WWJP - Where Would Jesus Park?

Tuesday evening, the City’s Heritage Commission approved the demolition of one of the last remaining homes on the south side of the 100 block of East Pacific for the Messiah Lutheran Church on South Main. Here in Old Town Independence, this event is not newsworthy but just another day. Frankly, I don’t know how congregations can sustain ministries if they have to buy marketable housing, fund minimum levels of maintenance (usually no maintenance at all), taxes, then pay for a demolition contractor to tear them down and dump it into a landfill. This has to be a significant chunk of their budgets. And maintaining open space, whether green or paved, has a price also. Studies indicate that a single ground-level parking place in a central business district can cost an average of $86 per month considering its initial construction and its annual maintenance/expenses (snow removal, liability insurance, lighting, sealing/striping, etc.). Even selling parking spaces for $5 each during the annual Santa-Cali-Gon Festival doesn’t put a dent into the actual cost of maintaining parking lots. Those are just the financial implications. What about the environmental consequences? And, of course, what about neighborhood preservation and revitalization? On a much larger scale, churches in and around the Truman Neighborhood have been doing this for decades. This becomes a very expensive endeavor for these churches, many who have tight budgets. Was this a good investment for these churches? Are the neighborhoods surrounding these churches better off? How do these issues reflect on our entire community, especially when demolitions occurred in a National Historic Landmark District? I have my own opinions but I think it is important for this Christian community to openly, and without retribution, answer these questions honestly. I remember as a child regularly attending a church here in the neighborhood and routinely parking on a neighborhood street. And at that time, church attendances at all the downtown churches were several times what they are today and very few churches had significant off-street parking. Today we have huge parking lots with fewer attendees. What can we do better as a Christian community?