By Todd Wallack, Globe Staff

The auction of the Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church, originally scheduled for Thursday morning, has been postponed until summer after the church filed for federal bankruptcy protection.

The auction company, Paul E. Saperstein Co. of Holbrook, posted a note on its web site saying the auction has been continued due to bankruptcy until July 19.

The historic black church filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday to block OneUnited Bank in Boston from foreclosing on a $1.1 million loan and auctioning off the Roxbury church, as well as an adjacent small retail building and a former pastors residence in Milton.

The church hopes to keep all the properties and renegotiate its loans with OneUnited. In addition to the $1.1 million loan, it also owes OneUnited $3 million for construction of a community center, which has yet to be completed. The church has proposed repaying the bank over 30 years.

OneUnited, one of the nations largest black-owned banks, has said it is studying the bankruptcy filing. Lawyers for the church were expected to appear in US Bankruptcy Court on Thursday.

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Charles Street AME Church auction postponed until July after bankruptcy filing

SALT LAKE CITY -- The LDS Church is attempting to remake downtown Salt Lake City by opening the shopping mall portion of a $2 billion mixed-use space that spans two city blocks and features a meandering creek and retractable glass roofs.

Church partner and retail operator Taubman Centers Inc. expects 50,000 visitors on Thursday, when City Creek Center's nearly 90 stores open.

City Creek Center has outdoor walkways, plazas, fireplaces and metal sculpture. Waterfalls, fountains and a trout pond are part of the village-like development, which includes condominiums and is joined by a pedestrian bridge over Main Street.

The residential towers were built by City Creek Reserve Inc., a for-profit firm owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The church is a multibillion-dollar organization with business and real estate holdings.

The church paid for City Creek Center with cash and says no member tithing was used. For the most part, it will be like other shopping malls, except that the stores close on Sundays -- the church wanted the Sabbath for its nearby Temple Square.

It will be operated like Taubman Centers' other upscale malls in Los Angeles and Denver, said Robert Taubman, chairman, president and CEO of the Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based company. Two of the restaurants at the Salt Lake City mall will serve liquor, but there are no bars. Its anchors are Macy's and Nordstrom, with other stores such as Tiffany & Co. and the Swedish fashion chain H&M.

Built during the recession, which lowered construction costs, City Creek Center is the only large shopping center of its size -- around 700,000 square feet -- scheduled to open in the country this year, officials said.

"It's about the rebirth of this city and the fabric of downtown," said Taubman, who said the design of City Creek Center was unique.

"We opened the mall to the sky and sunny weather that's here with these amazing retractable roofs," he said.

No other U.S. shopping center has retractable roofs, says Linda Wardell, City Creek Center's general manager.

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LDS Church hopes mall helps downtown Salt Lake

TUMACACORI, Ariz.- They live by the golden rule, "do unto others as you would have others do unto you". It's a message one religious organization in Santa Cruz County is trying to spread to its neighbors, as a battle brews over their desire to expand in their small rural community.

A sense of peace surrounds a 165 acre property in Tumacacori, which belongs to a church group called the Global Community Communications Alliance. About 150 members live, learn and worship there together. "We are looking to do something in the way of community building that is not maybe status quo," GCCA Member Centria Lilly says.

For the past year they have wanted to build a 17,000 square foot church because the outdoor pavilion and indoor community room where they currently hold services, is no longer big enough. "We need the facility for our Sunday worship services, but also for adult and childrens' classrooms, for a library, and administrative offices," Lilly says.

But the GCCA is facing opposition from many of its neighbors, who say building the church will disrupt the peacefulness of their small community. "It just doesn't fit in with the area at all," Neighbor Dan Kirkham says.

Kirkham has lived in the area for more than a decade. He fears building the church will attract more people to the area, creating noise, destroying roads and disrupting water quality. "I'd like to see it not built, period, to stop, stop right now," Kirkham says.

He's not the only one. Last fall Santa Cruz County denied the GCCA's request for a building permit. Board members tell News 4 Tucson it was because the majority of neighbors oppose it and because the alliance never informed the Union Pacific railroad company that runs through the property of its plans. The county requires any property owner within 300 feet of construction must be notified.

"There are federal laws that support churches in providing them means to build and construct churches," Lilly says.

Which is why the GCCA filed an appeal this month. It hopes to settle the matter out of court. "We're hoping to build a bridge with all of the neighbors who have concerns," Lilly says.

But until then, the peacefulness of this small community might just be an illusion.

Continued here:
Controversy in Santa Cruz Co. over church construction

ROCK HILL With demolition just weeks away, two plans have been offered to keep the historic Rock Hill Presbyterian Church.

Both plans would need several hundred thousand dollars to carry out, and neither is close raising that kind of money.

But if neither plan succeeds, the church may find new life at a winery in Warren County, city administrator George Liyeos said.

In an interview after an aldermanic meeting Tuesday night, Liyeos said that the construction company that will build a gas station on the site of the church, at McKnight and Manchester roads, would disassemble the church and reconstruct it at the winery.

Robert Brinkmann, chief executive officer of the builder, Brinkmann Constructors, could not be reached for comment, nor could the owners of the winery, Cedar Lake Cellars in Wright City.

A group called Save The Rock Hill Church has been raising money for its plan to save the church by moving it and the adjacent city-owned Fairfax House to Rock Hill Park, just south of Manchester.

The group says the venue would be attractive for brides wanting to have a church wedding and reception at the same site.

The group estimated it would need $700,000 to carry out the plan. Chris Musial, a spokesman for the group, said Tuesday his group had so far raised $4,710 with about $2,000 more in pledges.

Rock Hill Alderman Edward Johnson told fellow aldermen Tuesday night that he had a Plan B if the first effort failed. He suggested moving the church to 215-217 Almentor Avenue, an empty lot the Temple Hall Club owns. The site is south of Manchester and east of Rock Hill road.

Johnson suggested the move late last year, but aldermen supported the first group, which had presented a business plan.

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Old Rock Hill church could be rebuilt at a winery, official says

Tom Fedor/The Gazette Members of the Christian Life Center gather to celebrate the construction of their new church building with a ground breaking on the Ijamsville on Sunday. The church, based in Gaithersburg since 1974, has been housed at Damascus High School for about six weeks.

A church that has been holding services in a Damascus school building is beginning work on a new facility on 64 acres in Frederick County.

The Christian Life Center, based in Gaithersburg since 1974, has been housed at Damascus High School for about six weeks, according to the Rev. Ron Libby. He said the church sold its property to help pay for the new construction.

The high school has been a temporary fix for the 1,000 parishioners who attend each week, Libby said.

The congregation of the new Christian Life Center, at 3154 Green Valley Road in Ijamsville, broke ground Sunday. The church declined to say how much the new church cost. However, its website shows $1.6 million was raised to build the facility in 2008.

The new site is 64 acres up from 6 acres at the Gaithersburg site.

But the switch has challenges, Libby said. The church holds services from 10 a.m. to noon on Sundays at Damascus High School, 25921 Ridge Road in Damascus. The church must bring equipment to the school for services as its needed and dismantle it following the service.

Libby said the new church was needed to ease overcrowding at the churchs previous location, at 11800 Darnestown Road.

Itll be a state-of-the-art building, he said. It will be quite considerably larger. Our sanctuary was packed out down in Gaithersburg.

The churchs new 65,000-square-foot building will seat about 1,200 and includes an area for youth.

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Gazette.Net: Former Gaithersburg church to move from temporary home in Damascus school

The Mormon church is attempting to remake downtown Salt Lake City by opening the shopping mall portion of a $2 billion mixed-use space that spans two city blocks.

Church partner and retail operator Taubman Centers Inc. expect 50,000 visitors on Thursday, when City Creek Center's nearly 90 stores open.

City Creek Center has outdoor walkways, retractable glass roofs and a winding creek. Waterfalls, fountains and a trout pond are part of the village-like development, which includes condominiums and is joined by a pedestrian bridge over Main Street.

The residential towers were built by City Creek Reserve Inc., a for-profit firm owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The church is a multibillion-dollar organization with tentacles in business and real estate.

The church paid for City Creek Center with cash and says no member tithing was used. For the most part, it will be like other shopping malls, except that the stores close on Sundays _ the church wanted the day of peace for its nearby Temple Square.

It will be operated like Taubman Centers' other upscale malls in Los Angeles and Denver, said Robert Taubman, chairman, president and CEO of the Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based company. Two of the restaurants at the Salt Lake City mall will serve liquor, but there are no bars. Its anchors include Macy's, Nordstrom, Tiffany & Co. and the Swedish fashion chain H&M.

Built during the recession, which lowered construction costs, City Creek Center is the only large mall of its size _ around 700,000 square feet _ scheduled to open in the country this year, officials said.

"It's about the rebirth of this city and the fabric of downtown," said Robert Taubman, chairman, president and CEO of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Taubman Centers Inc., who said the design of City Creek Center was unique.

"We opened the mall to the sky and sunny weather that's here with these amazing retractable roofs," he said.

No other U.S. shopping center has retractable roofs, says Linda Wardell, City Creek Center's general manager.

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Mormon church hopes mall helps Salt Lake downtown

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Church on hook for left turn lane

Posted: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 8:45 am | Updated: 8:50 am, Wed Mar 21, 2012.

Atascocita United Methodist Church is embarking upon a bold and ambitious expansion plan designed to carry the church into the next decade. The campaign, called Field of Dreams, will be raising funds to build a 550-seat Sanctuary, a Music Arts room, additional classrooms, and a large gathering space.

This project is the culmination of extensive feasibility studies that have been conducted by members of the church over the past 18 months, which showed that the church has experienced the same strong growth that our community has experienced.

We are rapidly outgrowing our facilities in every way, said Andy Noel, senior pastor of the church. Without a bold step forward, we are going to be challenged to stay relevant in our rapidly expanding community.

The church views this campaign as a means by which exciting new ministries can be offered to the community.

Construction will begin in late 2012 with expectations of expanding into the new space by Christmas 2013. The Field of Dreams campaign is chaired by Jim and Marlene Mastin, active members of the church and the community. The Mastins, along with Pastor Andy Noel and Associate Pastor Kristin Bogart, have gathered an extensive Campaign Leadership Team of more than 70 people.

It is really impressive to experience the vast amount of talent and dedication that this leadership team brings to the campaign, said Jim Mastin. I am confident that this campaign is going to respond to the calling of our church in a powerful way.

Atascocita United Methodist Church is located in Atascocita at 19325 Pinehurst Trail Drive. To find out more about the church and about this campaign go to http://www.aumc.org.

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Atascocita United Methodist Church launches building campaign

Roxburys historic Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the 11th hour to halt a foreclosure auction that its bank had planned to hold tomorrow.

The short story is that there will be no foreclosure at all. We stopped the bank dead in its tracks, the Rev. Gregory Groover told the Herald last night after the church filed for bankruptcy in federal court.

The move came less than 40 hours before Boston-based OneUnited Bank, which couldnt immediately be reached for comment, had planned to seize the church through a foreclosure auction.

OneUnited, which bills itself as the nations largest black-owned bank, launched foreclosure proceedings after the 194-year-old congregation failed to make a $1.1 million balloon mortgage payment in December.

Charles Street said it never missed a monthly payment on the 5-year-old loan, but couldnt refinance when the balloon payment came due because of an ongoing legal dispute with OneUnited.

The bank sued the church in 2010 over a roughly $3.6 million construction loan that Charles Street had taken out to build an adjacent community center.

OneUnited stopped disbursing funds for the project in 2009, which the church said prevented it from finishing construction and raising funds to repay the loan.

Church lawyer Ross Martin said Charles Street plans, as part of its bankruptcy reorganization, to restart the project using a $1.5 million grant from the African Methodist Episcopal movement.

He added that the church will ask a bankruptcy judge to let Charles Street repay its OneUnited debts over 30 years at 5.25 percent interest.

Groover said that means the congregation wont violate the Bibles Thou Shalt Not Steal commandment.

Continued here:
Church stops bank 'dead in its tracks'

By Beth Healy, Globe Staff

With their lender unwilling to negotiate or halt foreclosure proceedings, members of the Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church voted Tuesday night to file for federal bankruptcy protection, heading off OneUnited Banks plan to auction the historic congregations property this week.

At a special meeting held at the Roxbury church Tuesday evening, lawyers for Charles Street AME laid out options for avoiding foreclosure on a $1.1 million loan. The estimated 250 members members in attendance voted to proceed with a Chapter 11 reorganization filing, to forestall the threatened sale of the church on Thursday, the churchs lawyer, Ross Martin, said.

The action comes after a pitched battle between two prominent black institutions over roughly $4 million in loans. OneUnited, among the nations largest black-owned banks, ignored pleas from lawmakers, ministers, and business leaders to talk, and ultimately left the church with little room to maneuver.

Their decision to immediately move to foreclosure, and the senseless way that they did it, from the churchs viewpoint, is inconceivable, Reverend Gregory G. Groover Sr. said in an interview with the Globe. The bankruptcy filing, he said, allows the church to go on and continue to operate and focus on our ministry.

Under the bankruptcy petition, which lawyers planned to file electronically Tuesday night, Charles Street is offering to repay the money it owes OneUnited -- totaling about $4.2 million -- over 30 years. That includes both the $1.1 million loan secured by the church property and $3 million the church borrowed to build a community center a block away.

The bank could not immediately be reached for comment. In recent weeks, its officials have insisted that it gave Charles Street plenty of time to repay its loans, and declined to discuss its high-profile customer.

Under the bankruptcy petition, the church is looking to keep all its property, including a house in Milton that has served as a pastors residence (its not currently in use) and retail space near the church. Its looking to extend the payments for the loans over 30 years, more like a home mortgage than a commercial loan, at a rate of 5.25 percent.

The umbrella organization that includes Charles Street, the First Episcopal District of Philadelphia, would raise $1.5 million to help repay the debt.

In 2007, OneUnited chief executive Kevin Cohee touted his partnership with Charles Street as a show of commitment to the community and a catalyst for opening his new Grove Hall bank branch that year. He agreed to lend the church $3.7 million to build the Roxbury Renaissance Center, even though the church couldnt afford the $800,000 down payment, according to legal filings. When the church needed an extension on the loan in 2008, he granted it.

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Charles Street AME Church to file for bankruptcy to block OneUnited's foreclosure action