An Ellicott City church's request for county government help in reducing borrowing costs on up to $10.1 million for school buildings is raising questions about the separation of church and state.
The issue, in the form of a County Council resolution approving economic development revenue bonds, will be discussed at Monday night's public hearing, and is scheduled for a vote July 30.
"We want to serve the community," said Glen Mar United Methodist Church's pastor, Andy Lunt, about the facilities under construction on the church's new 22-acre campus on Route 103 at New Cut Road. The bond would help refinance a loan for a 33,000-square-foot building and help lower borrowing costs for a new 22,000-square-foot building now under way, Lunt said. Columbia Bank is making the loans.
Lunt said the project is going forward with or without county help, but the less spent on buildings means the church can do more for the community. In addition, county taxpayers bear no risk or expense in the deal, said Richard W. Story, chief executive officer of the Howard County Economic Development Authority.
Both buildings will be used for office and classroom space, but the new structure is mostly for preschool day care for 250 children, Lunt said. Other programs include before- and after-school care, and summer camps for hundreds more children. He said more than three-quarters of the children are from families who are not church members and represent a variety of religious backgrounds. The church's priority, he said, is an after-school program for middle-school children recommended by Howard County police.
"The law is clear if the bond goes for space used for community services" and not religious activities, it is legal, Lunt said. "The reason we moved was to provide more community services." Until July 2008, the 55-year-old Glen Mar was on Glen Mar Road off Route 104, Waterloo Road.
But others don't agree.
Bridget Mugane, president of the Howard County Citizens Association, said her group is opposed, citing issues of church-state separation and a possible conflict of interest for Columbia Bank.
"Government is being asked to assist a church to finance an expansion," Mugane said. "It's a very laudable development," she said, but not one county government should be involved in. If it's approved, she said, other churches will certainly make similar requests.
