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La Vergne Church Remains Closed; Pastor Says City Continues to Deny Certification--Mikayla Lewis

895 views · Published 9 February 2014 · 3:09 · Indexed 25 September 2026

Channel: FOX NASHVILLE · 2014 · News & Politics

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Stream Fox 17 newscasts LIVE starting with Fox 17 This Morning at 5 am and News at 9 pm.LA VERGNE--A church congregation is unable to worship in their brand new facility on Old Nashville Highway. Word of Life Family Worship Center finally completed it's own building, after nearly a decade of using temporary locations. The church broke ground in 2009 and finished construction last February. The church says the city continues to deny them of using their building. Word of Life's sanctuary sits fully furnished and empty every Sunday. Pastor Wellington A. Johnson Sr. said,  Most of our members live in Smyrna, La Vergne and Antioch so  we thought this would be an ideal location to build our church in La Vergne. The location proved to be otherwise for the congregation. Pastor Johnson says the city codes department told the church they needed to put up a detention pond and they could meet in their new building while meeting other property requirements like landscaping and a driveway. The church met those requirements, according to the pastor. Pastor Johnson says,  They (the city) then moved the goal line. The city of La Vergne created more obstacles for the church with a sidewalk that needed to be added to the site plans, but did not need to be built according to the Johnson. The pastor says, the site plans also were required to move a TDS Telecommunications utility box that sits on the sidewalk area. Pastor Johnson explained, It's an issue between the city and TDS... not us. They should be happy that there is a church that wants to set up ministry to be a positive influence in our community.  The utility box sits out in front of the church. Word of Life says it is within the five feet dedication on the site plan provision. In the original site plan approved by the 2008 Planning Commission, TDS failed to filed the easement with city for the utility box.Johnson says the La Vergne Codes Director, Randolph Salyers told the church it need to draw up more plans to show the sidewalk going around the box. According to the pastor, it was suggested that the church could move the utility box...costing up to $50,000. Fox 17 reached out to Salyers and has yet to hear back. With no occupancy certification, Word of Life funds dwindle with many members leaving the congregation because of the situation. Frustrated, disappointed, just wondering why the city is treating us this way. What does a utility box have to do with worshiping God in this building? added Pastor Johnson. Word of Life's neighbor, Church of Christ allows the congregation to hold service in it's building, but the church continues to pay for bills like the mortgage and utilities without ever using the building. Pastor Johnson says the next step is filing a lawsuit. Follow Mikayla Lewis on Twitter @MikaylaFox17.Follow us on Twitter @wztv_fox17 and LIKE us on Facebook for updates.

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