Northside congregations that hate their buildings

From Steve Patterson's Urban Review of St. Louis & Region comes this sad alert:

Church wants to raze eight properties in Hyde Park Historic District

No doubt the Preservation Board has approved demolition of the House of Deliverance as I type. I can't wait to return to St. Louis in February and help stop the ever-continuing tide of destruction.

One church that we can save is the nearby Bethlehem Lutheran Church (from 1895), abandonded by its congregation since 1987. The building sits empty and decaying, but it still stands--and the congregation lost an earlier fight to tear it down. The pastor has stated that if anyone stepped forward with a viable resue plan, he would welcome it. If preservationists work to find a plan, Bethlehem Lutheran won't become the next northside church that no one knows about until it's up for a demolition hearing.