Alexandra Posadzki Globe and Mail Update Published Tuesday, May. 29, 2012 11:45AM EDT Last updated Tuesday, May. 29, 2012 1:50PM EDT

Police have removed what they believe to be a pipe bomb from a Brampton church after a suspicious fire broke out at the building early Tuesday morning.

Investigators are also trying to determine if the fire is linked to another blaze that destroyed three units of an under-construction townhouse complex nearby.

A blaze broke out at St. Jeromes Parish, a Roman Catholic church on Chinguacousy Road, shortly before 5 a.m.

What [police] suspect is that there was a pipe bomb or something thrown into the building, said Mariam Mesbah, a spokesperson for the city of Brampton. They think what happened was the sprinkler system went off and sort of kept it at bay.

The blaze was discovered by a maintenance worker who had arrived to clean the church.

When Bramptons firefighters arrived on scene, the fire had already been extinguished by the churchs sprinkler system.

It really was a smoke fire, said Ms. Mesbah. There was more smoke there than actual flames.

When firefighters spotted a suspicious package lying on the floor, they left the church and called police.

The explosives unit of Peel police arrived and sent a robot into the building. The robot located what police believe to be a pipe bomb, although they say it may be a fake.

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Police remove suspected pipe bomb from Brampton church

Work is well under way on the renovation of the Ipswich Baptist Church near McDonalds. It is being turned into a new community performance space especially for young performers.

David Nielsen

THE much-anticipated transformation of the former Ipswich Baptist Church into a community performance venue is only months away.

The church in the Top of Town section of Brisbane St is next to the 24/7 McDonald's restaurant that opened in December 2009.

As part of its application to build the store, McDonald's pledged to restore the disused church and hand it to the community.

In January 2009 McDonald's added a tasty topping to the deal, pledging $50,000 towards renovating inside the 133-year-old building.

Since then, Ipswich City Council had been able to garner financial support from the Federal Government to help make a dream become reality.

The council said the project was due to be finished in September/October and would be opened shortly afterwards as a state-of-the art performance space especially for use by organisations working with young people.

"The renovation and restoration is being made possible with the assistance of $1.5 million of Federal Government funding under the Better Regions Program. The upgrade includes $500,000 for staging, lighting and sound," councillor Charlie Pisasale said.

"In-kind and cash was contributed by McDonald's.

The rest is here:
Church to be performing arts spot

PERRY, IA. The Rev. Gregg Davison has stood before his fledgling congregation and told them, If we build it, they will come.

Davison is halfway there. More than 300 Pentecostals from across the country traveled to the heart of Iowa last week to build a house of worship for his church.

The building seemed to literally go up overnight as part of the Church in a Day program created by United Pentecostal Church International, headquartered in Missouri. Professional contractors, many of them volunteers, finish the foundation, plumbing and electricity before erecting the building itself in about 24 hours. More than 80 churches have been completed, including now three in Iowa.

The smell of freshly cut wood on Saturday mingled with the clank of hammers and the buzz of saws. A bustle of men, women and children all calling each other brother and sister worked together toward one purpose.

It has been a long journey for Davison, 41, and his wife. They first came to Perry seven years ago, he said, to start a Bible study at the behest of God. It was two years before the first townsperson joined them. Their faith never wavered.

Without a test, we cant have a testimony, Davison said. We knew if we planted the seed, God said he would bring up a harvest.

Not even the weather has seemed to cooperate. An ice storm hit when the Davisons moved to Perry for good in 2007 to start a home mission.

On Friday, a cold rain pummeled the work site, but the Christians soldiered on. The 20 or so roofers, fed by a steady supply of food and drink by women and children, did not come down until the project was completed. By then the crew had endured several downpours, said Warren Amling, 57, of Dubuque.

The storm dropped hail on parts of central Iowa. The church was sheltered from the pelting, said Amling, who has been in Perry since Tuesday.

It was just one family, one goal. The Lord definitely had his hand in this, Amling said.

Original post:
Against all odds, Perry church built in 24 hours

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - City officials hope that building a new Church Street from Monroe Street to Oakwood Avenue will open the area for redevelopment and will offer another convenient route from north Huntsville to downtown.

A major step in those plans took place on Friday in Montgomery when the Alabama Department of Transportation opened bids to build the phase between Pratt and Oakwood avenues.

APAC Mid-South Inc. of Birmingham submitted an apparent low bid of nearly $3.2 million to build the new five-lane street.

It could be several months before work actually begins. The state must verify that APAC's bid meets specifications and draw up a contract for both sides to sign. The contractor also needs time to prepare for the project.

Once started, construction is expected to take more than a year.

The new Church Street between Pratt and Oakwood avenues will follow Orchard Street from Pratt to Pearl Avenue and then shift west and follow Hundley Drive to Oakwood.

The city two years ago bought 40 houses and businesses on Oakwood, Hundley and Orchard and either demolished the buildings or sold them with the requirement that the buyers move them.

The other Church Street phase will be a combination of moving or widening the existing street between Monroe and Pratt. It will include removing a severe curve on Pratt just east of Church, building a new Wheeler Avenue from the new Church to Memorial Parkway and removing Pegram Street. The city's Municipal Justice and Public Safety Center and the Madison County Sheriff's Department offices are both on Wheeler.

A firm construction date for the Monroe to Pratt phase has not been set.

Other DOT bids

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Construction of new Church Street between Pratt and Oakwood avenues moving toward reality

25-05-2012 10:34 A recent fatwa issued by a Wahhabi mufti calls for destruction of all churches in the Arabian Peninsula. He issued the fatwa in late March 2012 in response to a Kuwaiti lawmaker who asked if Kuwait could ban church construction in Kuwait. The fatwa paves the way for adding an article to the new Kuwaiti constitution that forbids building of new churches. Ahl al-Bait assembly condemns the fatwa saying that it is contrary to both Shia and Sunni traditions, and has no precedence in Islamic jurisprudential schools. The assembly also slams the "deadly silence" of Muslim scholars in the face of such fatwa that distort the image of Islam. It also criticizes international human right organizations as well as Western and Christian governments for their support of Saudi regime and Wahhabi doctrine. The chairman of a group of European Catholic Bishops slams the Saudi Mufti by saying that his fatwa "shows no respect for the religious freedom and free co-existence of religions". This week's Islam and Life asks: What is the view of Islam on building Christian churches in Muslim lands? Watch this video on our Website: Follow our Facebook on: Follow our Twitter on:

Originally posted here:
What is view of Islam on building Christian churches in Muslim lands?-Islam and Life-05-24-2012 - Video

25-05-2012 12:48 Professional grade personal 2-way radios are now available for church, construction, hospital, manufacturing, retail and school users with prices starting at under $150. This new generation of micro-sized communicators are available in both VHF and UHF versions. One model even offers a long range headset or speaker-microphone option with a range of up to 30 feet away from the radio !

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On-Site Personal 2-Way Radios - Video

PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- According to building permits that have been issued from January 2011 through this month from the Jackson County Planning Department, as well as from planners from the surrounding municipalities, there are few church constructions under way.

The newest church building going up in the county is The Greater Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Pascagoula.

Antioch's sanctuary burned to the ground on Aug. 26, 2010. The smoke could be seen for miles around. The fire apparently started in a storage area on the north end of the building.

In November 2011, a groundbreaking for a new sanctuary was held at 1028 Denny Ave., the original site of the church.

Architect Dennis Cowart of Ocean Springs, who designed the new metal building, said the two-story sanctuary will feature stadium seating and be wired for up-to-date technology.

The new construction will include 10 Sunday school classrooms, two fellowship halls, meeting rooms, a board room and a choir rehearsal room.

The new building will cost about $3 million and is being constructed by TCM Construction of Long Beach.

In the city of Ocean Springs, aside from small additions to a few churches, there are no new churches being built.

In the city of Moss Point, a building permit was issued in September 2011 for the construction of Greater First Baptist Church on 6313 Plymouth St.

In the city of Gautier, "there are no churches under construction at this time," said Babs Logan, a planning technician with the city.

Excerpt from:
Outlook: Greater Antioch's new church rising in Pascagoula

POSTED: 5:09 pm MDT May 25, 2012 UPDATED: 6:30 pm MDT May 25, 2012 AFTON, Wyo. -- The LDS Church announced the site for its Star Valley Wyoming Temple on Friday.The temple will be east of U.S. Highway 89 on the Haderlie Farm property south of Afton.Our (Latter-day Saint) community members are elated at the prospects of a temple in our valley, said Afton Mayor Loni Hillyard in a news release from the church. I view the temple as an asset and am certain it will have a positive effect on our entire community. We look forward to working with the architect and Church representatives as they move forward on this project.The temple was announced at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints conference in October 2011.The church said Friday that temple construction is expected to take two years. When built, the temple will serve church members in western Wyoming. Members now travel to Idaho Falls and Rexburg to attend the temple.We truly believe this new temple will be a great asset not only to members of the Church but also to the people of the surrounding community, who will benefit from the peace and beauty a temple brings, said Jerry Hansen, local spokesman for the church. Temples are where members participate in the highest sacraments of our faith where we make and renew promises to God and to our families.The church has 137 temples, with 29 planned or under construction.LDS leaders haven't supplied details on the building itself yet. Doug Anderson with the LDS Church Media Department told the station earlier this month that he doesn't know if it will be built as a full-size version like the ones in Idaho Falls and Rexburg or on a smaller scale. View the discussion thread.blog comments powered by

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LDS Church Announces Star Valley Temple Site

DAVID HALLETT/Fairfax NZ

LOWERED: Christ Church Cathedral continues to come down despite efforts to stop it being demolished

A poll of 359 Cantabrians found the region torn over the fate of Christ Church Cathedral with a majority favoured demolition.

However, the comments from those polled revealed it was a tussle between our hearts and our heads. The former reflecting our emotional attachment to the iconic heritage building, the latter understanding that repairs for the cathedral would be costly and potentially dangerous.

You can read their comments here:

Reasons from those who think the Christ Church Cathedral should be demolished:

I don't like the idea of a church being the centre of the city. 30 - 59, Male

It seems too far gone. It seems to be a bit of a risk. 18 - 29, Male

I am anti-religion. 18 - 29, Male

The ground is not solid underneath the building, any quake that happens would ruin the building again. 18 - 29, Male

See original here:
Christ Church Cathedral - readers' comments

by Dermot Cole/ cole@newsminer.com Fairbanks Daily News Miner

A crew from HC Contractors uncovers the water lines running into Immaculate Conception Church just past the north end of the Cushman Street bridge.

To help protect the church from excessive vibration, electronic monitoring equipment has been set up inside the building that will send an alarm to a structural engineer when the movement reaches 40 percent of the level that a building of that age is able to handle.

Structural engineer Keith Korri, of Anchorage, is keeping close tabs on the building via the equipment that is set up to give him an alert on his mobile phone when the 40 percent level is reached. So far the movement has been below that standard, which he said provides a good margin of safety.

He has also told the church workers to talk to HC Contractors if and when something seems amiss.

Inside the church the first sign that vibration preparations are an issue is the temporary removal of the crucifix from the front of the church.

In addition, the statues of Mary and Joseph have been removed from their elevated perches and placed on the main floor of the church.

Korri has monitored the vibration levels in the church on three previous occasions, going back to the early 1990s.

When the heavy equipment is operating within six feet of a building and right next to a fire hydrant and water pipes, the mechanical arm has to be handled by an operator who knows that every inch counts.

Regarding the vibration inside the church, the industry standard for movement is 0.5 inches per second for a building like ICC, Korri said. The machine he has installed in the crawl space is set to go off when the movement is 0.2 inches per second. He said he wants to solve any problem before it becomes a problem and the 40 percent threshold offers that protection.

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Road work outside historic Fairbanks church requires careful digging