Red Tape Binds Church's Move to Taylor

An unassuming vacant building, empty since 1995 when the Sports Authority closed up shop, lies just off of Eureka in Taylor. Due to the economic hardship Michigan has faced for years, filling these former “superstore” buildings can be a difficult task for municipalities trying to fight blight.

It was this situation that Pastor Jeremy Schossau, or Pastor J, has sought to rectify by moving the non-denominational Metro South Church that he oversees from their former location in Trenton to this former sporting goods storefront. He figured that the city would be happy that an empty building would be getting filled.

“I want to turn it into a nice place for a church,” said Schossau.

The only problem is that the road to city approval has been longer and slower than he had anticipated, and he isn’t quite sure why. Schossaur got the ball rolling last September, when he applied for the religious land use permit, with the hope that the church would be ready and open for his congregation of about 1500 people for April.

“It’s been a long, cumbersome process, and we ran out of our lease at Trenton,” he said. “We don’t even have the permits yet.”

The Metro South Church started initially back in 2000, with about 20 people meeting in Schossau’s living room. Aiming to be a “different kind of church,” Schossau said that they made efforts to “communicate ancient biblical truths in modern, relevant ways.” These have taken the form of videos, rock music, dramas, and community outreach programs for the poor and underprivileged.

“We want to reach people interested in God but not interested in church,” explained the pastor. “We have a bookstore and a café, and have worked to build a community.”

Schossau said that Trenton’s city government, as well as the neighbors of their previous building, had been very supportive of their church and their efforts. However, he did not want to sign another long-term lease in Trenton, believing that Taylor is the heart of downriver, and he wanted his young church to be in the middle of it all. However, he said that the Taylor Planning Commission and Planning Department, while nice enough, have not been very helpful.

Schossau said that they have brought up concerns about general building use and traffic flow, which have not made things easy.

“We have a right to use the road, and we have a parking lot, so it’s silly for the city to say we can’t,” said Schossau. “We’ve gotten off-site parking and plans for busing people in, and offered all that.”

The Taylor Planning Department declined to speak on the matter of the church pending committee approval.

In the meantime, the congregation has been getting work done on the property, fixing up the building for the day that they receive approval to go ahead in earnest. Schossau added that they took an old grocery store in Trenton, and turned it into a nice place in a hundred days with volunteers. 

“The people of Taylor are receptive,” said Schossau. “We want to be here, we want to be where the people are.”