MARINETTE — A long-time Menominee church will be relocating to Marinette.
The Marinette Plan Commission last week voted to approve a conditional use permit that will allow North Shore Church, 511 47th Ave., Menominee, to move to 115 Hancock St., Marinette.
That location once housed Menekaunee Elementary School, then it became Sunrise Early Learning Center and most recently, the non-profit A Place for Max.
The vote on Tuesday was 6-0 with commission member Steve Lang excused. The application was submitted by Brian Fowler and North Shore Church.
North Shore Church pastor Duncan Ross spoke during a public hearing that preceded the vote. He said he has lived in Menekaunee, on Ogden Street, for several years.
He assured that the church will be used like any other church in the area. A Menekaunee resident had asked if there would be housing at the location.
“We are a church — nobody will be in residence in our building,” Ross said. “There’s not any kind of bait and switch or anything like that.”
He said the current church has been at the same Menominee location since 1964.
“You will not find one neighbor — as far as I know — that would have any complaint about our infringing on their property,” he said. “We have the same issue that other churches do. We have a few more cars on Sunday morning. The rest of the time we have far less traffic than the school had when it was there. … There isn’t anything hidden. We’re a church and we will always be a church.”
Ross spoke about the charitable work North Shore Church has done in the area, some of which included re-roofing the public bathroom at Tourist Beach, staining the pavilions at Henes Park and painting two structures at Dubey Park.
“Far more important has been our investment in the people of Menominee, which we’re hoping to bring to Marinette,” he said, adding that some of the church members are involved with the homeless shelter in Menominee.
“The point of reviewing the litany of community-based ministry is again not to boast,” he said. “This is God’s work in and through us. The motivation is to help you to see, as you consider this conditional use permit for us to relocate to Marinette, is you will be helping what we trust will be unleashing a powerful agent of renewal and redemption on the Menekaunee neighborhood.
“As a seven-year resident of Menekaunee, this is personal for me as it is for many people that are here today,” he added.
He said the people of North Shore Church come with a mission to be a blessing to the people of Marinette.
Barbara Wells, a longtime church member, spoke prior to the pastor. She told of how the church has been going strong since 1887.
“We’re a stable group,” she said. “We’re relatively diverse. Our people come from Menominee County, the City of Menominee, the City of Marinette and Marinette County. A river might separate Wisconsin and Michigan, but we really are one community.”
Wells said the church has a main goal.
“We’re united in being good neighbors,” she said, “and continuing to serve the people of the Marinette-Menominee area.”
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