VANDER, N.C. (AP) On Sunday, the sanctuary at Freedom Biker Church was a sea of black leather and beards.

Motorcyclists, some of whom braved morning snow flurries, settled into their seats for the morning service.

"I ride for Jesus," read a patch on one member's jacket. "Black leather, tattoos, jeans - proper Sunday attire," read another.

When Forever Comes, a Christian rock band, struck up a number as the lyrics of the song flashed on a screen behind the band.

Then, Associate Pastor Bill Johnson took the stage. Johnson, who is tall, bald and wears a long, braided beard, welcomed the congregation.

"How are you all doing this morning?" Johnson asked. "Welcome to Freedom!"

So began another Sunday service at the church, where suits and ties are in scarce supply but biker regalia is in abundance.

"They don't have to take their colors off," said Senior Pastor J.D. Tew. "They just come."

Cumberland County's branch of Freedom Biker Church got its start in a barn.

Tew had been serving as a pastor at the original Freedom Biker Church in Clayton when he said he felt a call to start a church near his hometown of Autryville.

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NC bikers find Cumberland County worship place

THE FIRST Unitarian Church of Seattle was built in 1889, only two years after Samuel Eliot, the 25-year-old son of Charles Eliot, president of Harvard University and perhaps then the most famous educator in the Western Hemisphere, arrived in Seattle to help its Unitarians get organized and build this sanctuary.

Local architect Hermann Steinman presented the drawings as a gift to the new congregation. Soon after the construction commenced mid-May 1889, the churchs rising belfry was easily visible around the city. The construction, here on the east side of Seventh Avenue between Union and Pike streets, was not affected when most of Seattles business district was consumed by the Great Fire of June 6, 1889.

The photograph by Asahel Curtis was recorded about 20 years later most likely 1909, by which time the Unitarians had moved on and turned the building over to other users. In the Curtis photo, the church building is squeezed on the right (south) by the popular Dreamland, a large hall built as a roller rink in 1908, but then soon given to dancing and a great variety of assemblies, many of them labor-related and politically liberal. These politics also fit the activism of the AOUW (Ancient Order of United Workmen), which used the old church for its Columbia Lodge soon after the popular Unitarians had moved to Capitol Hill. The Columbia name is signed on the steeple.

The First Unitarians dedicated their new, larger church on Boylston Avenue in 1906. It had 800 seats, the better to stage the churchs productions, which included concerts of many sorts, adult Sunday schools led by University of Washington profs, classes in psychology and comparative religion, and plays by the Unitarian Dramatic Club.

Dramatic presentations continue on the original church site with ACT Theatre. Jean Sherrard used his recent benefit appearance on an ACT stage as an opportunity to pose the theaters support staff at its Seventh Avenue side entrance for this weeks Now. To quote Sherrard, I dont know if any are Unitarians or not, but they are surely united in their vision for a transcendent theatrical experience.

Check out Paul Dorpat and Jean Sherrards blog at http://www.pauldorpat.com.

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Built for show, sacred and otherwise

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) A steam shovel reshapes the landscape by Route 28 on the North Side. Its just down the road from the site of the first Croatian Roman Catholic Church in the western hemisphere.

Citing structural problems, the diocese demolished Saint Nicholas Church a year ago.

Susan Petrick, of the Preserve Croatian Heritage Foundation, says construction of St. Nicholas Church shows the dedication and need for the Croatian people to build something that was their home away from home.

The Troy Hill activist recalls the glow of Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, and the hope of rebirth on Easter Sunday.

She says the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission has approved a historical marker on the site where St. Nicholas stood.

Were going to have a beautiful memorial wall, she says. And the last piece sandblasted into the wall will be Saint Nicholas Church. Next to it on the right will be a seating area.

Jack Schmitt, of Preservation Pittsburgh, says the memorial path will extend from the River Trail to the 31st Street Bridge.

Right now theyre doing the excavating, he explains. And theyre building the retaining walls. It should be done by November of this year, when there will be a ribbon cutting.

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Historical Marker Going In At Site of Old St. Nicholas Church

Etobicoke Guardian

Wesley Mimico United Church officials are cautiously optimistic, but hopeful that their final redevelopment proposal will be supported by city planners and councillors.

Revised plans reflect significant changes and is the result of many conversations with community residents, congregational members, city heritage and planning staff, and consultation with many community groups and leaders, the church states in its Feb. 19 application submission letter to Kathryn Thom, a senior city planner heading the file.

Wesley Mimico Place, as the redevelopment is being called, is intended to repurpose, renew and add to the original 1922 church.

It proposes to preserve heritage aspects of the building, add seniors ownership housing crucial to raising the necessary capital to preserve the property, church officials argue, and add 4,000 square feet of flexible community program space.

Changes in the new application include: reducing the seniors units from 40 to 30; an increase in community outreach space, and the provision of residents outdoor amenity space.

We think weve done a lot of work to respond seriously to neighbourhood concerns from a few people, Harry Oussoren, president of Wesley Mimico Place corporation, said in an interview this week.

We believe were riding a crest of support. Community people are saying, Its a no-brainer. Get on with it. It comes at no cost to the city. It provides housing and community space in the area. Its part of the revitalization of Mimico.

In February 2012, a group of Mimico residents formed to promote the importance and preservation of the 1922 church for its architectural significance, and as a prominent physical and contextual landmark on the main street of the old town of Mimico.

The group created http://www.savewesley.com

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Mimico church submits revised plans to city for new seniors housing

Balian Pangil San Marcos dalit2009
"ampunin kami at ipag adya.. San Marcos Ebanghelista.." fiesta novenario s kumbento at the height of the church construction..

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Pastor Vern Yadon, inside the Kendall Chapel, Nov. 13, 2013 in Kendall. A roundabout is planned to be built at the intersection of Washington State route 542 and route 547 that will require the Kendall Chapel to be displaced. MATTMCDONALDTHEBELLINGHAMHERALD|BuyPhoto

KENDALL - A chapel nestled in the triangle formed by Mount Baker Highway and Kendall Road is no longer in the bull's-eye of a proposed roundabout.

Kendall Chapel pastor Vern Yadon said the small nondenominational church will remain standing because the state will build its roundabout away from the church and an adjoining building, on the northwest corner of the triangle near the North Fork Community Library.

The sweeping curve southeast of the chapel would be eliminated, converting the intersection into a "T" with a roundabout.

The pastor had been concerned because one of eight options for intersection improvements introduced last year by the state Department of Transportation put the roundabout directly over the chapel. Some of the other roundabout designs impinged far enough onto the church property to make it unusable.

"We're delighted," said Yadon, who talked as if the state had made a final decision on the roundabout's location.

DOT project engineer Chris Damitio said he wouldn't use the word "decision" quite yet.

"I'd hate to use that word," Damitio said. "We have shared with Vern a direction we want to go. ... There's a lot of investigation we have to do."

The state wants to make sure it can properly treat runoff from the new roundabout. The results of soil studies should be known in about a month, Damitio said.

"If everything comes back positive, then that'll lead us to finalize a footprint," he said.

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NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) A local swindler took advantage of a number of people, and groups including a local church. Now the victims are talking to News 8.

Pile of bricks surrounded by caution tape sit where should be a new gymnasium.

We had built the foundation of the gymnasium as well as some the rooms that were going to be here for fellowship purposes, and right now this is where it stays and it may stay here for quite some time, said Father Peter Orfanakos.

St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church doesnt have the money to finish construction because they are the victim of Ponzi scheme. master-mined by Gregory Lowles.

In total the church lost 2.1 Million dollars, said Orfanakos.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Lowles stole more than $27 million from trusting individuals and business owners. Many were members of his own church.

Having not only the church losing money but many of the parishioners suffering a personal loss, it has a rippled affect in regards to how much people can donate to the work of the church, said Orfanakos.

Father Peter says Lowles joined the church back in 1995, it didnt take long for Lowles to gain control the churches financial matters.

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Church becomes victim of local swindler

By Kit Chase, Register Staff Writer The Daily Register Mon Mar 03, 2014, 10:57 AM CST

Gainesville First United Methodist Church (FUMC) of Gainesville will dedicate the completion of the renovation of the churchs 1892 sanctuary on March 23 with Rev. Don Yeager and Bishop Michael McKee officiating.

FUMC spent more than $6 million during the 13 year, 3-phase process to improve their facility, which has a state historical marker from the state historical commission.

Phase 3 included restoration of the stained glass windows, chancel furniture, wood and tile flooring, choir loft, interior doors and woodwork, electrical wiring, overhead lighting and several components of the antique organ.

The stained glass windows in the sanctuary were removed, taken apart, cleaned and reassembled with new lead and new frames.

It is so much brighter and clearer now than it used to be, FUMC pastor Don Yeager said. The sun didnt use to shine the way it does now through the windows. It looks like brand new glass.

The stained glass turns sunlight into jeweled light beams that present varied colors in the sanctuary during different times of the day. Stanton Glass Studios, LLC of Waco renovated the windows. The company specializes in restoration and repair of historic stained glass windows.

FUMC chairman of the board of trustee Bob Bloom provides an excellent tour of the church with in-depth knowledge of the progress of the renovation. He discusses the intricate working of the new sprinkler system with the nitrogen-filled pipes to prevent water leakage, the completed cleaning and repair of the antique organ that has mechanically operated valves versus electronic ones and explains about the stained glass windows dismantled for cleaning and repairing. He discusses the infrastructure of the church with the new sound system, updated lighting and heating system. The first electric company, DC Power Plant was built in 1887 that supplied electricity to the church, Bloom said. The buildings closest to DC Power Plant got electricity. Edison wanted to light the world with DC power, but it was not very efficient for long distance distribution. Slowly everything was changed to AC power because it could supply at hundreds of miles longer distances.

The seven globe light fixtures and sconces in the sanctuary were originally installed in 1892.

That was DC power lights, Bloom said. With AC power they began adding lights and we ended up with a collection of them. We found the original molds in West Virginia. They had quit making them. The company sold us the molds at $95 each and we were able to get them replaced.

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Methodist church plans celebration

Newark, N.J.

Every year, without fail, Joe Ferri writes a $100 check to the Archdiocese of Newark for the Archbishops Annual Appeal, a fundraising drive that benefits a variety of religious causes.

This year, Ferri left the empty envelope on his pew at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Bloomfield. Hes done writing checks.

If this is the only way I can be heard, so be it, said Ferri, 70. Im disgusted. The archdiocese is not going to get another penny out of me.

Two weeks after The Star-Ledger disclosed that Archbishop John J. Myers is building a 3,000-square-foot addition on the expansive home where he will spend his retirement, it appears the work will cost the archdiocese far more than the $500,000 allotted for construction.

Parishioners, infuriated by what they call a tone-deaf show of excess at a time when Catholic schools are closing and when the pope has called on bishops to shed the trappings of luxury, say theyre cutting off contributions entirely or sharply curtailing them.

Others said they will continue supporting their local parishes but will ignore the annual appeal, which has been heavily promoted in churches over the past month across the archdiocese, home to 1.3 million Catholics in the New Jersey counties of Essex, Hudson, Union and Bergen.

At stake are millions of dollars that support schools, youth ministries, retired priests and Catholic Charities, the nonprofit agency that runs homeless shelters and provides a wide array of services for the poorest residents. In recent years, the appeal has brought in between $10 million and $11 million annually, said Jim Goodness, a spokesman for Myers.

While acknowledging the good work the church does, the parishioners said they believe their complaints will be ignored if they dont make the point more indelibly with their pocketbooks.

The only language the church understands is money, said Maria Bozza, 69, who has urged fellow parishioners at Holy Family Church in Nutley to withhold contributions to the archdiocese. We need to start an empty envelope month to replace the archbishops annual appeal. If parishioners in every church in the Newark archdiocese sent in an empty envelope, then they will get the message.

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NJ archbishops pricey retirement home spurs giving backlash

ST MATTHEWS Church all in a lather over generosity of Albury construction company.

ST MATTHEWS Church is all in a lather over the generosity of an Albury construction company.

Zauners Construction is building a temporary shower block for the homeless at the back of the Kiewa Street church a project Father Peter Macleod-Miller said they had been trying to get off the ground for the past two years.

The construction company is working on the Albury Regional Art Gallery redevelopment and has taken over some of the churchs land to make way for their workspaces.

Were both just being good neighbours, its a bit like sharing cups of sugar over the fence, Father Macelod-Miller said.

Were helping them by giving them some land and theyve asked, can we do something for you?

The shower block will be a temporary structure but he hopes a more permanent solution would be found.

It comes just in time for the churchs harvest week, during which donations for the homeless be it food, clothing, sleeping gear or toiletries are collected.

It will culminate in a garage and car boot sale on Saturday at Adamshurst in David Street, from 8am to midday.

Entry is by gold coin donation with all proceeds to go to the St Matthews homeless appeal.

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Generosity showers down for homeless