Eminent Domain Update: New Organization to Help Defend Churches

Though there is some dispute as to the degree of imminence, there is no doubt that the urban planners of Greater Tulsa’s Vision 2025 would prefer that the Centennial Baptist Church in Sand Springs close up shop and go away. Absent it occurring voluntarily, the city has indicated that taking the church by eminent domain is an option.

As covered previously (here and here in January, and here in May), the church’s pastor has no intention of doing so.

Over the past several months, Reverend Roosevelt Gildon has received some heavy-artillery help, and earlier this week received more:

Chicago, IL–Today, Americans for Limited Government Foundation announced that it was one step closer to helping Centennial Baptist Church—which was threatened with condemnation by the city of Sand Springs, Oklahoma in January—to stay in its home.

….. While the city of Sand Springs has moved forward with their redevelopment plan, and have not made a final announcement regarding Centennial Baptist, they have carved around the church with their construction projects. In the wake of the redevelopment, the church was left without a parking lot, which it needs to function. Americans for Limited Government Foundation has volunteered to raise the necessary funds to pave the parking lot next door to the church in a lot where a congregation member’s house formerly stood.

….. After Americans for Limited Government and The Becket Fund successfully delayed the condemnation of Centennial Baptist in January, the Oklahoma Supreme Court took additional action in May. “The Oklahoma Supreme Court recently held that Oklahoma’s Constitution provides greater protection from eminent domain abuse than does the U.S. Constitution,” said Jared N. Leland, Spokesman and Legal Counsel for The Becket Fund. “Centennial Baptist Church now enjoys an additional layer of protection beyond what federal and state laws already provided. The Becket Fund will remain committed to shielding the church from eminent domain abuse so that its religious mission can be fulfilled.”

Reverend Gildon and a group of local pastors have formed the Protect Our Homes and Churches coalition, which will unify clergy across the country to fight for property rights protection. “I think our group will grow quickly,” said Reverend Gildon. “I feel blessed to have the help that I did, but I know there are other families and pastors across the country fighting similar battles. We’re going to bring pastors together to stand up for the people who can’t fight back.”

The potential impact of the Supreme Court’s egregious Kelo ruling on churches is no idle one, as BP (Baptist Press) News reported in March (bold is mine):

City leaders in Long Beach, Calif., have classified the Filipino Baptist Fellowship’s building as a blighted area and are forcing the congregation out in order to make way for condominiums.

….. John Eastman, director of The Claremont Institute’s Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence who is defending the church, said the case -– the first involving a Baptist church — may play a key role in reversing the high court’s eminent domain decision.

….. Currently, there are eight other active cases of eminent domain abuse against churches across the country, according to the Institute for Justice, a civil liberties law firm in Arlington, Va.

Days after the BP News piece appeared, the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency voted unanimously to demolish the church. After a month of machinations, the Claremont Institute reported on April 25 that “the bulldozers have been stopped, at least for now,” but that “the Church remains in the Redevelopment Zone (and hence subject to future condemnation proceedings if the Redevelopment Agency decides to start the process all over again…).”

Here’s hoping that the Protect Our Homes and Churches coalition will be active aggressive, and effective. Its web site is www.homesandchurches.com.