There are churches that care more about the number of members and dollars that are collected in the offering plate than they do about the community and the purpose in which they are supposed to serve. This is evident in many places, including your normal television evangelists.

A church’s mission is based on many things, such as denomination and the Holy Bible. The church does not carry in its mission the necessity to tear a community apart.

Needless to say, a churches responsibility lies in bringing a community together, to sing together, to praise together and to worship together. Only a few months ago the First Baptist Church was facing criticism that it was about to begin tearing down a community, ours. It came about when the motion was made

to tear the old YMCA building down and replace it with a needed parking lot.

There is no questioning the need for more parking space, however the questions arose over putting the parking lot where one of Selma’s oldest and once finest buildings stood.

Thankfully, the old YMCA building on Broad Street will remain standing. At least for now. According to the Wednesday Selma Times-Journal, First Baptist has removed its lawsuit against the City of Selma.

The deacons recommended to the church that the present suit in Federal court be dismissed and the plans for demolishing the Old Y Building and enlarging the parking lot be suspended.

The recommendation passed and with it has come a lot of gratitude and praise.

This shows a dedication from the church body to play harmoniously with the community.

There was definite voices of concern that rang out against the possible demolition of the building and the church heard the cries. More importantly the church has made a wise decision in not removing another piece of Selma’s Historic Downtown.

We hope that the Selma Historic Society can pull together and get resources to restore the building to its once astounding form.

There are grants and funding that the church and the society can work together to get and work toward a common goal.