Eminent domain and churches

The point came up often in the post-Kelo commentary that local governments were likely to regard churches as attractive candidates for taking-and-redevelopment.  This recent New York Times story, "Humble Church is at the Center of Debate on Eminent Domain," suggests that the commentariat was on to something:

With bulldozers churning up the earth at the front door, the small Centennial Baptist Church in this struggling industrial hub west of Tulsa seems about to fall to the wrecker.

But the construction is just roadwork, for now. And that is all it will ever be if the congregation has its way.

"The Lord didn't send me here to build a minimall," said the longtime pastor, the Rev. Roosevelt Gildon.

In what a local newspaper called "a battle between God Almighty and the almighty dollar," Sand Springs is moving ahead with a redevelopment plan to clear the church and other occupants from the rundown district near downtown to make way for superstores like the Home Depot.