionaries in 1898. It was rebuilt after the Philippine Revolution and was completed in 1912.

To date, it is the only Catholic church that has been operated by the Dominicans in Pangasinan since 1925, with the approval of the Holy See.

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Manaoag now home to newest minor basilica

Students in teacher Amy Hofstetter's pre-k class tie prayer ribbons to the fence of a new playground at Stepping Stones Trinity United Methodist Church Preschool on Wednesday,

It was someone running a red light and his daughter's vehicle being T-boned that left her with a traumatic brain injury and confined to a wheelchair.

Since then, for Dan Johnson, senior pastor at Trinity United Methodist Church in northwest Gainesville, providing accessibility for everyone has become personal.

The church has made efforts to become fully accessible for all and, at 12:15 Sunday, a dedication ceremony will culminate three years of research and construction and the completion of a fully accessible, inclusive playground on the church's property.

Most of us tend to assume that other people are just like us and that's where you run into problems, the Rev. Johnson said.

Meeting the Americans With Disabilities Act standards, the playground will make available to the entire community an outdoor adventure for disabled and abled children to come together, along with their parents.

The only one of its kind in North Central Florida, the playground features a Noah's Ark and Bible verses on signs in Braille. There's also a Crooked House Chapel with specially designed wider doorways.

A steel drum that looks like a lady bug sits on the artificial turf installed especially for crawlers and new walkers. The engineered mulch around the attractions is meant to remove barriers for wheelchairs.

A Wheelchair Gondola has been installed so that all children can swing together.

Trinity Director of Communications Kelly Ping has watched the integration occur.

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Church to unveil fully accessible playground