Ken wrote:Is the purpose of that particular church to be a mission to the poorest so-called "unchurched" parts of inner-city Baltimore (if such a thing exists in the US anymore). Or is the purpose to be a home congregation for existing Mennonites who themselves already live and work in Baltimore? I think it is more the latter. In which case it makes sense to put the church close to where a majority of the congregation live and work.
The purpose of the Hampden congregation was to be a good base for a mission to the people of the city of Baltimore. Before the congregation was established, "existing Mennonites who themselves already live and work in Baltimore" did not exist (at least for conservative Mennonites).
Generally speaking, I'm not sure why would want to locate their church building in a place with very high property crime, although the congregation in York did do that. Doing so means you have to make sure you have people occupying your houses basically 24/7 and be ready for your cars to get stolen on a rather regular basis. The congregation in York has adapted to this (and I felt very comfortable and at home there, but then again I grew up around such things are fairly comfortable with that).
Amongst other things, there was an act of arson on the block the congregation in York is. The leadership at the school and church shared information about the arsonist with law enforcement. In retaliation for this, one of the suspects tried to shoot some young people who were visiting. A girl ended up with a few holes in her cape dress.
I think there should be a certain amount of respect for the fact many conservative Mennonites prefer not to live in an environment where buildings regularly get burned down, and cooperating with the police and fire departments to investigate arson results in people getting shot.