Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005 | ||
Bad Links? | Please, Lutheran brethren, dont do thisBy CAL BEVERLY The Peachtree City Lutheran church rezoning controversy saddens me for a number of reasons. For me, as a Christian brother to my Lutheran brothers and sisters, I am grieved by what must be a hurtful time for all the good members of that part of the Body of Christ. I am grieved that I am compelled for conscience sake to criticize my brothers and sisters for the churchs decision to seek a commercial rezoning for a parcel of land that has been dedicated to church use for more than two decades. I am grieved that my and others criticism injures many good-hearted people of that church who seek a means to expand their growing congregation. The means they have chosen by church vote is to sell their coveted plot of land in the citys center to Walgreens drugstore for a bunch of money. That money, they believe, will enable them to buy land in another part of the city or county and increase their ministry to the community. The church is asking the City Council to change the plots zoning from Office Institutional to Commercial, the first such change to the main stretch along Ga. Highway 54 in many years. If they can get the land rezoned, the deal will mean more than $3 million for land for which the church paid $30,000 two decades ago. Thats quite a return on their investment. Ive received e-mails from church members and others who believe Ive insulted them and their church for seeking this rezoning. Im sorry for their hurt. But I think they are proceeding in a wrongheaded manner in which the noble ends will be soiled by the ignoble means to get there. Understand that I understand the church has legal rights to pursue a rezoning, and the city has legal rights to hear the request and either grant it or deny it. Indeed, some have argued that the church has the same rights as any landowner or business to seek to profit from the increase in value of its assets. I dont dispute that any business would have that right. But the church is just not any business. It is a church. It has a higher calling than just any business or landowner. When the Lutherans entered into a covenant two decades ago with the developer to keep the land for church use only for the term of the contract, it also entered into a larger covenant with the community, and it is that larger, superseding covenant I address. The developers deed covenant may have expired or lapsed, but the churchs overriding covenant with the community of Peachtree City remains, so far unbroken. The covenant is this: We will stake out a Christian corner in the very center of this city as our testimony to being a city on a hill, a source of light to this city center. The Christian flag flies high here, in the center of commerce and transportation for this area. We will hold this land in trust in the name of Christ and for the benefit of the community. Over the years, the community has seen that commitment and has been gladdened. Dozens of homes sprung up next door to this community-honoring church, and the homeowners were glad to have such a good neighbor. They counted on that good neighborliness continuing. The churchs neighbors, and many others, are feeling betrayed by the churchs decision to abandon that special plot and turn that territory over to Mammon, taking the form in this case of a 24-hour drugstore and a store to be named. Consider: What would be the feeling of the entire community if First Presbyterian Church and First Baptist Church decided to abandon what used to be called the Village Green in order to sell out to a well-heeled retail operation? I think the Presbyterians and the Baptists, whatever their growth needs are, would never consider abandoning what is in essence the soul of Peachtree City: That garden spot of green trees and steeples in the very heart of our town. That green with its churches, right next to City Hall and the community library, speaks to what Peachtree City represents from its beginning, a community built around families, houses of worship, parks and walking trails. The abandonment of the Lutheran corner would represent a betrayal of the communitys very foundations. This should not happen. That was what I meant when I wrote a couple of weeks ago that of all people, Lutherans should appreciate the importance of covenant. Please, Lutheran brothers and sisters, dont do this. You are damaging your witness to the community. Everytime we get stuck in traffic and see the Walgreens on that once-hallowed spot in the city center, we will be reminded of what once you covenanted and then reneged on because of the money. Please, do not let your good be spoken of as evil. Please, find another way. |
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