When Courthouses Replace Cathedrals

I was sharing my series about the proposed Weld County Justice Center on social media, where Jim left this comment:

Jim’s comment deserves more than a quick reply.

Because honestly, I get it.

My mom was married in that Methodist church in the summer of 1955, so I have some real personal attachment to that building. I wish I had a dime for every time I drove past it as a kid cruising D-block. It was part of the scenery of my childhood. Part of downtown. Part of the story.

So no, I don’t celebrate seeing it come down. It is sad when pieces of the past fall away.

But there’s a hard reality here, too.

That church was not forced out. Let me say that plainly. If the church had not been ready to leave, that would have been a hard stop for me and for this Board.

The congregation had grown older. It had grown smaller. The building had grown older too, with repair needs that were more than the congregation was ready or able to take on. They needed a facility that better fit the congregation they are today.

And that’s where this gets emotional for me.

Because in great candor, I wish that church had a parking problem.

I wish it was too small to hold all the people coming through its doors on Sunday morning. I wish there were families lined up down the block, kids running through the halls, Bible studies every night, ministry teams feeding the hungry, helping the addicted, walking with the lonely, and discipling the next generation.

I wish that building had been bursting at the seams.

But that is not where we are.

And maybe that should make all of us pause.

There is a higher demand today for courthouses than cathedrals.

That is not something to cheer. That is something to lament.

I believe deeply that if we want smaller government, then we need stronger families, stronger churches, stronger neighborhoods, and stronger communities. Government grows where community retreats. That is not a slogan. That is reality with a budget attached.

Housing. Homelessness. Food insecurity. Addiction. Crime. Broken families. Loneliness. Despair.

Government can manage some of the wreckage. It can fund programs, build facilities, operate courts, run jails, and process cases. Sometimes it must.

But government cannot love your neighbor for you.

Government cannot replace fathers.

Government cannot disciple children.

Government cannot restore a soul.

Government cannot be the church.

If we truly want government to be smaller, then we have to allow God to be as big as He is – and we have to be willing to become His hands and feet again. We need people of faith and people of goodwill stepping into the gap before the crisis reaches a courtroom, a jail cell, a homeless shelter, or a government program.

That is the world I want.

But as a county commissioner, I also have to deal with the world as it is.

And the reality is this: Weld County is growing. Our current court facilities are out of runway. Colorado law requires counties to provide court facilities. The Justice Center is not optional, and safe, functional court space matters for victims, witnesses, jurors, deputies, judges, clerks, attorneys, defendants, families, and the public.

I understand the grief over losing old buildings. I feel it myself.

Historic preservation matters. But preservation is expensive. Very expensive. And while we have people and groups in Weld County who care deeply about history, taking on the cost of preserving, repairing, and maintaining a large aging church building is a completely different matter than simply wishing it could be saved.

I don’t say that coldly. I say it, frustrated and downright pissed off.

Because I wish things were different.

I wish the church was full.

I wish families were stronger.

I wish fewer people needed courts.

I wish justice centers were less necessary than sanctuaries.

But leadership requires telling the truth about what is, not only grieving what was.

So yes, Jim, I understand. More than you know.

This decision was not made because anyone hates history. It was not made because anyone wanted to erase downtown’s past. And it certainly was not made casually.

It was made because Weld County has a legal responsibility, a public safety responsibility, and a generational responsibility to provide a justice system that works for the county we are becoming.

I don’t ask anyone to like every part of that.

I don’t like every part of it either.

But I do ask people to understand the full picture: the history, the faith, the grief, the growth, the law, and the responsibility.

All of it matters.