By Thomas Bailey, Jr., Commercial Appeal
Rhodes College and across-the-street neighbor Evergreen Presbyterian Church have agreed in principle for the school to acquire the church property in two years.
The congregation approved the arrangement Sunday, and the institutions expect to close the deal in late March at a price still being negotiated.
“We presented it as a win-win-win for the college and church and community,” said Mark Hamilton, an Evergreen member who headed a church working group to approach Rhodes.
Over the next 24 months, Evergreen will continue church operations at 613 University and its 9.6-acre campus.
The site includes a 1,000-seat sanctuary, two-story Christian education building and gymnasium. In back are ball and soccer fields and a playground, and in front is a yawning lawn of stately trees.
The congregation of about 300 has become too small for so much space. Evergreen counted 1,400 members at its previous Midtown building, 1663 Autumn, in 1950 when it broke ground on a $400,000 church building opposite the then-Southwestern at Memphis campus.
“We could continue on, but it was a matter of whether it makes sense as a long-term, sustainable thing,” Hamilton said. “I think it’s not a secret we were once a larger church but I think most Midtown churches would say that.”