Flood-damaged downtown church accepts buyout offer from city

The congregation of a flood-damaged downtown Cedar Rapids church took the final steps Monday to accept a $700,000 buyout offer from the city.

The unanimous vote by the Salem United Methodist Church's congregational conference Monday night will allow the congregation to move forward - but pastor John Louk said that right now, there's nowhere to move forward to.

“That's the biggest frustration for folks right now, we don't know where we're going,” said Louk.

When Salem's building on First Avenue SW was damaged by the Cedar River in June 2008 the congregation took temporary residence in the former Kenwood Park Presbyterian Church building. When that building was sold last spring, the congregation was forced to move again.

Louk said the congregation is sharing space at Kenwood United Methodist Church, 175 34th St. NE, in Cedar Rapids, but knows it's not a permanent solution.

“I really have nothing to report in terms of the next step,” Louk said. “With this vote, though, we definitely know we are not going back to the downtown building.”

The church was offered the buyout from the city in July but had to follow guidelines set by United Methodist Church policy, which included taking the issue before a district building committee, the bishop and then the United Methodist conference before being brought before the local congregation.

Louk said the time lapse has allowed the congregation to take the emotion out of the decision.

“One of our church leaders said back in September that had we had this discussion immediately after the flood people would not have been in the emotional place to say we need to take the buyout and move on,” he said. “More than a year later people know that's what they need to do.”