Discipleship house draws crowd at meeting
Aldermen took no action after a controversial meeting last week about a ministry house for men on Crocket Avenue.
The property is owned by The Church of the ARC and was the major topic of discussion at the June 19 meeting of the Philadelphia Mayor and Board of Aldermen.
A petition with 56 names listed was presented in opposition to location of what opponents described as a halfway house in a residential neighborhood.
The petition read as follows: “A halfway house is planned to be located on Crockett Avenue. By signing this, we take our concerns to the board of aldermen and the city, showing that we, the neighbors, do not think this is in the best interest of our neighborhood.”
The petition was accepted by the board. City officials listened to what both sides had to say. There was no business before the board concerning the matter and no action was taken.
J. Clark, pastor of The Church of the ARC, said in an interview with the Democrat this week that the house was not being turned into a halfway house.
“It’s not a halfway house,” Clark said. “A halfway house tends to be where someone who just got out of jail or out of addiction rehab can go to live. And that’s not what we do. Ours is a discipleship house, meaning if you want to live in the house, first you have to be interviewed and approved. And, the goal really is to learn how to follow Jesus and to become a Christian and become a godly man.
“This house is for men. They have to keep a schedule and do certain things to stay there. It is for any man who has lost his way and wants to live a new life,” Clark said.
A permanent overseer lives at the house, Clark said, and plans are for a resident to stay in the house for around nine months. While going through the program, it is envisioned the residents will find jobs and then will find places to live.
The church will celebrate its second year in August and Clark said from the start, the home is the type of ministry members have wanted to establish.
“This house is an expression of fulfilling that vision of helping people rebuild their lives,” Clark said. “Everybody knows us as a basketball church, but one of our ministries is drug, alcohol recovery. We started having meetings for people who are in addiction. Then we started sponsoring people to go to live ln faith-based recovery ministry units.
“These are ministries that overflow out of our church,” Clark said. “We send people off to recovery but some of them don’t have anywhere to go when they go back. If they go back to where they have come from, they go back around the people running addiction with them.”
The church purchased the house last fall and has renovated it from top to bottom. The exterior has been painted as has every wall in the six-bedroom, three-bathroom two-story house. The carpet is clean and fresh and the bathrooms have been refreshed.
The church has also tried to be good neighbors. They have cleared two fallen trees out of one neighbor’s yard and helped another with repairs to his home.
“That is the ministry of the house, to help our neighbors,” Clark said. “The neighbors asked us to do this. The people over there love what we are doing. No has complained to us”
A spokesperson for the petition declined to comment for this story.