As the Senior Pastor of Emmanuel Missionary Baptist Church in Colorado Springs, I see every day the great need for affordable housing in both our community and beyond the walls of Emmanuel. In the past year, we have embarked on an initiative to build affordable housing on an existing parcel of Emmanuel’s property.
Our journey began in 2010, as Emmanuel reached its ministry capacity and needed to expand for the accommodation of a growing congregation. We embarked upon a strategic initiative that would reflect the church’s commitment to expanding its mission and enhancing its community presence. Two years later, Emmanuel opened its doors for the first worship service at our new location: a facility situated on 14 acres of land which met our needs.
Although I was thankful to God for where he had brought us, I always thought there was some unsettled business God had for me to perform. A decade after Emmanuel moved to our current location on Vickers Drive, I received a divine vision from God to undertake the significant mission of developing affordable housing for senior citizens and veterans, two underserved populations in Colorado Springs.
I shared this vision with the church executive board. As a faithful steward of Emmanuel, the executive board and voting members agreed to use our undeveloped land to support the community with affordable housing and the entity called Kingdom Development was established.
Kingdom Development reflects our church’s mission to create a lasting impact of service and outreach and a commitment to fulfilling community needs as identified by Mayor Yemi Mobolade, who addressed housing attainability as a top priority. We believe that providing a supportive environment for underserved communities and enhancing neighborhood character, while optimizing land use practices and supporting household vitality, can help address Colorado Springs’ housing crisis.
We are grateful to have strong local support from Mayor Mobolade, Solid Rock Development Corporation, and the City of Colorado Springs as we have been navigating through the process. Working closely with the City Housing Office, we have already received approval for the fast-track permitting process, which will enable this project to rezone and receive permits within 12 months. The city will also support the project through fee-waivers.
But not all congregations have the same resources and support that we have received from the city of Colorado Springs. Luckily, the state legislature has a solution to help projects like ours. House Bill 1169 would empower faith-based organizations to develop housing by leveraging existing land to fit our communities’ needs.
By reducing barriers and using land that is often centrally located and underutilized, our state can ensure more Coloradans have access to housing they can afford. This type of housing would be built in places that have adequate resources, be built near community benefits, and lessen the cost of infrastructure for the taxpayers and local governments.
House Bill 1169 would help to address a large housing need in Colorado Springs and create more opportunities for developments like ours. Kingdom Development is not only a testament to our commitment to addressing social issues, but addresses the scarcity of land available for development.
Bishop Cleveland A. Thompson is the Senior Pastor of Emmanuel Missionary Church in Colorado Springs.
