from
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=18&articleid=20110914_18_A13_CUTLIN6201091,800-member All Souls Unitarian Church mulls moving downtown
by: BILL SHERMAN World Religion Writer
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
9/14/2011 8:16:46 AM
All Souls Unitarian Church, the world's largest Unitarian Universalist congregation, is considering relocating to downtown Tulsa after more than a half-century in Maple Ridge.
The plan, which requires congregational approval, would put the church on a full city block between Frankfort and Kenosha avenues and Sixth and Seventh streets in an area sometimes called the East Village.
The Rev. Marlin Lavanhar, the church's senior minister, said the congregation has outgrown its present location at 2952 S. Peoria Ave.
He said the congregation has nearly doubled - to 1,800 members - since he arrived in 2000.
The 400-seat sanctuary is often overfilled for two Sunday morning services, and parking, Sunday school space and office space are not sufficient, Lavanhar said.
Jim Perrault, president of the church's board of trustees, said the idea of becoming a part of the recent downtown renaissance has strong appeal.
"Returning to its roots in downtown also fits the church's growing membership, who come from all parts of the city rather than just the midtown area," he said.
All Souls began as a downtown church in the 1920s, first meeting in the Tulsa Tribune Building and then moving to the old City Hall on Fourth Street and several other downtown sites. It moved to Maple Ridge in 1958.
Perrault said a group of church members holds an option to buy the downtown property on behalf of the church, contingent upon approval of the congregation. A vote is expected before the end of the year, when the option expires.
The site, which is now an empty field, is directly across the street from a proposed 5 1/2-acre park.
All Souls developed a master plan in 2007-08 to expand on its present site, with the help of the Hastings & Chivetta architectural firm, Perrault said.
As the economy slowed, those plans were put on hold. This year, as church leaders reviewed those plans, they began to consider relocating and looked for land downtown.
"The process led members of the planning committee to the planners of the proposed East Village development and ultimately to the site under consideration," Perrault said.
"Today, together, we enter our process of discerning the future of All Souls Unitarian Church," he told the congregation Sunday in presenting the plan.
Lavanhar said his role is not to take sides but to "help the congregation have a good, open conversation about this decision."
