Our Journey with Saint John the Baptist...
Saint John the Baptist Church Building on 26th Street was originally built as Grace Lutheran Church in the late 1890s. The most recent operating congregation in the building was a small group of breakaway Catholics who would have traditional Latin Mass. In 2019 Love City owned and was renting out the rectory next door, and Shawn had gone down to check on that building one day. When he was leaving a man came out of the main church building next door. The man explained that they had just held their last mass and had decided to sell the building. With a quickly growing daycare in the basement of the Mackin that seemed to constantly be outgrowing its space, Shawn had an idea for St John’s to be the future home of the daycare. So, the building was purchased, demolition began, architects designed, and plans were drawn. Then on the day we were supposed to receive our contractor bids, the country shut down due to Covid.
As the years passed, the prices for the daycare steadily increased. Daycare regulations changed, plans had to be altered, materials skyrocketed. We fought to get plans approved by the state. Boarded windows after numerous break ins. Hosted community meetings for getting special designations for areas. Ran into what seemed to be roadblock after roadblock. Constant setbacks while the price of the renovations just continued to rise. This year, after having this go on for the past seven years, we realized that new construction from the ground up would be cheaper than renovating this building into a daycare that complies with the State regulations. So we started talking about the possibility of selling the building.
Before putting it on the market, Shawn talked to one of his friends who was a pastor that he thought may be looking for a new location. His friend wasn’t interested in the space but knew a guy who was running a nonprofit right around the corner from us that may be. That is how we were first introduced to Alex and his organization Hope Rescued. Hope Rescued was operating out of a building about three blocks away from us but we had not yet got the opportunity to meet Alex and learn about what they do. While Love City is really focused on long term future development in raising up students and creating community businesses, Hope Rescued is doing amazing work filling immediate needs in the community.
Hope Rescued does work assisting homeless find housing, treatment, and job placement. They help rescue trafficking victims and they serve food in the community. When we walked Alex through St. Johns for the first time, we got to see his love for the community and following Jesus. Through conversations with him we felt like he would be the perfect one to take stewardship of that building to do good in our community. Last week, we closed on the property. They plan to use the rectory building as a Women’s drop in center offering services to the women and children of our community. The main building sanctuary will be a great place for their rapidly growing weekly services as they have outgrown their current building. We look forward to seeing the amazing impact Hope Rescued will have from these new properties. If you would like to learn more about them and what they do, you can find their website here.
Ethan Essex
Mighty Oak Supplies Lists!!!
The start of the school year is here. If you would like to support through purchasing supplies, it’s not too late. You can find those lists here:
Supply Wishlist: https://a.co/4IDGPaN
Snack List: https://a.co/g4DnQYr
Merriment Moving!!!
Merriment will be closed for the time being while we move to the Saint Cecilia Campus. If you would still like to make a donation, please call (502) 930-9006 to arrange a time to drop off.
Fish Fry Open!!!
The Fish Fry is OPEN! We look forward to seeing you so you can get your fix of fish, churched up tots, or whatever else is calling your name! Don’t forget to grab some fresh local produce when you stop by.
If you are interested in volunteering or to find out more information about supplies needed please email: info@lovecityinc.org or call (502) 272-078.