church building news

Local churches and the buildings they call home (or would like to) are making all kinds of news lately.

Celebration Community Church filed suit against the city of Muskegon (Michigan) after being denied a special-use permit to move into a building previously owned by a car dealership, according to The Muskegon Chronicle. "The planning commission's denials of the special-use permit came after opposition to the church's request by several people who live or do business in the area, including the owners of two nearby bars who feared negative consequences for their businesses."

In another part of Michigan, First Baptist Church in Waterford are - conversely - worshipping too loudly. A neighbor filed suit complaining of the noise, so the church filed a counter-suit. The counter-suit, as quoted by the Detroit Free Press, claims, "uniformed Waterford police officers raided ... without a search warrant ... or on any other legal authority, detained Pastor Mark Kerr, interrogated him and seized his driver's license."

Carlinville Southern Baptist Church is working on renovating an old Wal-Mart store in Carlinville (Illinois). So far they have permission from the city to set up offices, daycare, and just about everything they'd like ... except worship. According to Townhall, the decision as to whether or not the church will be allowed to worship in the building is yet to come.

Finally, in a move that hasn't resulted in any lawsuits at all, Dayton B2B reports that Country Rock Church's new facility in Sidney (Ohio) has "a dance floor, riding bull, big screen TV, pool tables, pizza, beer and a pleasant, everybody-knows-your-name vibe." They've started holding worship services in a local pub in order to "reach people where they are." Whether or not alcohol was available for sale is still undetermined.