tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13261933.post3234954629911587473..comments2024-03-11T11:10:30.592-05:00Comments on SCISSION: THE LAWSON FILE: MEGACHURCHES - COMING TO A NEIGHBORHOOD NEAR YOUOread Dailyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02726848708021220961noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13261933.post-45821924745856347692008-03-03T17:33:00.000-06:002008-03-03T17:33:00.000-06:00A source in the Quad Cities tells me, "I wouldn't ...A source in the Quad Cities tells me, "I wouldn't necessarily characterize St. Paul as a megachurch - although it certainly is very large. It is a very old, very established congregation. The congregation also includes a virtual "who's who" of important Davenporters - including several major corporate CEOs, members of the Palmer family and other scions of society."Oread Dailyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02726848708021220961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13261933.post-71829983214013713102008-03-01T12:45:00.000-06:002008-03-01T12:45:00.000-06:00I will defer to the writer of the comment who says...I will defer to the writer of the comment who says the church does not meet the definition of a megachurch. Maybe they're correct, but that was not the feeling I got from reading comments and articles about the church some of which I quoted. I can't find any information on membership and any clear photos of the church, so maybe I'm wrong. Perhaps, someone could send us membership numbers or something. In any event, the rest of the article I stand by unless, of course, the Quad City Times is lying about everything. I am personally familiar with the newspaper, however, and of some of its journalists, so that seems highly unlikely to me. By the way, I've written the author of the article and a friend at the paper for any more information they might have that would clarify the issue of the size of this church (although that is not really all that important to the gist of the Davenport side of the story). <BR/><BR/>I would like to post this article from the February 29th Quad City Times. I would suggest going to the QC Times story at http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2008/02/29/news/local/doc47c79c4d704b0904254451.txt?sPos=2 and reading the comments section as it demonstrates well the controversy.<BR/><BR/>Davenport alderman: Anonymous donor could save historic house<BR/><BR/>Davenport 3rd Ward Alderman Bill Boom hopes a happy ending can be found in the tug-of-war surrounding the future of a historic home on the St. Paul Lutheran Church campus.<BR/><BR/>A debate between church leaders and the city’s Historic Preservation Commission erupted in recent weeks regarding whether the house at 2101 Main St. — which sits on the southwest corner of the church’s sprawling central-city campus — should be torn down.<BR/><BR/>The Rev. Peter Marty says a renovation of the home is economically irresponsible. But commissioners say the sturdy house listed on the National Register of Historic Places is livable and should be renovated or moved rather than face the wrecking ball. <BR/><BR/>According to Historic Preservation Commission reports, the house was constructed in 1906. But Davenport City Assessor Parcel Records list the same home built in 1917.<BR/><BR/>A day after a contentious City Council meeting that saw aldermen overturn the commission’s recommendation and instead pave the way for demolition in two months — Boom said Thursday he may have a “win-win” situation for both sides.<BR/><BR/>Boom said a commission member he has worked with for years has spoken to a wealthy member of the congregation who indicated a willingness to underwrite an effort to move the home or restore it.<BR/><BR/>“I have been told not to divulge the name, but I have every reason to believe the commitment is genuine,” Boom said. “I hope the church will deal with us in good faith and deliver the building to us if we come up with suitable money to move the structure and find a new home for it in Davenport.”<BR/><BR/>Marty said he knows nothing about such gifts and is suspicious of the historic preservation commission’s motive.<BR/><BR/>“What a comment like that does is makes it sound like a congregation with a pastor who doesn’t know his people,” he said. “It’s a backdoor way of stabbing us in the back.”<BR/><BR/>Marty said church leaders would consider handing over the home if there is a guarantee that someone is willing to pay to move the structure or give an unrestricted gift of $500,000 for the exclusive renovation of the house under the church’s direction and ownership. The $500,000 amount is non-negotiable, Marty said.<BR/><BR/>“One could spend $50,000 and live in it, but we’re not interested in a facility that doesn’t fit the campus in terms of quality,” he said. “We’re not interested in partial renovation or renovation that doesn’t match the quality of the larger campus.”<BR/><BR/>On Thursday, Marty said he was hurt by an allegation from the daughters of Kenneth and Jeanne Truesdell, who sold the four-bedroom home to the church for $160,000 in April 2007 after Jeanne died in 2006. Renee Truesdell and her sister, Dana Johnson, said the pastor came to their home shortly after their mother’s funeral, uninvited, to urge them to sell the property.<BR/><BR/>Marty disputes that account.<BR/><BR/>“Any pastor who would do that, shouldn’t be in the business,” he said. “It’s essentially a sullying of my character. People in grief deserve nothing but presence and company. Our board has a clear record from well before then of the family’s invitation for us to purchase the property.”<BR/><BR/>Johnson, however, is sticking to her account.<BR/><BR/>“That is not true; we did not invite him over,” she said. “After we sat and listened to him, we were still upset because we had no idea why he was there or anything. We did not ask him to come over, and we especially would not ask him to come over after our mom’s funeral. While he was there, I did ask him if he was still interested in buying the property and he said yes.”<BR/><BR/>Marcia Robinson, who sits on the executive committee of the church’s congregation council, said she didn’t take the calls herself, but she recalls the Truesdells contacting the church about selling. The Truesdells’ version of the story doesn’t fit with what she remembers.<BR/><BR/>“All I can say is having worked with Pastor Marty over the 11 years he’s been here, that’s not the way he’d operate at all,” she said. “That’s not how he does ministry. He’s very, very gracious.”<BR/><BR/>But Sue Welty, who has been in the St. Paul congregation for more than 30 years, said there has been dissension among churchgoers about the way leaders have gone about acquiring property.<BR/><BR/>When two other homes on Main Street were torn down, congregation members were upset, she said. One of the houses was supposed to serve as a youth ministry and preparation site for Salvation Army meals, but that never happened, Welty said.<BR/><BR/>“It was bulldozed and turned into a parking lot,” she said. “We felt like we’d been lied to and that that was their intention in the first place and they were trying to placate the congregation by saying it was for youth use.”<BR/><BR/>Welty said she and other church members knew the Truesdells were worried about their home being bought and demolished.<BR/><BR/>“They didn’t want to see their home for many years turned into a parking lot, and that knowledge has been out there among the congregation for years,” she said. “The bottom line is, I don’t think when the church comes to the congregation with the proposal to acquire more property, I don’t think they do it truthfully. I think they’ve had their eye on it for a parking lot property for a long time and this is just a way of getting possession of it.”<BR/><BR/>The church at Brady and Lombard streets, just south of Vander Veer Botanical Park, has continued to expand through the years. It opened a new 12,000-square-foot sanctuary in October during its 125th anniversary.<BR/><BR/> Marty said he’s not surprised that Welty, and perhaps other members of the congregation, have been critical. However, he believes they are in the minority among the congregation.<BR/><BR/>“In every issue the congregation faces, you have some dissenting voices,” he said. “When we built our new sanctuary, we did not have 100 percent support for it. But in general, people would not be coming out and supporting the church if it were not for a basic belief in the direction of the church.”<BR/><BR/>Alderman Boom just hopes the “ugliness” of the debate can be put to rest.<BR/><BR/>“I guess time will tell how willing (the church) is to be a good neighbor when we go to try to work out the compromise,” he said. “But we have no leverage now to try and deal with them. It bothers me when institutions can muscle over ordinances in the city. But it appears they can. I was somewhat taken aback by other members of the council blindly following the church’s lead on this.”<BR/><BR/>Tory Brecht can be contacted at (563) 383-2329 or tbrecht@qctimes.com.Oread Dailyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02726848708021220961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13261933.post-4435236896761570892008-03-01T10:21:00.000-06:002008-03-01T10:21:00.000-06:00You appear to have no idea what you're writing abo...You appear to have no idea what you're writing about in this column. <BR/><BR/>St Paul is not a megachurch. It is a neighborhood church that, led by Pastor Peter Marty, has committed as it has grown to staying in the downtown of Davenport, Iowa (rather than, say, moving to some well heeled neighborhood as so many city congregations have done). <BR/><BR/>Pastor Marty's commitment to Davenport has been a major part of the revitalization of the city. His leadership of a partnership between the church and a local elementary school exemplifies his commitment to community.<BR/><BR/>St Paul has renovated several houses that it now owns. The house in question that we purchased after being invited to talk with the owners has structural challenges that mean we cannot afford to renovate.<BR/><BR/>Pastor Peter Marty is a champion of community who has helped our city and our neighborhood to thrive, and it is deeply regretable that you have chosen to publish these absurd characterizations. Any one who knows him or who has heard him speak--at funerals, weddings, in conversation or on his weekly radio program for the ELCA--recognizes his deep humanity and his compassion. And all of us recognize as well that the reporter who published the story was seeking 'controversy' that will tear down the very community that Pastor Marty has devoted himself to building up.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com