As I left the Wednesday prayer meeting, another pastor welcomed me to the city. He’s been pastoring in New York for years through some tough times. The elementary school where his church meets doubled then tripled their rent within only a few years. And now the church must leave. “You’ll love this city,” he told me with wide eyes and and even wider heart

“Don’t Leave Our Church Homeless” read the signs distributed during Thursday’s press conference outside New York City Hall. More than 60 churches in New York meet in public schools for their Sunday services. When the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear their appeal this week, the churches learned they will need to find a new location before February 12.

Many of those church leaders, city officials, and concerned citizens met Thursday on the steps of City Hall to hear Council Member Fernando Cabrera introduce legislation seeking to overturn this decision. Some left excited and hopeful after hearing spirited speeches from elected officials, local pastors, and advocate ministries. This legislative push follows nearly 17 years of legal struggle between Bronx Household of Faith and the City of New York, which contends that churches meeting outside school hours inappropriately influence children.

Some of these churches have been meeting in the same public schools for more than 25 years. We’ve been meeting in ours for almost two.

Our Story
I moved with my family to Manhattan on November 14 to serve as the pastor of All Souls Church in the Upper West Side neighborhood. Less than a month later on December 5, after preaching only two Sundays, I learned that we’re losing our meeting space.

I certainly didn’t expect my first several months or even years as a pastor to be rosy. I just didn’t expect this particular problem. I have read books and articles on conflict, difficult counseling situations, and even leadership challenges. But I can’t say political conflict over our meeting space was high on my “to be prepared for” list.

But after eye-balling our apartment living room, wondering how many people we could fit for a Sunday service, the reality of the situation hit. Immediately I had two concerns:

1. Anyone who has been a part of a church relocation knows that it’s time consuming to look for a new space, negotiate lease terms, plan a budget, and meet to hash everything out. Now consider that more than 60 churches in the city will be searching for the same space in the same condensed time period during Advent.

2. How will our response—positive, negative, or neutral—influence our community and neighbors?

I brought this second question to a prayer meeting on Wednesday with at least 30 fellow evangelical pastors and staff members from different parts of the city. Several pastors were losing their meeting space. We prayed together and encouraged each other to trust God and not to despair. Many pastors shared my concerns, but no one had a clear answer on how we should respond.

Read More