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VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - A 14-year-old teen is mugged outside of a Dollar Tree Monday afternoon. His skateboard, one of his prized possessions he paid for himself, stolen from him.

Bricen Romeo told News 3's Kim Cung he started his lawn mowing service two years ago. A self-proclaimed lawn slayer, he cuts grass in the Lynnhaven area. His Dad drives him, but he pays for the gas himself.

"My dad wanted me to start making my own money. He wanted me to buy things I want by myself," said Romeo.

He deposits the money he earns into his own bank account and saves it to buy things he likes, including skateboards, computer parts and games.

"It makes me feel like I'm a lot more mature than I was before, going out and buying stuff and buying new games without asking is a big upgrade," said Romeo.

Monday was his first day off in a long time and Romeo said he was planning on going to skate. He was going to swing by the Dollar Tree on Lynnhaven Avenue and Big Magic to buy snacks, then be on his way. But he said he was mugged around 3:30 by two older teens.

"They punched me in the face. The African American was kind of just standing there, but the white guy punched me in the face, pushed me off till I got off my board," recalled Romeo.

He described the attackers as about 5'7 and they appeared to be almost 18 years old. During the attack, Romeo said he thought of the worst.

"Are they going to stab me? Are they going to take my phone? Are they going to beat me up until I'm on the ground? Are they going to take my skateboard? And that sadly happened," said Romeo.

Those sad feelings are sticking with Romeo's Dad too.

"He works so hard and makes all of his own money and buys his own things and for someone to attack it and take it from him. I try and teach him to do right in this world and unfortunately everybody doesn't do that," said Adam Burns.

Looking forward, Romeo said he plans on saving money and buying a new skateboard.

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14-year-old mugged, skateboard he bought with his own money stolen - wtkr.com

Land is being cleared in preparation for construction on the last phase of Opelikas Frederick Road extension, a project to connect the city limits to downtown.

Robinson Paving, the contractor based out of Columbus, Ga., have had its workers clearing land off of W.E. Morton Avenue to prepare for the import of materials to build up the roadway, according to Scott Parker, engineer for the city of Opelika.

The contractor will continue clearing trees and brush from the site and will begin bringing in material to build up the roadway, Parker said.

Parker said the contractor has already installed construction traffic control signs, barrels along the work zone and survey stakes that represent the limits of the construction.

A stream in the area will be diverted temporarily so a drainage structure that will need to be constructed on site can begin in the next few weeks, Parker said.

The contractor also is planning on starting the replacement of sidewalks on Martin Luther King Boulevard and Auburn Street as well as a relocation of a sanitary sewer line on Auburn Street, Parker said.

Opelika Councilwoman Patsy Jones said she is happy to see progress being made on a project the city has been working on to complete for many years.

I am excited about the improvements that will come to fruition in Ward 1, Jones said. For many years, the residents have waited for better sidewalks and lighting on Auburn Street and Martin Luther King. These long awaited improvements will also increase safe walking for residents who may walk downtown.

Parker said there will be construction traffic on Auburn Street and MLK Boulevard with the sewer and sidewalk projects but the roads will remain open to traffic.

There may be some delays for flaggers and construction equipment and drivers should always enter construction zones with slow, cautious driving, Parker said. An increase of dump trucks bringing in material (dirt) will also be evident as the roadway is being constructed. In a few months there will be some detours as the contractor removes the traffic signal and completes the roundabout.

Updates on the project will be posted on the city of Opelikas website at http://www.opelika-al.gov.

Originally posted here:
Land-clearing under way for Frederick Road project - Opelika Auburn News

Sam Warp holds a newly hatched monarch butterfly, raised in a small aquarium as part of the monarch conservation project in Marshfield. (Submitted photo)

August 14, 2017

By Kris Leonhardt

Editor

MARSHFIELD While it is no secret that humans altering the landscape affects native plant and animal species as well as the safety of food sources, it is important to know multiple local groups and programs are working to reverse the harmful results.

The root of the problem

Our native plant and animal species are suffering a death by a thousand blows these days, explained Wildwood Zookeeper Steve Burns, who holds a bachelors degree in wildlife ecology and management. Most situations that alter land use from its original state will degrade habitat. One of the major often overlooked factors affecting plant and wildlife habitat is fragmentation. Many animal species need large blocks of contiguous habitat.

Even something like a road easement through a preserve can be detrimental. Though the road itself might take up a small amount of land, the separation it creates can make the area unusable for many species. Additionally, the edge between native and altered land use is often the first spot invasive species will encroach upon.

Land degradation caused by human activity comes in forms such as land clearance, vehicle off-roading, mining, pollution, and removal of vegetation.

Land clearance: By the numbers

While land clearing is a global issue, its local presence is evident in Clark County, where residents clear woodland to make small farms and open fence lines to make larger farms. Throughout the previous decade, the DeCaire family has watched the conversion of woodlands and fence rows into tillable farm land.

My husbands uncle, Bob Steffes, told my husband, Rod, and I that if you would let the fence lines vegetation grow in, you would have more pheasant and wildlife in the area, said Kathy DeCaire of Owen. We think that he would be surprised to see all of the woodland that we have lost.

Just as we need the land for agriculture, our wildlife need it for their home and their survival. It is difficult to see where square-mile sections have no trees anymore. Where did the wildlife go? What will be left for the next generation to see and enjoy? Cant we leave some trees and fence lines for the wildlife?

The changing landscape is notable in Wood County as well.

The first factor is that farmland in Wood County and Wisconsin as a whole is decreasing due to urban sprawl, rural residential lots, other developments, etc., said Adam Groshek of the Wood County Land & Water Conservation Department. This must be accounted for when you look at the reduced woodland aspect of things because it is not only farmland that is land clearing but multiple other things as well.

The second factor is that it appears that as a whole, the total woodland portion of farmland is decreasing over time. This could be due to clearing fencerows to make four 40-acre fields into one 160-acre field, expanding field sizes along the borders, clearing wooded land to place into farmland, etc. My gut is telling me that the fencerow clearing is the most common of the (three). The trend is for farms to more efficiently farm their land by using bigger machinery by combining many smaller fields to make less, bigger fields.

The third factor that must be accounted for is that while there has been a loss of wooded farmland, there likely has been an increase in grasslands, CREP (Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program)/CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) idle lands that may be beneficial to bees and butterflies with their relatively undisturbed herbaceous plants. More farms are utilizing cover crops and no-till that allow farm fields to be vegetated almost year-round because they are not tilled under or are minimally disturbed. This third point is highly influenced by market prices for commodities and the farm bill acres that are allowed each year to go into CREP/CRP lands.

Census numbers in Wood County indicate a drop in total woodland in farm land use from 47,823 acres in 2007 to 38,967 acres in 2012 while the land in farms increased from 221,962 acres in 2007 to 222,730 acres in 2012.

In Clark County woodland in farm use dropped from 87,674 acres in 2007 to 82,871 acres in 2012 and land in farms rose from 440,376 acres in 2007 to 458,221 acres in 2012.

Busy bees

Habitat loss, pesticides, and other factors have led to the decline in the United States bee population, and for the first time in history, a bee species has been placed on the endangered species list. In February the rusty patched bumblebee was placed on the list as its population was down by 87 percent.

With economically important crops such as cranberries dependent on bees as pollinators, the Marshfield area has taken an active role in making a change.

Residents and business owners have introduced new colonies to promote repopulation and secure an active pollinator community.

Among those raising bees is Wildwood Park and Zoo, which maintains a honey bee colony annually as an educational means as well as a provider for the park and city.

You can come into the former zoo store building, explained Burns. We have our observation hive in there where you can look right into a bee hive and see them at work. It is a really cool opportunity to learn about honey bees and also educate yourself about other pollinator species at risk, species that are really important to us and our environment.

A home for monarchs

In 1996 the wintering monarch population in Mexico was estimated at more than one billion butterflies. Last years estimates put the wintering population at closer to 56 million: a decrease of more than 90 percent.

Like bees, butterflies are critical to pollination of food sources.

They are a pollinator when they go from flower to flower. They carry nectar with them all of the time, explained Sam Warp of Marshfields Wastewater Management Department. Honey bees get all of the glory, you might say, but butterflies can do the same thing.

When we switched over to an all-natural plant where we dont use chemicals to take out phosphorus anymore, we were looking for ideas on how we could promote that theme.

Bob Trussoni, our general manager, attended a conference, and there was a speaker there about monarch conservation, explained Cathy Lotzer, technical services manager from Marshfield Utilities. They were encouraging communities to come on board with conservation effort and designate areas where you can build a garden.

From there Marshfield Utilities and the Wastewater Management Department partnered in a project to re-establish the butterfly in the Marshfield area, setting up a monarch garden at Marshfields wastewater treatment plant.

The garden has been designated as a Certified Wildlife Habitat through the National Wildlife Federation and is now part of the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge, a national effort to create a million gardens that provide a habitat for the declining butterfly and bee populations.

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The butterfly effect: Addressing land degradation and its harm to pollinator habitat - Hub City Times

MOUNT PLEASANT As the town prepares to tackle flooding problems in the Old Village, at a cost that works out to almost $10,000 per home, another development moratorium has been proposed.

Supporters in some of the oldest parts of Mount Pleasant say the development of more homes, and larger homes, has contributed to flooding problems by covering more land with buildings and driveways.

"The purpose is not to keep people from building homes," said Councilman Will Haynie at a meeting this week. "The purpose is to keep peoples homes from flooding."

A proposed moratorium that received initial approval Tuesday targets the subdivision of properties into multiple building lots, and the construction of accessory dwellings, which are small, secondary homes on the same property as a primary home.

However, Haynie and Councilman Joe Bustos said they want to change that plan, before a final vote next month, and focus instead on how much of a property can be covered with buildings and pavement. A land-coverage standard could potentially restrict building additions, which have outnumbered new home construction by more than four to one over the past decade.

On Tuesday, Councilmen Paul Gawrych and Mark Smith, along with Mayor Linda Page, declined to support the moratorium in its current form, restricting property subdivisions and accessory dwellings. Page indicated she may support the moratorium if it's changed before a final vote, as Haynie suggested.

"Its not that Im fighting you on the issue," the mayor said to him.

The council unanimously agreed Tuesday to have the town's staff prepare a request for proposals to design drainage improvements for parts of the Old Village where the need is considered most urgent.

A $100,000 study by Thomas & Hutton found that the broader Old Village area needs $25 million in drainage improvements. Two areas, known as the Royall Avenue and Edwards Park drainage basins, were determined to be the top priorities.

A drainage basin is, in terms of flooding, a self-contained area. The Old Village has about two dozen drainage basins, but the Royall Avenue and Edwards Park basins cover large portions of the area, where the town was first founded.

The Royall Avenue and Edwards Park drainage basins, outlined in blue, could get about $9 million in drainage improvements. They were parts of a larger area where flooding problems were studied in Mount Pleasant.

Together, it's an area that runs from, roughly, the back of Moultrie Middle School to Center Street, and from Royall Avenue to Pherigo Street. There are 881 properties in those two drainage basins, and addressing flooding problems there is estimated to cost $8.7 million.

The town has not determined how to pay for the work, or the estimated $800,000 design phase that Town Council has voted for.

Town Council has recently turned to development moratoriums in response to several growth-related issues.

Mount Pleasant has a two-year freeze on new apartment developments in place throughout the town, which followed an earlier apartment moratorium. Town Council has also considered, but did not approve, a moratorium on all residential development, another one on accessory dwellings, and yet another to prevent tree removal or land clearing on any tracts of five acres or more.

The tree-related proposal, from Councilman Gary Santos, was defeated Tuesday. It was aimed at preventing land clearing for 90 days while the Planning Commission considers changes to the town's tree regulations.

"Im just trying to protect the trees," Santos said at the meeting. "Im afraid the unprotected trees will be cut down if people hear (that the town might change the rules)."

Santos received support for his proposal from Haynie, Bustos, and Councilman Jim Owens, but it failed on a 5-4 vote with the rest of the council and the mayor opposed.

Reach David Slade at 843-937-5552. Follow him on Twitter @DSladeNews.

Link:
New restrictions on development proposed in Mount Pleasant - Charleston Post Courier

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NEWS OF THE WEIRD - Florida Weekly

Whether your plans are to add-on to an existing sanctuary, build a new one or construct an activity center for your church, building projects can be challenging. Morton Buildings has constructed over 1000 church facilities, so when you choose us you can be certain it will meet your needs, style and budget.

We offer a wide variety of functional features and options to customize your house of worship. From sound-absorbing acoustical steel to exterior siding like brick and stone, your Morton building can be created to fit your congregations needs. Many churches choose Mortons Energy Performer insulation package, an industry leading insulation option that saves on the operating costs of your facility year-round.

Because your building committee may be made up of individuals who have their own idea of what would be best for the church, its important that you are able to work with a company that can listen to all those requests and help you plan for a building that satisfies your current and future needs.

We are confident in our craftsmanship and back it with easy-to-understand warranties that are the best in the industry. The Morton Buildings name is synonymous with quality and longevity and we strive to continue that tradition every day.

Many church clients use our Morton designBUILD project delivery method as it provides single-source responsibility, integrated design, collaborative construction planning, and accelerated schedules.

We work with organizations in various stages of their building projectsome have already had plans drawn by an outside architect, some are only in the planning phase, and some are ready for our designers/architects to draw up plans and move forward with construction. No matter what stage you are in currently, we will help guide you to the best possible outcome. We invite you to experience the award-winning Morton Buildings difference.

Browse some of our past projects to learn more or contact us to get started today!

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Church | Morton Buildings

by Eric Peterson, FOX 11 News

Hope Community Church east of Shawano, August 11, 2017 (WLUK/Eric Peterson)

SHAWANO COUNTY (WLUK) -- Construction on a memorial project, and fitness trail at a Shawano area church, is starting to take shape.

The initiative is to honor Four-Star General Robert Cone.

Cone lost his battle with cancer last year, after retiring to Shawano with his wife Jill.

At Hope Community Church east of Shawano, construction crews were hard at work. The General Cone Memorial Fitness Trail was shaping up.

"I just got goose bumps. I just can't believe this is coming to be. All these great hearts that have been a part of this. It's bee a blessing to me through my grief," said Jill Cone, Shawano.

Jill Cone is Robert Cone's widow. The couple attended Hope Community Church. She says her husband's funeral created a wave of donations from all across the country.

"I came up with a very large idea, and that was a one mile paved fitness trail with fitness stations, like pull-ups, sit-ups, balance beam," said Cone.

"This is just a gift to the community to honor Bob, and what he stood for. His faith, his attitude, the fitness," said Pastor John Anderson, Hope Community Church.

About 35 Bayland Buildings team leaders volunteered their time on Friday. While coping with cancer, Cone was scheduled to speak to the Bayland group, but passed away before the meeting took place.

"One of his biggest things was leadership is a privilege. And I think that says a lot for who he was as a general, and I kind of want to bring that into our company, and let everybody know, that leadership is a privilege," said Shawn Mueller, Bayland Buildings Vice President of Sales.

Cone served 35 years in the U.S. Army. He was a veteran of both Gulf Wars, and Afghanistan too. Cone was commander at Fort Hood, Texas, during the 2009 shooting rampage which killed 13 people.

"So here at the trail, we're going to put in 13 trees, to represent the 13 that were massacred there," said Cone.

Cone says the memorial trail will give people a chance to run, reflect, and remember. She says her General would approve.

"He'd grab my hand and squeeze it, and say oh my God hon, I can't believe you did this. This is such an incredible thing," she said.

A dedication ceremony will be held for the Memorial Trail on September First.

The park will be free and open to the public.

Continue reading here:
Memorial fitness trail under construction at Shawano area church - Fox11online.com

The Rev. James Donovan has a clear goal as the new pastor of St. Barnabas Roman Catholic Church: keep the momentum going.

Donovan officially assumed his new role with the church, 10134 S. Longwood Dr., on July 1. He has been assigned to the church for nine years.

At St. Barnabas, he leads a parish that is preparing for a major expansion project at both its elementary school and church, as well as enjoying an increase in student enrollment.

Donovan replaced the Rev. William Malloy, who retired and has dealt with health issues since late last year. The new pastor said hes fortunate to be at St. Barnabas.

Its a great parish, so you just want to continue the tradition, Donovan said. Weve had some great pastors, so Im pretty lucky to be here.

Donovan, a North Side native, has been a priest since 1987, and he also served the parish of Our Lady of Loretto Roman Catholic Church in Hometown.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, he was secretary of priest placement from 2008-2013, and in July 2013, Cardinal Francis George appointed him vicar of priests.

Now, he will lead St. Barnabas during a busy time.

The parish is in the midst of its Imagine. Innovate. Inspire campaign, a three-phase project with a $5-million first phase that calls for a major addition to the school and church renovations.

A new education center will be built, officials said, in front of the school on Longwood Drive in an area that is currently open between the north wing of classrooms and the gym on the south.

Church updates will include new flooring, improved acoustics, built-in technology including Wi-Fi internet access, an updated kitchen and bathroom, increased storage, new lighting and a hospitality counter.

That construction is planned to begin in spring of 2019.

Phase II calls for an addition to the second floor of the school that will include classrooms and a science lab, and an expansion of the church vestibule, including a renovated main entrance.

The school addition will cost $2.85 million, officials said, and the church improvements will be $1.2 million. Construction is planned to begin in 2023, according to the campaign Web site.

Phase III, which would begin in 2030 and cost $8 million, officials said, will include demolition of the convent, located on the south end of the campus, and construction of a parish center that will feature a fine arts activities center/gym, an early-childhood center and parish offices. A rooftop space could also be included to host events ranging from student activities to community gatherings.

According to the school, over the past eight years, enrollment has increased by about 30 percent; there were 604 students in 2016-17, and as of last summer, 60 new families had joined the parish since July 1, 2015.

Donovan hopes the project continues to progress as planned.

Its doing pretty well so far. Certainly, you want the campaign to run its course, he said. Hopefully, we get everything we need. Its a wonderful parish with a great tradition, so well see how we can continue to build that up.

The past two years, St. Barnabas has also hosted ecumenical meetings and services, inviting people of all faiths for discussions on major issues in the city.

In February 2016, What Can We Do? addressed violent crimes, and the meeting included a panel of police officials and religious leaders.

Last March, You Are My Neighbor was held in response to the travel ban imposed after an executive order from President Donald Trump. A near-capacity crowd gathered with leaders from various religions.

Donovan praised church members for organizing such events.

That really started with some key parishioners bringing it forward, Donovan said. So it was important to kind of run with it.

Malloy will remain active with the parish as pastor emeritus, and he will continue to reside in the church rectory.

Last December, he announced in a church bulletin that he has an aggressive form of prostate cancer, and he underwent surgery to remove his prostate.

Malloy said the operation went well and that he finished radiation treatments about a month ago.

His tenure at St. Barnabas, Malloy said, can be summed up in one wordgratitudeand he expressed confidence in the new pastor.

Whatever we accomplished, Im grateful because we did it together as a parish, Malloy said. I think weve turned over a pretty good parish community to Fr. Donovan, who I know is going to do well. Hes got a lot of skills and ability, and he is going to be a fine pastor.

St. Barnabas celebrates Mass on Saturdays at 4 p.m., as well as on Sundays at 8 a.m., 10 a.m. and noon.

Excerpt from:
Donovan becomes pastor for busy St. Barnabas parish - The Beverly Review

Home | Top Stories | Alabama-rooted ministry approaching 4 decades of church construction

August 12, 2017

By Karen O. AllenCorrespondent, The Alabama Baptist

Heres the church. Heres the steeple. Open the doors and see all the people.

Remember the church rhyme? As children it brought a smile to our face. The building did not seem as important as the wriggling people (fingers) inside. But Alabamas Builders for Christ (BFC) group prefers to focus on the building so the people will have a place for corporate worship and fellowship.

Every summer BFC volunteers from around the country converge at a site that has undergone an extensive screening process. The project site could be anywhere from Maine to Louisiana or the upper Midwest. Volunteers (aka construction missionaries) give one week of their time for one purpose: to construct a church or church addition in a community with accelerated church growth or dire need. The motto on the BFC truck reinforces the purpose: a network of Christian laypersons who build churches for congregations who are rapidly leading others to a saving knowledge of Christ as Savior and Lord.

The vast majority of volunteers are nonskilled laborers (e.g. teachers, health care workers, homemakers, salespersons, truck drivers). Skilled volunteers include home builders, engineers and architects. Some are newcomers while many are seasoned BFC veterans. No matter the age, gender or skill set, there is a job for everyone.

The BFC leadership team prepares months in advance for the 15-week construction period that begins in late May and goes through mid-August. Along with planning and coordinating, the leadership team provides advice and consultation to the host church throughout the entire process. The leadership team is composed of a project team leader, construction leader, financial analyst, church team leaders and kitchen coordinator.

Wood and light steel framing, electrical work, plumbing, HVAC services, roofing, drywall, cabinetry, carpentry, hardware installation and painting are services provided by the construction missionaries. Typically it will take about eight months before a building is ready to be occupied.

Constructing meals

While the kitchen team may not swing hammers and drive nails, they play a vital role in the building effort constructing 300 to 500 meals per day. They prepare a big breakfast, a sandwich/fruit lunch combo and finally a hearty dinner equivalent to that of a Thanksgiving meal, said Lawrence Corley, BFC founder.

Corley, a Birmingham architect and member of Brookwood Baptist Church, Birmingham, describes the BFC seed as having been planted following his pastors return from the Southern Baptist Convention in 1979. The pastor gave the disheartening announcement that it would not be possible to tell the world the good news by the year 2000 as hoped.

Laypeople were going to have to be enlisted to help fulfill the daunting challenge.

Corley accepted the challenge and focused his efforts on helping build churches.

The first church construction project took place in Adamson, Oklahoma, in 1981. It didnt take long before a network of interested churches began to form.

In 1994, Appleton, Wisconsin, made its debut as the first official construction site under the Builders for Christ name. Another BFC team was developed in 1991 and aptly named Team B. In 2005 Team C was added. Corley serves as team leader for Team A while Earl Rhyne and Allan Ivemeyer from Dawson Memorial Baptist Church, Birmingham, have served as team leaders for B and C, respectively. With the combined efforts of all three teams, BFC boasts a total of 70 projects in 21 states in the past 37 years.

When asked about the ministry name, Corley says Builders for Christ was decided collectively by the volunteers and represents a comprehensive body of builders, not just contractors, electricians, etc.

Volunteers represent a variety of groups including Baptists, Methodists, nondenominational churches, Lutherans, Catholics and Presbyterians as well as come from various states.

Gatlinburg project

This summer BFC went to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, to rebuild the worship center and family life center for Roaring Forks Baptist Church following the devastation of the 2016 fires. The project logged 25,000 square feet. Seventy-six church teams from 22 states with 1,850 volunteers paid their own expenses to sweat in the sweltering heat.

Twenty-two teams were from Alabama Baptist congregations.

Kellyann German, a four-year BFC veteran from Meadow Brook Baptist Church, Birmingham, said, Every year we encounter churches with different ministries and different needs. This years trip was unique in that it followed a disaster.

At least two other churches have been built by BFC in response to a disaster Phil Campbells Mountain View Baptist following the April 2011 tornadoes and First Baptist, Chalmette, Louisiana, following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.German said she and her husband plan to serve Christ by serving His church through BFC as long as they can.

_______________________________

For more information on Builders for Christ, visit http://www.baptistbuildersforchrist.org.

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Alabama-rooted ministry approaching 4 decades of church construction - Alabama Baptist

Just down the road from Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Virginia,where a thousand white supremacists congregated around a statue ofRobert E. Lee this weekend, is another historical landmark. Its alarge, two-story brick building called the Jefferson School, which firstunderwent construction in 1924the same year that the Confederatemonument went upat the insistence of the local black community, whosechildren were barred from the citys high schools because ofsegregation. Now the school is on the National Register of HistoricPlaces.

On Monday night, a few hundred Charlottesville residents gathered at theJefferson School, in an auditorium on the second floor, for a communitymeeting. Two days before, three people died and nineteen were injuredwhen violent demonstrators from across the country came toCharlottesville with guns, shields, weapons, and flaming tikitorches for a Unite the Right rally. Well fucking kill these people if wehave to, one of themtold ViceNews. A twenty-year-old neo-Nazi from Ohio ran over counter-protestersin his car, in an act that Jeff Sessions, the Attorney General, latercalled domestic terrorism. (The President initially condemned violenceon many sides, then followed up on Tuesday afternoon by saying thatthere were very fine people on both sides.) But, almost as soon asthey had arrived, the agitators were gone, and community members wereleft to try to make sense of what had just happened.

One of the local leaders at the school was instantly recognizable toeverybody: a sixty-five-year-old reverend named Alvin Edwards. WhenTerry McAuliffe, the governor of Virginia, came to town on Sunday, hewent directly to a service at the Mt. Zion First African Baptist Church,which is Edwardss congregation. Hes been there for the past thirty-sixyears, and during that time hes also served as the citys mayor and asa member of its school board. His years in politics have only seemed tostrengthen his ties to his parishioners, and he likes to joke, withfolksy charm, about his B.C. daysbefore Christwhen he lived inIllinois, where he grew up with plans to make money and to be anindustrial engineer. Edwards marched with the counter-protesters overthe weekend, but these days hes best known for founding a broadcoalition of local faith leaders called the Charlottesville ClergyCollective.

For the past month, the Collective has met weekly to prepare for theincursion that took place this weekend. The violence outstripped evenEdwardss expectations, and he and others in the Collective are tryingto balance spiritual and pragmatic imperatives in the aftermath of thetragedy. The local debate over what to do with the citys Confederatemonuments, which was fractious but never violent, will flare again atthe end of the month, with another public hearing on the issue. Youcant let others have the last word, but we have to move to the highground, Edwards said. If they come back, we have to shout louder andmore often.

In 2015, after a white supremacist in Charleston, South Carolina,murdered eight church members and their pastor, Edwards wondered what would havehappened if a similar attack had taken place at his own congregation.Would he have called any of his fellow-clergy in Charlottesville fortheir support? The answer was no, he told me, when we met in hisoffice Monday afternoon. We didnt have the kind of relationship thatwould warrant a call like that. Why would I call you when I barely knowyou? The clergy community herethe faith communityhas been dividedsince desegregation. It was almost like they were nonexistent. They wereover there; we were over here. Youd almost think they didnt want tocome over, because they were afraid of the projects! It was adisturbing realization that Edwards vowed to correct immediately, sothat summer he started calling other pastors to float the idea of acollective.

The initial proposition was simple: once a month, a small group of whiteand black pastors, from different denominations, would meet forbreakfast and discuss activities that they could do together, such as takinga day trip to Monticello. We talked about how we didnt know eachother, he said. We had a bunch of ideas. But we werent prepared forwhat happened with the K.K.K. coming here. We didnt know that was goingto happen when we formed this. In May, two permit applications camebefore the City Councilthe first was for a Ku Klux Klan rally, to beheld in July, and the second was for Unite the Right. Attendance atthe Collective went from about five or six regulars per session to closeto fifty.

We talked about the safety of those demonstrating close to the front,and about whether or not we wanted to march down there, or go pray,Edwards said, of the meetings. He has the slightly more conservativeoutlook of an elder statesman, and hed sooner lead a prayer vigil thanrush into the fray. My thought was that we should completely ignore theKlansmen, he told me. Their numbers were smallthis wasnt the Klan ofold, he arguedand theyd clearly come from out of town. The worstthing you can do to a person is to not listen to him. I hate whensomeone does that to me, he said. But in the Collective you had theones who wanted to confront them, and I respect that, he told me.

Ultimately, the group decided to stage a counter-protest against theKlansmen, who in July flocked to another Confederate monument in town, astatue of Stonewall Jackson, in Justice Park. Elaine Thomas, a priest atSt. Pauls Memorial Church, a mostly white Episcopalian congregationacross the street from the University of Virginia, had joined theCollective at its inception and marched with the other members at theK.K.K. counter-protest. Were not activists, but we are people whowanted to make our presence known, Thomas told me. Young racial-justiceactivists whod shown up to stand in opposition to the Klansmen ralliedaround the pastors when they arrived. As we rounded the corner toJustice Park, they rushed toward us, she said. They kept saying, Theclergy are here! The clergy are here!

There are a number of historically influential churches inCharlottesville, but Mt. Zion and St. Pauls are especially emblematic.One is mostly black, the other mostly white. Mt. Zion sits at the bottomof a hill, in a quiet neighborhood called Fifeville, on the outskirts ofdowntown. St. Pauls is on University Avenue, within feet of theschools iconic statue of Thomas Jefferson; its classical portico andbrick building are an extension of the campuss architectural style. OnFriday night, close to a thousand people were packed into St. Pauls fora prayer service when a throng of torch-wielding demonstrators startedmassing across the street. Several police cars sped to the church justbefore the service let out, after reports that one of the demonstratorshad brandished a rifle.

I visited St. Pauls earlier this week to talk with its rector, theReverend William Peyton, a native Virginian whose great-great-grandfather lost his arm at the First Battle of Manassas. He has onlyrecently returned to the state, after serving as the associate rector atSt. James Church, in New York City, for the past seven years; he andEdwards are still only loose acquaintances. Peyton marched with a largegroup on Saturday that started at the Jefferson School and continued tothe First United Methodist Church, which is directly across the streetfrom Emancipation Park. As armed demonstrators moved along the fringesof the park beating counter-protesters, Peyton and others stood in thechurch parking lot to make sure that the property wasnt overrun.

There are all kinds of deep and intertwining historical ironies here,Peyton told me, as we walked through St. Pauls on Monday. We had sevenhundred people in the church the other night. There were Nazi torchesoutside. Some of the pews in the chapel bear the names of Confederatesoldiers. This church also had a proud history of leadership during thecivil-rights era. Thomas Jefferson was a white supremacist, he said,adding to the litany. How far was Robert E. Lee from Jefferson in termsof world view? But we deify Jefferson in this town.

Even the liberal politics of Charlottesville were complex and tangled,he told me. On one side was what Peyton called Old Virginia, acontingent of residents with a more conservative, nostalgist bent, whonever quite defended the Confederate monuments but still saw the CityCouncils vote to remove them, in February, as a needless provocation.On the other was a progressive group anchored by students and faculty atthe university, some of whom would leave town when their time at schoolwas up. Its a big university and a small city, he said. People whocome here from elsewhere dont always appreciate the depth of thehistoric ties to the Confederacy.

Peyton, like Edwards, wants his church to be a source of moral clarityand purpose, without overt activism becoming its sole function duringtrying times. Im trying to lead a church whose Christian identityleads my members to their politics, and not to have their politics leadthem to the church, he said. On Saturday morning, while protestersgathered downtown, Edwards invited congregants to Mt. Zion to pray fromsix until noon. To hear him describe it, the worshippers were a criticalpart of the resistance, too. We were trying to be prayerful, and Imgrateful for that, because I believe it would have been worse if peoplehadnt prayed, he told me.

The Collective is now at a crossroads. Some of its participants,especially younger pastors, grew restless in the weeks before thisweekends confrontation. They wanted the group to prepare for nonviolentdirect action and to hold the line against the white supremacists whowere coming to town by the van-load. You cant wish this away, SethWispelwey, a recently ordained minister, told me at the JeffersonSchool, on Monday. He helped a colleague, Brittany Caine-Conley, put outa nationalcall for pastors to come to Charlottesville to join the counter-protesters onthe front lines. The move wasnt exactly a consensus position amongmembers of the Collective, but its defenders saw it as necessary giventhe circumstances.

On Monday night, one sentiment seemed to elicit broad and unqualifiedagreement. There is a specific and demonstrable connection betweensymbols of racism and acts of racism, Lisa Woolfork, a University ofVirginia professor and member of Black Lives Matter, said. They keepcoming because we keep inviting them, she said, of the whitesupremacists from out of town. To rescind the invitation, you have toremove the Confederate monuments. Her statement drew the biggestapplause of the night.

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How Church Leaders in Charlottesville Prepared for White Supremacists - The New Yorker