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Church’s salvation a welcome sign

By Staff | Sep 15, 2004

The recent revelation that the Friends Church may be saved from the bulldozer is good news.

Earlier this year, members of Tonganoxie United Methodist Church made an offer to purchase the 111-year-old church building, along with the nearby parsonage, and convert the property to parking. That offer, along with one to the Good Shepherd Thrift Shop and Food Pantry, appear to have fallen through.

And while the Methodist Church does need additional parking for its parishioners, it’s comforting that members and former members of the Friends Church have stepped forward with offers of financial help, in hopes of revitalizing the historic church’s role in Tonganoxie.

If new life can be breathed into both the building — and the Friends’ good works in Tonganoxie — the entire community benefits. That solution appears to be a more palatable one than the church building being reduced to rubble and the church’s mission being abandoned in the city.

This area of northeast Kansas is growing at a strong clip, and it stands to reason that the Friends fellowship should be growing — given the right set of circumstances. If the Friends can work on expanding its congregation, while at the same time renovating its quietly beautiful church building in Tonganoxie, more good works certainly are sure to follow.

With the growth in the area, along with the offer of financial assistance, that should help ensure this dream can be turned into reality.

If the Friends Church is saved, the parking problems that the Methodists are facing, of course, won’t be addressed. The Methodist pastor said his congregation is committed to the Fourth Street location, so perhaps another creative solution can be found to their space crunch.