The prizefighter of Park Place
Posted to: Guest Columns Opinion
By Mike Crockett
The Virginian-Pilot
© March 31, 2013
This Easter morning, a small group of worshippers will meet at an old Norfolk church and listen to the perennial holy message of love, death, resurrection and hope — a celebration that will be carried out in scores of other churches throughout Hampton Roads, but at no venue more
extraordinary. Park Place United Methodist Church, a legendary crusader for compassion that traces its roots to 1902, stands proudly on the corner of 34th Street and Colonial Avenue. But like an old and weary prizefighter, it’s also arrived at the crossroads of hard times and reality. In the 1940s, more than 2,400 worshippers attended services each Sunday, making it the largest Methodist congregation in the commonwealth. At the time, the neighborhood of Park Place was home to a thriving middle class. In the 1960s, residents began an exodus to the suburbs. Church membership declined, and the neighborhood’s demographic shifted to predominately African American. Instead of closing, the shrinking, aging and mostly white congregation did something illogical — it opened its doors wider to the hungry and the hopeless, paying its “widow’s mite.”
Despite only 20 active members remaining in the church, the congregation, with the help of volunteers from many other organizations, serves about 350 hungry people each week in the Park Place Community Suppers program. I helped in the serving line last month and had the opportunity to tour the four-story building, 55,000 square feet of memories and hope. The sanctuary is a place of both majesty and melancholy. There are 40-foot vaulted ceilings, lime green walls trimmed in elaborate, white crown molding and multi-colored stained glass windows that refract sunlight like kaleidoscopes. The sound of the organ no longer reverberates, the pipes in disrepair, unaffordable and mute. A grand balcony wraps around the rear of the room like a regal opera house, its emptiness almost haunting. Now, the sanctuary is used only for funerals and other special services because of prohibitive heating and cooling costs. Easter services will be held in a smaller chapel. Down the hall in the church’s History Room were dozens of old black and white photos of past Sunday school classes, most taken on the front steps of the church. In each snapshot, the backdrop remained the same, but the faces and clothing changed through the years. I looked into the eyes staring back at me and wondered how the church’s story would end. Would it be one final, warm meal and a kind word to a stranger? If Norfolk’s strategic vision for the year 2030 (PlaNorfolk 2030) were a movie script, it could easily have been written with the old church in mind. The city plan includes: envisioning strong and safe neighborhoods, addressing homelessness, exploring partnerships with universities, ensuring a rich history reflected in architectural and cultural resources, creating and maintaining healthy and vibrant neighborhoods, using historic landmarks and religious institutions, building a viable real estate market, improving neighborhood character and safety, and more effectively involving traditionally underserved individuals such as youth. The church is two steps ahead of the plan and ready to audition for more roles. The YMCA already uses part of the church for an after-school program, and monthly USDA food distributions have been provided on site in conjunction with the community suppers program for years. Other regional resources offer even greater potential to ensure the church’s viable future in Park Place. ODU’s Office of Community Service and Civic Engagement, the Regional Task Force to End Homelessness, Norfolk’s Historical and Architectural Preservation Committee and For Kids are just a few organizations with mutual aims. Whether as a church, a Methodist mission or a rezoned, dual-purpose community service center, help is needed. Time and a lack of resources are taking a toll. The old church still stands there on the corner, defying the odds-makers for yet another Easter Sunday: Relentless, inspiring and eager to continue the good fight. Mike Crockett, a retired naval officer, lives in Norfolk, where he is a member of a different Methodist church. Email: [email protected]. Park Place United Methodist Church: www.parkplaceumc.com.
