Waveney Ann Moore: The conundrum: Save a church or a soul

The quaint, white wooden church is an architectural treat tucked away in a neighborhood of senior citizen apartments and affordable housing.

But as downtown development voraciously sweeps west, this historic structure – the second oldest wood frame church in the city – is in a struggle to survive.

Tenth Street Church of God, on the edge of downtown, rises in historic Methodist Town, an African-American community that began to grow and thrive in the late 1800s.

The picturesque church, complete with bell tower, was built circa 1898 as the original home of First Presbyterian Church. It was donated and moved to Methodist Town in 1913. That it might be in serious jeopardy is causing some amount of consternation.

To hear the Rev. Carl A. Mobley tell it, he’s been inundated with phone calls. The reason? He took the unusual step of filing a request with the city to rescind the church’s landmark status to make the property more palatable to a potential developer.

Among those who have called are State Sen. Darryl Rouson, former St. Petersburg Police Chief and deputy mayor Goliath Davis, and Preserve the ‘Burg board member Peter Belmont. Then there was me.

Rev. Carl A. Mobley, senior pastor at Tenth Street Church of God. “I want to preach the gospel,” he says. “I am tired of talking about saving a building.”

Mobley, senior pastor at the historic church, makes no secret that he’s irritated. Where was everyone when his congregation was struggling to maintain the money pit of a building?

“Everybody is trying to get me to withdraw. The congregation I’m pastoring, they voted to get rid of the church,” he said. “I’m asking the city, do you want the church?”

In other words, show him the money.

Mobley’s anger is not unusual. People have been known to complain that their property rights are being violated when faced with unwanted historic designations. Mobley says his congregation had been unaware of the designation, which was approved by the City Council in 2001. He wasn’t the church’s lead pastor then.

In any event, the matter took on a certain urgency when the congregation received an offer from real estate investor Jonathan Daou, who already owns several surrounding properties.

And there have been the niggling issues raised by the church’s insurance carrier, such as a hazardous sidewalk and the need for preventive maintenance of the electrical system.

Mobley says the church at 207 10^th St. N – described as “the oldest documented example of Carpenter Gothic in St. Petersburg that has not been substantially altered” – is a wreck.

The roof needs to be repaired and the structure is overrun by termites. Additionally, he says, the property has received repeated citations from the city’s code enforcement staff.

Not lately, the city says.

“We cited the church in 2018 for peeling paint, minor wall disrepair, steeple in disrepair,” James Corbett, the city’s director of codes compliance assistance, recounted in an email. “Those violations were corrected and the case was closed in 2019.That has been the only codes case at this location, with the exception of some graffiti in 2017.”

The pandemic has created new problems. The congregation of 185 dwindled to about 20 since the suspension of in-person services. No surprise, tithes and offerings are down. That means a shortage of funds for repairs and even for the copier, which had to be returned. Mobley thought of trying to get a loan, but the few church members balked, wondering how it would be repaid.

It made sense to consider an offer to buy the property, but then there was the issue of its historic designation.

Derek Kilborn, manager of the city’s urban planning and historic preservation division, believes Tenth Street Church of God’s request to rescind a local landmark designation is a first. Tuesday, the Community Planning and Preservation Commission unanimously denied the request. The City Council, though, will have the final word.

Elihu and Carolyn Brayboy, respected entrepreneurs and owners of Chief’s Creole Café, spoke in support of Mobley’s request.

The Brayboys have been restoring buildings on 22^nd Street S, St. Petersburg’s historic African-American business and entertainment district, so they know what Mobley is up against.  Mr. B, as Elihu Brayboy is called, has known Mobley since they were teenagers. He helped his friend get quotes to repair the church’s roof, which has the disadvantage of a steep slope.

“When the bid came in, it was $30,000 to $50,000 at the high end. That’s just for the roof. If he doesn’t repair it, a hurricane is going to blow it off,” Brayboy said by phone this week, adding that maintaining the historic church is no small task.

“This is not something that a little church can manage … Code enforcement is going to continue their pressure and he’s going to have to end up boarding up the building. It is a beautiful little building. What would be great is if ultimately the investor can encircle the church and put it as part of his development.”

Thursday, though, Mobley said Daou was no longer interested in the property.

I got to see inside the small sanctuary this week, paying little attention to the addition that was made in 1969. Mobley pointed to evidence of termites on a window sill in a tiny room with a handful of choir robes. A number of ceiling tiles were water-stained. Outside, part of an oculus window in the three-story bell tower had fallen to the ground. The damage happened a few weeks ago, after a high wind, said Mobley, who had cordoned off the area with yellow tape.

Davis, the city’s former police chief, grew up in Methodist Town. At one time, he said, the neighborhood had more churches than any other community in the city. Historic Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, which got its start in 1894 and was built in 1922, is the first and oldest predominantly African-American church in St. Petersburg. It’s how Methodist Town got its name. 

Davis, who has known Tenth Street Church of God’s pastor since they were both children, said he called Mobley to find out how he could help to save the church. If the property were sold, Davis declared, it would continue the gentrification of the historic African-American area and make “part of our history just go away.”

“It would be sad for it to be torn down,” Rouson said. “We’d lose another piece of history.”

But, he added, “I empathize with the pastor.”

There might yet be some good news for Mobley and his congregation. Rouson and State Sen. Randolph Bracy of Orlando worked with the senate president to create a fund for the African-American Cultural and Historical Grants program. The program offers a nonrecurring sum of $30 million designated for facilities that “highlight the contributions, culture, or history of African-Americans.”

Tenth Street Church of God might be eligible, Rouson said. Additionally, both Kilborn and Preserve the ‘Burg board member Emily Elwyn have mentioned possible incentives and programs that also could benefit the historic church.

For now, though, Mobley and his congregation are in something of a financial quicksand.

“I don’t feel good about the city telling me what to do with the building. That’s God’s building,” he said. “I’m concerned about people and people’s lives … I want to preach the gospel. I am tired of talking about saving a building. Nobody is talking about saving a life, saving a soul.”

For those of us who are awed and charmed by the historic white church that has occupied the corner of Tenth Street and Burlington Avenue for more than a century, there’s hope. Mobley points out that it was moved once and can be moved again by whoever wants to pay for it. Others say it can be put to another use, such as for an office or a home.

The historic American Baptist Church of the Beatitudes in Crescent Heights is an excellent example of reuse. It found new life as a very expensive home after neighbors worked with the developer to save it.

I understand Mobley’s frustration, but there surely must be a way to save the church building itself and let his congregation begin and thrive anew.