“For Us it’s Love of God and Love of Neighbor”

The above is a quote of Pastor Scott Myers of the
176-year-old congregation of the Westport Presbyterian Church after surveying what was left of the devastating fire (12-28-11) that gutted their circa 1904 stone church structure located in the heart of historic Westport, a small pioneer trails community actually founded 3 years before the establishment of the Town of Kansas (Kansas City). West Port was established by John Calvin McCoy in 1835 and was an elder at this church. John Calvin was an acquaintance and likely business associate of William & John McCoy of Independence but was not a directly related to them. The church and the adjacent environs have a well-documented and rich history. But it’s been more recent history that is most interesting and where there are valuable lessons on neighborhood preservation and the vigilant struggle against urban blight. During “white flight” and the urbanization of Kansas City beginning in the 1960’s, many Kansas City churches locked their doors, boarded up their stained glass windows, and literally abandoned neighborhoods at a time when the spiritual needs of the community were great. Instead of following the popular trend of that time period and taking the easy path to the suburbs, Westport Presbyterian Church made the decision to stay in its historic setting even though their congregation was dwindling also. That’s right; they decided to be a part of the solution instead of being a part of the problem. Westport Presbyterian became an active participant in the preservation and revitalization of the Westport neighborhood and business district. They didn’t do it buying up property, expanding their parking, and creating a barrier between neighborhood and church. They did it by reaching out their hand to assist their neighbors and being an integral part of practically every aspect of the neighborhood including youth and elderly programs, the arts, environmental concerns, city planning, fighting crime, and, yes of course, spreading the Word of God. Many community-based nonprofit organizations consider Westport Presbyterian Church their headquarters and many of those were actually established by the church and church members. They were not just a landlord of agencies and programs but an overseer and stake holder actively participating in the success of those activities. This is how it is supposed to work! Here in Independence, we had even more opportunities for these types of partnerships, but unfortunately most of those related to the Truman National Historic Landmark District not only failed to occur but resulted in adversarial relationships. In fact, one prominent religious leader actually made the public statement that their purchase of additional residential properties surrounding church properties was for “self defense.” Please pray for and support the good Christian folks at Westport Presbyterian and be supportive of churches that build bridges instead barriers to their neighborhoods and communities.