THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, January 21, 1997             TAG: 9701210003
SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A16  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                            LENGTH:   43 lines

CHURCHES HAVE A COMMITMENT TO THE COMMUNITY

Your Jan. 13 editorial about the conflict over the proposed second youth shelter (Seton House) in Virginia Beach was gratifying to St. Aidan's Episcopal Church, whose land may be used for the home.

Countless other religious facilities also provide major services to their communities - a fact which, it seems, should not be forgotten in the very place where most church properties are found, a residential neighborhood. And because of this residential placement churches have a profound commitment to erect exemplary facilities and maintain a peaceful and unobtrusive appearance for even the closest homeowner. That is the primary mandate for Seton House and St. Aidan's - a priority even higher than noble mission of youth shelters.

But since the separation of church and state, we seem to have lost the expectation that religious organizations and their land exist and enjoy tax-free status not only as a place of worship but for the collective good of the community. We need to restore that public expectation - even to the point of assumption.

A favorite story of the Rt. Rev. C. Charles Vache', former bishop of Southern Virginia, reveals the end product when religious groups are not challenged to fulfill tasks of helping the community with more than an annual dinner for the needy.

The story: It seems a rural community got a new multimillion-dollar grease factory. After a tour of the plant, one local asked the guide, ``But where is your shipping department?'' The guide replied, ``Oh, we don't need one. All the grease we manufacture here goes into running the machines.''

Religious organizations do have the constitutional freedom to serve only their own, ignore community needs, celebrate tax-free status and become ``grease factories.'' Of course, most do not exercise this ``freedom.''

Shouldn't religious organizations continue to enjoy tax-free status in return for the societal expectation that they will provide services to the community? And when this expectation of community service is elevated to the point of public assumption, congregations and homeowners may have more to celebrate than to fear.

PAUL HOGG JR., rector

St. Aidan's Episcopal Church

Virginia Beach, Jan. 15, 1997