Latest news with #FirstBaptistChurch
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Alan Taylor withdraws from Trussville City Council race
TRUSSVILLE, Ala. (Trussville Tribune) — City Councilman Alan Taylor has withdrawn from the Trussville City Council race, according to an announcement sent to the Tribune and shared on social media. He was the most experienced candidate in the race with 13 years of service to the city. 'After much prayerful consideration, I have decided not to seek reelection to the Trussville City Council,' Taylor said. 'It has been one of the greatest honors of my life to serve this community over the past 13 years.' Taylor had originally not planned to seek re-election for a fourth term. But with the loss of an experienced mayor in Buddy Choat and longserving City Councilor Perry Cook, many people in the community urged him to seek one more term and he relented. With more time to reflect, he decided it was time to step away. 'This decision did not come easily,' he said. 'However, I believe this is the right time for me to step back and focus on other priorities. Some of my grandchildren live out of state, and I want to spend more time with them. Family is a gift, and I intend to be more present in their lives. In addition, I remain committed to serving at First Baptist Church Trussville as we move forward with our new building project. This is an exciting time for our church, and I want to be fully available to help see it through.' Trussville moves closer to implementing garbage fees, council discusses ways to alleviate costs Taylor reflected on the accomplishments of the city during his tenure which included creating a downtown where empty and dilapidated buildings once stood. Trussville residents had longed for a vibrant downtown area with flourishing business, restaurants and activities. After decades of promises and disappointments, the Trussville Entertainment District became a reality in Taylor's second term on city council and Choat's first term as mayor. 'I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished together, particularly the tremendous growth of our city and the continued success of our schools,' he said. 'Trussville has become a place where families thrive, and I am deeply grateful to have played a small part in helping shape its future. It has also been a true honor to work alongside Mayor Buddy Choat and my fellow members of the City Council.' While it is challenging to work through differences of opinion to reach a consensus, it was an aspect of serving that Taylor enjoyed. 'We may not have always agreed on every issue, but we have always shared a common goal: to do what is best for the people of Trussville,' he said. Taylor expressed gratitude for for the city workers who he called 'dedicated and hardworking.' He expressed gratitude to the people of Trussville and said, 'Thank you for the opportunity to serve, for your trust, and for your partnership over the years. I will always be an advocate for this city and the wonderful people who call it home.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
North KC church shuts down transitional housing program over tax status dispute
For the first time in her 47 years of living, Bobbi Roark was able to get a place with her own money and raise her daughter. Although she did the work to get her own car, get sober and get her daughter back, she credits Homefront Community Development Inc, an organization providing transitional housing in the Northland, with helping her get to a more stable place. Without Homefront, she thinks it would have taken way longer for her to make those strides. Now, she and others are at risk of losing that support, as the church that owns the homes has ordered those who stay there to leave after an escalating dispute between the organizations. 'It is only with deep sadness that we have concluded this partnership cannot continue,' read a written statement from the leadership of First Baptist Church of North Kansas City regarding its relationship with Homefront. What first started as a church filling a need in its community by providing shelter and grew into a a grassroots organization that neighbors in need turned to for a decade, has in recent months devolved into a dispute over tax codes, real estate and the role of religion in social services. And the people who most benefited from those services are losing out. Homefront started as a ministry through First Baptist Church of North Kansas City back in 2015. With just two houses, hundreds of people have passed through the homes' doors when they needed a safe place to land. Most heard about the homes and the resources they offered through word of mouth. '[The church] made a decision,' said Leigh Reynolds, a board member for Homefront. 'We have these properties. We can do something really useful with them. You're seeing an uptick of unhoused people in the North Kansas City area, lots of folks hanging out on the steps of the library. They said, 'What if we use these homes to help care for our homeless neighbors here in the Northland?'' Spencer Stith, a member of the church at the time, was the sole volunteer helping manage the homes. He spearheaded the effort to establish Homefront as its own independent nonprofit organization in 2015. Since then, Homefront has created a board of three volunteers in addition to Stith. Stith was not available for comment for this story. Reynolds, who has 30 years of experience in nonprofit consulting, said that Stith has gone above and beyond supporting Homefront residents over the past 10 years, taking residents to appointments and acting as a stand-in social worker of sorts. 'Spencer is very committed to deep and lasting change for folks,' said Reynolds. 'Whatever it is that you need to be successful and move out of homelessness into a thriving life, Spencer would do that very meaningful, deep hands-on work.' Roark said Stith had been an amazing resource for her when she was struggling most. But the small, personal and informal nature of the organization that made people feel so at home there also made it susceptible to shifts in leadership at the church it was tied to and at risk of overlooking some of the administrative steps needed to keep it going. Around 2020, First Baptist Church got new pastors, which Homefront volunteers said changed the relationship between the organization and the church that owned the homes. 'I feel that some of their priorities shifted as often happens when there's a leadership change. I think I'm no longer a member of that church,' Reynolds said. Instead of a partner to Homefront, she said the church began to feel more like a landlord to the nonprofit. Things took a turn last fall when the church discovered that Homefront had lost its nonprofit status. In the state of Missouri, 501(c)(3) nonprofits must file an annual report with the Missouri Secretary of State to maintain their good standing and state registration by August 31 of each year. Nonprofits also have to fill out an annual federal return with the IRS, Form 990, which is the equivalent of an annual tax return for nonprofits. According to state records, Homefront has not filed that Missouri report since 2017, and federal records indicate the last time the organization filed its federal return was in 2020. Missouri revoked Homefront's state nonprofit status in 2018, and the IRS revoked Homefront's federal nonprofit status last spring. In the fall, First Baptist brought this discovery to Homefront's attention and gave the organization 90 days to fix its nonprofit status, and then an additional 30-day grace period, according to a statement from the church. In the meantime, the church withheld donations from members for Homefront in order to follow Missouri law, which says an organization that loses its nonprofit status 'may not carry on any business except that necessary to wind up and liquidate its business and affairs.' The majority of Homefront's donations had previously come from the church and were used to pay rent to the church for the houses' mortgages, utilities and a small stipend for Stith. 'Over the past decade, FBCNKC has provided more than $400,000 to support Homefront. This support has included subsidized rents, staff salaries, home repairs, and direct financial contributions,' the church in a statement earlier this month. 'This generosity reflects our deep belief that Jesus draws near to the hurting and that His gospel is good news to the is only with deep sadness that we have concluded this partnership cannot continue.' Reynolds said Homefront's mail is delivered to the church and the nonprofit never received notification about its nonprofit status being dissolved. However, she said she's not blaming the church for the missed deadlines. Reynolds said Homefont filed to be reinstated as a nonprofit in December but has not heard back. However, state records don't show that filing. Earlier this year, the church and Homefront again met to discuss the future of the transitional housing organization if it regained legal status. According to Reynolds, the church wanted to increase the rent it charged for the two homes to market rate and requested that Homefront provide more detailed information about the residents staying in the homes and require the residents to participate in Bible studies. Reynolds said those requests went against what Homefront stands for. 'We are not anti-Bible and not anti-church. We do this work because we love God, and it came out of our love of doing the work of the church,' she said. 'But that's just never been a part of our program because we feel like it can be such an impediment to people's healing, especially if they have religious trauma, which a lot of people do. And so we didn't want to mandate that.' In its statement, First Baptist asserted that, 'No specific terms for a new agreement were ever formally communicated to Homefront.' In March, Homefront was preparing to let the church know they could not agree to the terms, but First Baptist asked them to vacate the properties instead. Homefront officially closes on Saturday, at the end of the month. While residents need to find somewhere to go, Reynolds said it isn't a goodbye for good. The board will take time to regroup and find another location to serve the community. It's unclear what will happen to the homes themselves. In its statement, church leadership said it 'has made no decision—formal or informal—regarding the sale of the residences, nor has it determined how or whether the properties will be used in the future.' In the meantime, Reynold said she has a message for North Kansas City neighbors. 'I want to shine light on the people in our community that need help,' she said. 'Smile at your homeless neighbor.'
CBS News
27-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Fire at Santa Rosa's Church of One Tree believed to be arson, investigators say
A fire that broke out at a historic church site in Santa Rosa over the Memorial Day holiday weekend may have been arson, firefighters said. Around 8 p.m. Monday, the Santa Rosa Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at the Church of One Tree at 492 Sonoma Avenue. Dispatchers were told that a fire was burning at the back of the church. The first fire crew arrived in under four minutes, officials said. Firefighters stretched hoses to the rear of the structure and were able to extinguish the fire. Firefighters at the scene of a fire at Church of One Tree in Santa Rosa on May 26, 2025. Santa Rosa Fire Department Firefighters then opened a small portion of the back wall and checked the interior of the building, but the fire did not spread. According to a preliminary investigation by a fire inspector, the fire appears to be "an intentional act", the fire department said in a statement. A historic Santa Rosa landmark, the Church of One Tree was built in 1873 from lumber milled from a single redwood tree. For many years, the building served as the First Baptist Church and was later the "Ripley's Believe it or Not" museum. Now owned by the city, the building has become an event space.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Local veteran honors America's heroes
POOLER, Ga. (WSAV) – A local 84-year-old veteran is honoring America's heroes with a display, one flag at a time. As you drive down U.S 80 in Pooler, across from city hall, you may have seen these flags. 'This year, I decided I wanted to do a different situation because it's the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II,' Clyde Watson said. 'It's also the 83rd anniversary of the Mighty Eighth [Air Force Museum].' It is a project he started in 2008 at the First Baptist Church of Pooler to honor veterans and service members who died for our country. He has more than a dozen state flags and all military flags, a salute to each passerby. '…everybody loves it,' Watson said. 'Everybody likes it. And I had one man to call Saturday morning. He said 'Clyde, you done a wonderful job up there.'' He said he contacts the states directly to requests flags or buys them himself when he can. 'I've had a couple of people give me some money to buy some flags, and the flags are expensive now,' Watson said. 'They're more expensive than they were when we first started and we have to buy a poll to put them on. So, we've had some few donations' It is a meaningful tradition that he hopes will remind people of the sacrifice behind our freedom. 'It is personal to me that we're able to celebrate a free United States because of what those veterans did,' he said. He said, '…it's the same thing that Jack Kennedy said, don't ask what you can what your country can do for you but ask what you can do for your country.' Watson told WSAV his work doesn't end here. 'I hope to finally get all of the state flags and maybe even get a soldier's name, so we can put it on the flag board. That's my goal,' he said. Watson said they are always looking for monetary donations to keep this tradition alive, and he is hoping to expand the display by adding more flags to the lineup. He told WSAV anyone can contact the church to make monetary donations. He told WSAV that he wants to collect all of the state flags to donate to the Mighty Eighth. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bluefield hopes to rehabilitate former church
bluefield — Bluefield officials are still hoping to rehabilitate an old church located on Duhring Street. The former church, which is on the state's historic preservation list, has been vacant for a number of years now. It was founded in 1907 as the First Baptist Church. The structure is currently owned by the city of Bluefield, which is seeking to renovate the church as part of a larger vision for the area. That vision also includes new housing construction for first-time home buyers in the neighborhood near the church. 'The city does own the church outside of city hall. The Duhring Street Church,' City Manager Cecil Marson said. 'It's an old, old church. It has stained glass windows. It is a super nice church.' Marson said the city's goal is to rehabilitate the old church and find a new use for it, possibly as a job training site or small business incubator. The vision also includes new housing construction in the Duhring Street area, which also connects to Roger Street near city hall. The city is still searching for funding to complete the work. While the city was approved for an initial grant for the project, the funding agency that would have provided the grant was later terminated. Thus the city didn't receive the funding. The old First Baptist Church on Duhring Street isn't to be confused with the nearby Immanuel Lutheran Church, which is still an active congregation and is located at 103 Duhring Street. Both the old First Baptist Church and the Immanuel Lutheran Church are located adjacent to the municipal hall facilities in Bluefield. Marson said the search for new funding continues — not just for the church renovations but also for the housing project. 'Our focus is around it (the church) and a potential housing area for a first-time home buyer,' Marson said. Housing has been an issue of concern in the city in recent years. The Bluefield Board of Directors launched a study in 2024 on the city's housing needs in cooperation with Virginia Tech. That 2024 study identified a housing shortage in Bluefield and focused on housing needs in the city over the next five to 10 years. The church itself wouldn't be used for housing, but it could be utilized for job training or other purposes. Because of its designation as a historic structure, Marson said the city is limited in what changes can be made to the church itself. 'You can't make major changes to the facade,' Marson said. 'There is restrictions on what you can do. They have to have oversight of it.' For example, the city will have to contract with a professional firm to make repairs to the stain glass windows inside of the old church. 'We would need to bring in a professional to look at those,' Marson said of the stain glass windows. 'They would need to be cleaned and redone. It would have to be kind of a professional stain-glass person who can restore that.' While it may appear unusual for a city to own a former church, Marson said it really isn't — pointing to a similar situation in Northern West Virginia. 'I don't think it is unusual,' he said. 'Cities inherently get a lot of property that is in bad shape. I'm sure there are tons of cities across the country that have churches in their portfolios.' The city has owned the church for a number of years. Marson said the old church went through different owners throughout the years, and was associated with the Baptist denomination. Finding additional funding to renovate the former church, and to launch the new housing project, is the next step for the city. 'We are working on stuff right now, different grants, putting some stuff together,' Marson said. 'We are working to try to get the funding so we can start this project. We are actively working on it right now.' The old church isn't the only historic structure owned by the city, or a city-affiliated commission. Marson said the Bluefield Arts and Revitalization Commission also owns the old Traveler's Hotel, which is located near the Raleigh Street Cinemas. The old hotel was originally a Green Book property offering lodging to Black travelers during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. In 1950 it was converted into an office building and offered some dining in the 1980s and 1990s. It is currently vacant although BARC is hoping to revitalize it. The Bluefield Arts and Revitalization Commission also owns the Granada Theater, a historic structure that was brought back to life by the commission a number of years ago. The Preservation Alliance of West Virginia, the statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the state's historic places and properties, recently announced the recipients of the 2025 West Virginia Historic Preservation Awards, and the Bluefield Arts and Revitalization Commission, or BARC for short, was one of the recipients. BARC received the Adaptive Reuse Award for its efforts to revitalize the old Granada Theater, along with the adjoining Raleigh Street Cinemas and Education Center. The Granada Theater originally opened in 1927 at its current location on 537 Commerce Street. It was originally used as a Vaudeville and movie theater, and at one time was even a dance club. The venue is currently used for cinema and live performances. The Granada Theater was recently added to the West Virginia Historic Theatre Trail. That statewide trail was designed to promote cultural tourism by showcasing the state's diverse theatrical heritage Contact Charles Owens at cowens@
