Bishop
Hollerith and other religious leaders from Virginia Beach joined
Emmanuel, Virginia Beach, in their fight against that city's use of
eminent domain. People and local media packed the church's sanctuary at a
press conference on March 27.
"We
are not here to debate the City's power to condemn private property for
a public purpose. But in the case of Emmanuel Church, the effect of
doing so, of taking land used for both sacred and community purposes, is
to diminish the life of this community," Bishop Hollerith told
the gathering. Bishop Anne Gimenez, the senior pastor of Rock Church
International,said, "The city is taking what belongs to God. This ground
was dedicated to God."
In
2001, less than two weeks after the completion of a $2 million
expansion to their church facilities, the city announced plans to
condemn a portion of Emmanuel's property to widen and relocate a
six-lane road behind the church.
For well over a year, Emmanuel's Road Committee has patiently sought
to negotiate with the City for fair compensation, including entering
into mediation with an independent authority. A settlement offering
land to Emmanuel but with no further financial compensation was
accepted by the Vestry in June 2011 to resolve this conflict, even
though it was well short of the damage estimated by appraisers. Since
then, the City's legal and economic development departments have
repeatedly whittled away at the proposed settlement. The City now seems
intent to press a lawsuit against Emmanuel in court on October 16th in
order to compel the church to accept its inadequate offer as fair
compensation for the land and its damage to the historic church.
You can learn more about Emmauel's fight with the City of Virginia Beach at their website, saveemmanuelvb.blogspot.com. You can also join them on Facebook, facebook.com/SaveEmmanuelVB.
