St. John's sells Downtown church for $2.4M to charter school, but will continue services

St. John's United Church of Christ on Mound Street in downtown Columbus has been sold for $2.4 million to a charter school company, but the church will continue to operate there as a tenant and provide worship services.

GSP Mound Street LLC, created in Delaware, was registered to do business in Ohio on Nov. 22 through an agent, Deanne Schauseil with Corporation Service Co. in Upper Arlington. That was one month before the sale of the church building on a little more than a half-acre of land to the limited liability company for $2.4 million was finalized and the transfer officially recorded with the Franklin County Auditor's office on Dec. 23, records reviewed by The Dispatch show.

Maria Szalay is listed as chief operating officer of GSP Mound Street LLC, according to state Department of Commerce records. She is also the co-founder and COO of Pansophic Learning, a McLean, Virginia-based company which says it has schools in 13 U.S. states and five countries, including the United Kingdom and Switzerland.

Szalay is also the co-founder and COO of Accel Schools, a subsidiary of Pansophic Learning and the largest charter school operator in Ohio.

Attempts by The Dispatch to reach Szalay or another representative of Pansophic or Accel on Friday about plans for the school were unsuccessful.

The Rev. Virginia Lohmann Bauman had told The Dispatch that St. John's building would become a private school during the week, but that the church will remain a tenant and continue offering worship services at the Mound Street building.

“St. John’s is not going anywhere, but the pandemic helped us make wise decisions about a building that is almost 30,000 square feet of space,” Bauman said. “St. John’s will continue to be a wonderful and growing congregation.”

However, St. John's needed to find a new home for “The Largest Table,” the free meal that has been a weekly Wednesday staple for 12 years at the Mound Street church for any who are hungry.

In-person meals took a hiatus when the COVID-19 pandemic surfaced in the U.S. and St. John’s pivoted to offering to-go meals instead, Bauman said.

That is, until this week.

Wearing a Reebok-brand rain coat, Ray Beer endured rainy conditions Wednesday to make what for him was a one-hour bike ride from Clintonville to downtown Columbus in search of a hot lunchtime meal.

It was a trek the 66-year-old made alone, but whatever solitude he felt during the journey faded away when he arrived at Trinity Episcopal Church. Sitting at a table with the Rev. Jed Dearing around 12:30 p.m., the two men’s conversation provided just as much nourishment as the cup of soup they were eating in the multipurpose basement area at the church at 125 E. Broad St.

“It helps because I do a lot of bike riding,” Beer said as a volunteer set down a piece of chocolate cake in front of him. “I can get some food in my system.”

Beer is a regular at the Sunday meals provided by Trinity for anyone who can't afford to feed themselves. But this meal was different — while it was hosted within the walls of Trinity, where Dearing serves as associate rector, it was organized and offered through St. John’s United Church of Christ.

The partnership began about a year ago when Bauman approached leaders at Trinity about collaborating to provide food to the hungry. Leaders at St. John’s, which Bauman said has up to 250 active members, were planning to sell their Downtown building on East Mound Street and Bauman wanted to ensure that “The Largest Table” would carry on elsewhere.

Bauman said the proceeds from the sale of the building will allow St. John's to pay off its debts as well as create investments and endowments to fund its ministry providing services "to people who are often underserved."

Prior to the sale, leaders at St. John’s were part of the formation in 2019 of Columbus Beacon of Hope Foundation, a nonprofit that Bauman said is intended to support and raise funds for ministries feeding the hungry, such as “the Largest Table” and “In the Garden," Trinity's Sunday meals that resumed in September.

The early results were on display Wednesday as St. John's clergy, staff and volunteers were able to resume serving weekly in-person meals in the undercroft area at Trinity.

Dearing said Trinity leaders were only too happy to provide the space for St. John’s outreach effort as the two churches set out to work together to feed the hungry.

“Our shared values are very similar, so we’ve always had a good working partnership,” Dearing said.

On Wednesday, Beer was one of a handful of people at Wednesday's in-person lunch. He said he had long attended “The Largest Table” before the pandemic, when he would receive one of about 200 or so meals distributed a week.

Bauman said she anticipates that the crowds will continue to grow to previous levels as word of mouth spreads and people realize in-person lunches are once again available.

Through St. John’s work feeding the hungry, Bauman said she has seen many like Beer who have no choice but to travel from church to church on various days of the week in search of a meal. It’s Bauman’s hope that ministries that have long been siloed can come together to offer more centralized locations where people can eat.

“We know there are people who really want to help, and we really want to become a hub in the heart of Downtown Columbus,” Bauman said. “We’re just really excited for what this can be.”

Eric Lagatta is a reporter at the Columbus Dispatch covering social justice issues and nonprofits.

elagatta@dispatch.com

@EricLagatta

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: St. John's UCC partners with Trinity Episcopal Church to offer meals