South Cape church, pastor can play important role in area's redevelopment

There are the beginnings of something special in Cape Girardeau's South side. And one of the figures who could find himself in the middle of it is the Rev. Adrian Taylor Jr., pastor of LighthouseCape.

You might know LighthouseCape by its previous location, the former B'Nai Israel synagogue at 126 S. Main St. After years of holding services there, the church and its 275 members moved in March into their 20,000-square-foot-facility at 710 Southern Expressway. It's a work in progress with members donating their time to do much of the work as funds are available. The new location is part of a multi-pronged plan to make the building on Cape Girardeau's Southeast corner a church, cafe and community center that will connect the congregation and community at large.

"We want this to be a place that our entire city will see as, 'Hey, even on this end of town there's a place for us to do some things.' And we can collaborate and make things happen. Part of the strategy of us even being in this facility and designing it the way that we did was that it would not be just a place of worship but a place where the community can come together and relate and grow and get a little something good to eat."

It's a huge project, but the pastor said the church is trusting God as they continue down the road to redevelop the formerly vacant building.

The Rev. Adrian Taylor Jr. poses for portrait Tuesday, June 25, 2019, at the Lighthouse Cape at 710 Southern Expressway in Cape Girardeau.Jacob Wiegand ~ Southeast Missourian

The church's new sanctuary, Taylor said, is two to three times larger than their former location where multiple services were held.

Even with this new space, it's supposed to be a temporary stop while the church renovates another part of the building for a permanent sanctuary. Once that happens, the current sanctuary would become a lobby area and cafe.

In addition to being a pastor, Taylor has served as a chaplain for local law enforcement and, more recently, was asked to serve on the 21-member community task force which is moving a new aquatic center forward. In April, voters passed a school bond measure that would allocate $4 million to the proposed facility. Voters had previously supported a parks and stormwater ballot issue where $6 million was allocated included for it.

Much of the debate was whether there would be enough money to build a 50-meter pool, something held up by competitive swimmers as necessary to attract the type of events envisioned and provide enough space for both competitive swimming and a community pool. Former mayors Jay Knudtson and Harry Rediger are leading the efforts to raise the difference, with $1.5 million in matching funds already put up by an anonymous donor.

"I think that one of the things that we're trying to achieve, especially with the aquatic center and also with our church, is we're trying to eliminate this separation within the city," Taylor told me last month. "There's a lot of people who stigmatize this side of town as that part of Cape, South Cape or lower South Cape. And unfortunately that particular attitude is one of the reasons why I think this neighborhood has almost kind of been lost, for lack of a term. And we want people to really embrace the fact that this is Cape Girardeau, too. It's not some foreign land. It's a place that has wonderful people who have probably been more vested in the community than others. And they want to be able to have a good neighborhood."

Taylor said he's all for building the biggest and best facility possible. But he emphasized the importance of valuing people.

"I think the aquatic center plays a huge role in moving that direction," he said. "It can't just be, we're going to build a pool and it's going to be a competitive place. I realize that that's definitely a huge, huge concern for a lot of folks. And I've come to learn that this is a very big swim community. And there's a lot of people who have a very rich heritage of swimming. However, I also hope that just as much as we value the swimming, we also want to see this as a thing that can stimulate growth in our community. That it can be a place where all people feel welcome."

He pointed to James, chapter 2 which talks about the evils of favoritism: "Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, 'Here's a good seat for you,' but say to the poor man, 'You stand there' or 'Sit on the floor by my feet,' have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?"

"The way we treat our citizens, God's looking at that," Taylor said.

There's plenty to be optimistic about. Jefferson Elementary has transitioned from being the public school for the South side to an engaging educational institution with dynamic leadership and students who recently attended and presented at a national conference. The River Campus continues to be an important venue for events. And the aquatic center is prime to further the cause. But buildings alone don't change things. It takes leadership. The Rev. Taylor and his church have an opportunity to play an important role. With God's help, it's certainly achievable.

Lucas Presson is assistant publisher of the Southeast Missourian.