Westside Church Purchase of Centre for Performing Arts

[EdinVan]

To clarify what I was trying to say in the Downtown Updates thread...

This was a business transaction between two private parties. Unfortunate as it was, it was legal. But this doesn't mean that the church should be tolerated, as other people seem to think it should be. If the church is upset that it's on the receiving end of criticism, it's free to pack up and worship in someone's basement.

[phesto]

Originally Posted by EdinVan

To clarify what I was trying to say in the Downtown Updates thread...

This was a business transaction between two private parties. Unfortunate as it was, it was legal. But this doesn't mean that the church should be tolerated, as other people seem to think it should be. If the church is upset that it's on the receiving end of criticism, it's free to pack up and worship in someone's basement.

Can you articulate this a little more clearly? Is your beef with Westside Church or just churches/religion in general?

[s211]

Ah, yes. The self-appointed guardians of intolerance being intolerant. What a wonderful vicious circle of irony.

This thread won't last very long, one can only hope.Or pray. ZING.

[Ybres2104]

Originally Posted by s211

Ah, yes. The self-appointed guardians of intolerance being intolerant. What a wonderful vicious circle of irony.

This thread won't last very long, one can only hope.Or pray. ZING.

They have the cash, they took over the lease, as fas as the anger of them taking it over, why don't the angry people take a collection, talk the landlord, and try to cut a better deal to bring some CULTURE into our city....lol. Like that's going to happen. It comes down to money, and I usually find that the freeloaders and complainers are usually out of money. Somewhat like the NDP!!

[s211]

For clarity, my comment was directed at EdinVan.

[easy as pie]

unless that particular breakaway sect of judaism happens to be particularly clever with money, i shouldn't think that they'd make a much better go of it than any of the other owners. ideally, a space like that would belong to a cultural organization with expertise in sub-letting and that (van east, or vancouver film festival society or even vancouver film school). in order for the church to make it work, my guess is that there'll be very few religious events there, it's just not something that sells in downtown vancouver compared with in the usa.

[theKB]

As sad as this is, and as much as this shows how big of a scam operating a church is, it is a private transaction and no one else stepped in to take over.

With that said the city should remove any and all special considerations for taxation on this venue and tax them at full commercial tax rates.

[logan5]

Evangelicals are just like everybody else...

• Video Link

[spm2013]

You should direct your anger at the Arts Club Theatre which leased them space to start their cult. Cultural space kills another cultural space.

[SFUVancouver]

^ They first started up on Granville Island in the space formerly occupied by the model train and ship museum; read into that what you will.

[spm2013]

I just want to know if the Church is pro or anti-viaduct. Everything else is irrelevant.

[spm2013]

And can they baptize my pet rabbit?

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by spm2013

I just want to know if the Church is pro or anti-viaduct. Everything else is irrelevant.

"Thou shalt not travel above the earth with an automobile, as with a skytrain; it is an abomination." - Meggs 18:22

[DKaz]

Ah church. I haven't gone in years. Never bothered trying to find another one after I moved away from the one I lived near, on south Victoria Dr.

[EdinVan]

Originally Posted by phesto

Can you articulate this a little more clearly? Is your beef with Westside Church or just churches/religion in general?

Both. To me, they're one and the same. Every church, every religion = awful.

Off to finish the last chapter of The God Delusion.

[spm2013]

The church shouldn't be the one attacked. We should identify all the people attending and double their income taxes to teach them a lesson. And stick them on a no-fly list.

[red-paladin]

I'm kind of shocked by a lot of these posts.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Ybres2104

They have the cash, they took over the lease, as fas as the anger of them taking it over, why don't the angry people take a collection, talk the landlord, and try to cut a better deal to bring some CULTURE into our city....lol. Like that's going to happen. It comes down to money, and I usually find that the freeloaders and complainers are usually out of money. Somewhat like the NDP!!

Except no other use would enjoy tax exempt status.

This thread really belongs in Skybar (where I posed the tax exempt question BTW). IMHO the days when organized religion deserved tax exempt status is a thing of the past in modern states with social safety nets. We are no longer reliant on cults and superstitions to care for the less fortunate. Churches, mosques etc sit on some very valuable land that should be taxed like any other use.

[spm2013]

And they took over a cafe too! Darn Christians.

Church taking over Rhizome Café
Trinity United to continue work Rhizome started

CHERYL ROSSI / VANCOUVER COURIER
AUGUST 15, 2013

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Rhizome Café across from Kingsgate Mall on East Broadway will celebrate its last evening Aug. 22.

But new café owner Trinity United Church wants community events and meetings at 317 East Broadway to continue.

“We’re relying on that fact,” said Rev. Bethan Theunissen.

Trinity United started holding a Sunday service in Mount Pleasant in March after leaving Kitsilano. Members of its congregation were Rhizome regulars and the café became the church’s home away from home.

Being involved with a café makes sense for Trinity United.

“We’re not very church-building focused and that was part of what we wanted to be about, was to stop being obsessed about church building and just be where people were and where we wanted to hang out,” Theunissen said.

Trinity United wants to continue the work of Rhizome owners Lisa Moore and Vinetta Lenavat who started the gathering place seven years ago with the goal of creating a community living room and social justice hub that would welcome people of all economic means, gender identities, sexualities and races. They told their clientele in a letter, May 5, that with community collaborators, Rhizome has hosted more than 1,000 community events since 2006.

Trinity United is assuring Rhizome’s clientele it has no intention of turning the space into a church, but the café will host a 30-minute evening service in its front room Tuesday through Friday that will be led by progressive leaders from different spiritual and religious traditions.

Theunissen says she’s reassured a transgender patron of the café that its washrooms will remain gender neutral.Her congregation’s 20 members are aged 26 to over 90, half are gay or lesbian and according to Theunissen share a commitment to social justice.

Trinity United is hiring a manager to run the café “fairly autonomously,” according to Theunissen. She says the café’s fare will be locally grown and pesticide-free. She doesn’t expect the menu to change much and anticipates continuing to offer a version of the pay-what-you-can lentil stew.

Theunissen says the church is mostly using money it received from the repayment of a 60-year-lease to assume the business. The café’s lease agreement runs until December 2016, with an option to renew.

She says the business remained viable in its first five years. Loyal patrons donated money to help keep the café afloat over the past two years. Theunissen expects the business to prosper again with first-time marketing, a “fresh” manager and new customers drawn through the church.

Trinity United is seeking name suggestions for the café. Lenavat and Moore hope to open a Rhizome in the future in Toronto, where they’re moving to be closer to family and focus on other social justice projects.

“We’re really, really, really relieved and happy that someone stepped forward to continue to hold this space as a community space, especially in a dramatically and constantly changing city, the need for community space is ever increasing and becomes ever more urgent,” Moore said.

Rhizome is hosting an informal gathering Aug. 22, 6 to 10 p.m. It will auction off Rhizome memorabilia at 7:30. The café will reopen with an open house, Sept. 5.

http://www.vancourier.com/news/churc....YNUxmzKS.dpuf

[EdinVan]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Except no other use would enjoy tax exempt status.

This thread really belongs in Skybar (where I posed the tax exempt question BTW). IMHO the days when organized religion deserved tax exempt status is a thing of the past in modern states with social safety nets. We are no longer reliant on cults and superstitions to care for the less fortunate. Churches, mosques etc sit on some very valuable land that should be taxed like any other use.

It's arguable whether religious organizations have ever really benefited the less fortunate. Sure, they may provide food and shelter and other essentials, but these benefits have been far overshadowed by the negative effects that religious belief has had on people (e.g., misogyny, homophobia, civil unrest, terrorism, etc.). These organizations provide no net benefit to society and should certainly never be rewarded with tax-exempt status.