The city of St. Paul gets sued from time to time (ok, ok, who are we kidding? A LOT) but how often does the city get sued by a church that no longer exists, at least not in physical form?
The walls of this Frogtown church may have come crashing down, but the spirit of the Rock of Ages lives on. In another context, a story about the Rock of Ages wrestling with St. Paul might be the start of a Biblical parable, or even a new religious denomination. Here, it's just another lawsuit.
Lo, there will come a day when all lawsuits are appealed or kicked over to federal court...
Or is it? Dorothy Peterson, age 86, of Roseville, recalls the demolished Frogtown church with as much fondness as her childhood home. She's pretty happy to see her old church -- once known as St. Matthews -- reach out for a reckoning from beyond the grave.
"I'm 86-years-old and I started at that church when I was 5-years-old. When I heard they were thinking of redoing it, I thought 'good.' ... I belong to a church in Roseville, but St. Matthews is still my church. I was sorry when they took it down."
"We lived at the church when we were growing up. It was our second home. All our confirmation pictures were on the walls, and the basement. It was home to all of us. I lost my home. That's how I feel."
City officials are standing by their decision to order the Rock of Ages torn down. City Attorney Samuel Clark issued the following statement on the Rock of Ages lawsuit Tuesday, Oct. 13:
"We have reviewed the complaint and we’re working on our response. At this early point in the litigation process, it’s important to keep in mind that the building was demolished because it was a public nuisance due to its dangerously dilapidated condition. The building did not meet the criteria for historic preservation and it was not demolished for the Green Line rail project."
The Rev. Sylvester Davis said his church continues to meet at 11:30 a.m. Sundays in the sanctuary at Christ Lutheran Church at 105 University Ave. Attendance at Rock of Ages was well over 100 parishioners at one time, but has fallen "tremendously," he said.
"Right now, on average, it's probably about 30 to 40 people," Davis said.
So why did his church wait until 2015 to sue the city, when the demolition occurred in 2009? Part of the reason: disbelief. Hoping the city would come around on ownership rights, property taxes and assessments, the church held off on suing until shortly before the land was set to be sold with other tax-forfeited properties at auction by Ramsey County, which would have happened Oct. 9. The auction is currently on hold.
"I was in a state of shock," Davis said. "I called it 'putting us in a deep freeze,' when they won't let you fix your property, and they force it to sit through winter after winter. ... We waited until the very last minute. Nobody wants to be in the newspaper suing nobody."
He said a Hmong funeral home that used to operate in the neighborhood was offered financial incentives to relocate, but "this small group of black people, the city wouldn't buy it and wouldn't let anybody else buy it. I just couldn't believe this was going to happen."
Despite his anger and hurt, Davis said he forgives St. Paul, continues to live in St. Paul and he serves St. Paul. He's led funerals for young people who have been killed by gun violence and are not affiliated with a church of their own.
"Everybody is somebody. That's what we do -- we serve," he said. "After all that we've been through, we never stopped feeding the homeless, we never stopped doing clothing drives. I don't feel there's a giant conspiracy. It just so happens, the people that did this work for the city. Somebody made a bad decision."
"Some people seem to think that small churches are not important," he continued. "(Legislative hearing officer) Marcia Moermond said, 'You and your 12 members...' She was making reference to how small our church was. It was made several times, like 'why don't you guys just shut your doors?' That's not unusual. They insulted us down there (at City Hall) a lot. ... Rock of Ages has not ceased to be a church. Every Sunday, the church has been open somewhere. They put us in this situation."
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