The Church Bells of Phoenix

Church bells are driving some folks crazy:

Three churches in Phoenix have brought a legal action against the city because one pastor already has been convicted and other churches are being threatened over the "noise" from their bells, some of which have rung out to the community for decades.

The lawsuit has been filed by the Alliance Defense Fund on behalf of St. Mark Roman Catholic Parish, First Christian Church and Christ the King Liturgical Charismatic Church.

The dispute focuses on the city ordinance that even city officials have conceded is vague, according to the lawsuit. Nevertheless, on the strength of neighbors' complaints and the existing statute, one pastor already has been convicted and sentenced for violating the city ordinance with church bells. The complaint alleges others now also are threatened.

I've got mixed feelings on this one. I understand the desire to keep a tradition going of sounding church bells, but at the same time if a church wants to be a good neighbor in their community, maybe the best approach is to turn them off. You're not going to attract people to your ministry by annoying them.

This isn't the only story out there today about churches and opposition within their communities:

Manbae Kim was taking a pummeling.

Deputized to explain his church's plans to build a Walmart-sized worship complex at the foot of Sugarloaf Mountain, he had spent the better part of an hour politely parrying complaints from an increasingly hostile crowd about the project's impact on local traffic, the water supply, the area's rural beauty and the global climate.

One woman warned that clearing and construction for the Global Mission Church would chase animals out onto adjacent Interstate 270, causing accidents.

"People will die," she wailed.

Eventually, Kim appeared to reach the point of exasperation.

"Yes, we are a big church," he conceded. "We have a big building. But we are people. We have people who have been in this community, serving this community for their entire lives. ...

"I ask you, heart to heart. How many people spend five years praying about [a new church], and one day just because simply you don't like us, we'll leave and we're done?"

It's a scene that has grown familiar in Maryland: A successful congregation, enjoying growth, looks to build a larger house of worship, the better to host events, manage ministries and win souls. Church (or synagogue or mosque) leaders try to sell prospective neighbors on the good that the new quarters will enable them to do.

But the pitch does not forestall the seemingly inevitable opposition. Residents - and, in some cases, local officials - raise worries about the impact the new facility will have on their lives and communities.

Many local officials have problems with church expansion just because the new facility is not subject to local taxes. When they take over a site that was previously on the tax rolls the local bureaucrats take a cut in pay.

And there will always be questions of traffic, noise and other issues related to the movement of large numbers of people. However, churches still have a right to exist and grow and they do far more good for the community than they do harm, regardless of the denomination. Local leaders would be wise to accomodate them whenever they can.