Methodists never really let a Presbyterian congregation negotiate to buy and save a historic Midtown church building, now facing demolition. That’s the version of events provided to The Commercial Appeal by Rev. Jeffrey Lancaster, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church.

“We wish we had what we think was a more full-blown effort at negotiating,” he said.

Even now, if the Methodists’ deal to sell Union Avenue United Methodist Church to pharmacy CVS were to fall through, “we’d pull out all the stops in trying to go after it. I never changed my tune on that,” Lancaster said.

What happened between the two churches may be the least understood part of a semi-public issue.

Methodist still won’t talk about it.

“The property sale is a matter pending in court,” St. Luke’s UM Church pastor Rev. Mark Matheny and Associate Pastor Birgitte French said in a joint, written response to The Commercial Appeal. “We believe it would be inappropriate to make comments at this time.”

But what happened raises questions, perhaps moral ones, about a church’s relationship to the community.

Is it OK for a church to sell such a building for the most money it can get, even if it means demolition of an historic building?

Should it matter to a church whether its property is replaced by a for-profit business or by a congregation that intends to serve the community through voluntarism for years, perhaps generations, to come?

How sympathetic should the church be to planning professionals, who warn that suburban-style buildings and parking lots like the ones approved for CVS promote social alienation?