A 16-foot cross planned for the outside of a Columbia interfaith center has some residents lamenting a shift away from the multifaith vision of the town?s religious centers ? and of Columbia itself.
The Wilde Lake Architectural Committee recently approved the cross and other denominational symbols as part of the expansion plans at the village?s interfaith center, raising questions about religious freedom and the community?s values.
“It was really emotional in many ways,” said Vince Marando, chairman of the Wilde Lake Village Board.
“This wasn?t a lightly taken decision by anyone.”
From all to two
Columbia?s five interfaith centers were built to bring together people of all faiths.
The Oakland Mills center, known as the Meeting Place, is home to six congregations.
Over time, the Wilde Lake center evolved to a worship center for two congregations: Catholic and Methodist/Presbyterian.
The St. John United Methodist/Presbyterian congregation proposed to expand into a new building on the plot on Twin Rivers Road, said Dave Douds, a member of the St. John United Methodist/Presbyterian building committee.
“We felt it was important to have some identifying mark that will tell people this is a church,” he said, adding the cross is no different from other identifying signs on buildings.
The development plan for the campus expansion is mostly complete and will go to the Planning Board after a few issues around parking are worked out, said Kim Flowers, assistant director for the county?s Department of Planning and Zoning.
Architectural committee mulls weighty issue
The bronze cross didn?t need county approval but did need approval from the village?s architectural committee, which considers architectural merits of building.
But rarely does such a weighty issue come before the volunteer group that usually considers porches, decks and windows, Marando said.
The committee was in a tough spot, he said, because the debate could become a legal fight around the freedom of religion and expression, and the village committee didn?t have the means to wage a legal battle.
The original proposal was for a 28- to 30-foot cross, but the size was negotiated down, Douds said.
Departure from old
or natural step forward
Personally, Marando said he didn?t favor the cross.
“This is a change of what we are in Columbia,” he said.
Linda Odum, vice chairwoman of the board, said she was “not entirely happy with the solution” but it wasn?t a harbinger of change.
“I don?t think it should be generalized to represent a systemic departure from the [interfaith] concept,” she said.
Traditional churches aren?t common in Columbia, and the other interfaith centers don?t have prominent exterior religious symbols, said Wilde Lake resident Bill Santos, who was troubled by the approval.
“I think it is a departure from what has been in Columbia,” he said.
However, the design doesn?t preclude other congregations from one day worshipping at the interfaith center, Douds said.
“It would become a matter of discussion with ourselves and that group,” he said.
In 40 years, the interfaith center concept has evolved, and the cross is part of the “natural evolution,” Douds said.
“We don?t believe interfaith means no faith or no symbols,” he said.
