How to deal with a noisy church

[leko.livejournal.com]

So, this actually isn't in davis square, but I like this community better than the general somerville one, so I'm asking here.

The new place I moved into is next to a church that is very noisy very often. I'm not sure if they're having services, or hosting some other random events or what, but there is often loud music and drums coming from it -- sometimes quite late.

To whom should I complain? Is there any way to deal with this via city government? I mean, it would be nice if they would either turn the volume down, or better soundproof their building, but I don't think they'll do either voluntarily.

Comments

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

I don't think you're going to get much of anywhere complaining about a noisy church.

I think this goes under "researching the neighborhood before you move in."

[leko.livejournal.com]

well it seemed like a quiet residential street.

I expected standard church noise, but not band practice.

[mperrotti76.livejournal.com]

Would you cares as much if, say Radiohead, moved next store?

PS: You look like Eminem in that photo.

[leko.livejournal.com]

No, I'd be pretty excited if radiohead moved next door and would probably be more forgiving of noise. But as much as I like radiohead, I still don't want to hear it all muffled and pounding coming in through my closed windows while I'm trying to listen to something else.

[mperrotti76.livejournal.com]

YOU LISTEN TO THINGS OTHER THAN RADIOAHEAD!!@!!! HEATHEN!

[mperrotti76.livejournal.com]

Jesus.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

His answering services leave a lot to be desired.

[mperrotti76.livejournal.com]

Heh. Win.

[haptotrope.livejournal.com]

You can call and ask the church involved... though maybe you just go to the chuch when noise is going on, and see if it is a service or just an event or practice (ie interruptable?) Id the later, ask them to keep it down... if the former, call the church itself, and see if they can take it down a notch.

Otherwise, earplugs. Wave of the future.

[ron_newman]

Could just be a matter of asking the church to close its doors and windows (or having the city ask them for you).

[infinitemorning.livejournal.com]

Have you tried asking someone at the church? It seems kind of impolite to go and involve city government right away if you don't know for certain if they'll try to accommodate you.

In any event, I believe 311 is the number you want to call, if it comes to that. That's the number for non-emergency complaints, and this would qualify. I don't know if there's much they can do, offhand, as churches do get a certain amount of leeway. And, again, you might at least try talking to the pastor or someone first, if you can get in touch with them.

band practice at church

[canavaliagirl.livejournal.com]

I have a similar problem. Loud drums & guitars, tone deaf singing, etc. etc. sometimes at 8am, sometimes past midnight. Do you by chance live by a part-time church part-time Masonic temple on Highland?

Let me know how it goes.

Re: band practice at church

[mostlyhere.livejournal.com]

This one and the one across the street... I live two blocks down the hill and Saturday and Sunday can be agony.

Re: band practice at church

[canavaliagirl.livejournal.com]

You can hear it two blocks away? I live next door to the evangelicals/masonic temple on Highland. Weekend agony is the perfect description.

[ron_newman]

Where is this?

There is a Somerville noise ordinance, and churches are subject to it just as residents and businesses are.

Also, thia post is now tagged as noise. Take a look at earlier posts with this tag and see if anything there is useful.

[leko.livejournal.com]

This is winter hill. The corner of central and broadway.

I found the churches website, but I don't speak spanish:

http://www.vidareal.net/inicio.html

I'll take a look at that noise ordinance and see if they're in violation. Thanks.

[ron_newman]

That used to be Winter Hill Congregational Church (across the street from my synagogue), but I think it's something else now.

[leko.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm directly across the street from the synagogue. The synagogue is a great neighbor :)

[jenskot.livejournal.com]

Oh god, if that church is anywhere near as loud as their webpage, you have my sympathies. :S

[makoshark.livejournal.com]

Seriously. It's pretty off the hook.

[jadelennox]

I don't know Spanish, but I found a phone number and e-mail address on their site:

PASTOR Apóstol Pastor Lic. Luís Morales
MOVIL (617) 308.6292
E-MAILS luismorales@vidareal.net
PASTORA Blanca de Morales
MOVIL (617) 501.2141
E-MAILS blancamorales@vidareal.net

CORREOS DE AYUDA GENERAL
info@vidareal.net | pastores@vidareal.net | oracion@vidareal.net

Try to call them. And if the person who answers the phone doesn't speak any English, e-mail them, and hope that someone who speaks English can translate it. Or even better, ask a friend who speaks Spanish to translate your e-mail.

[watchamacallit.livejournal.com]

I lived across the street from that church for a while and called the police on them nearly every week for well over a year. Those churchgoers are some of the most disrespectful people I have ever encountered. I was constantly finding them sitting on my car, banging drums on the sidewalk at midnight, blocking my driveway, and running into traffic. Once I went over there to chase down a kid who was shining a laser pointer into my windows. Every single person claimed to not speak English.

[leko.livejournal.com]

ugh. Well, we'll see. If calling the police doesn't end up working, maybe there is a more political avenue to explore.

[watchamacallit.livejournal.com]

I hate to be pessimistic but... calling the police never changed anything for me. And the people I spoke to on the phone when filing noise complaints told me that neighbors are always calling the police to complain about that church. I would have pursued this issue further but I moved out of state.

[leko.livejournal.com]

The state of the noise ordinances is a little sketchy. The zoning ordinances found on the city clerks webpage says

"Article 11, regarding Noise, has been repealed from the SZO by
Ordinance 2001 – 4, on March 8, 2001.
A new comprehensive Noise Ordinance has been written and
can be found in the Somerville Code of Ordinances."

But in the code of ordinances I see chapter 9 article VII division 2 (sorry, I don't know the proper citation format) which has older ordinances §§ 9-112--9-119 that were repealed by 2000-11. I cannot find the "new comprehensive Noise Ordinance" referenced in the above quotation.

[ron_newman]

Isn't the new ordinance the one I linked to above? (It is no longer part of zoning.)

[leko.livejournal.com]

that link relies on some previous search results, and so initially it just kind of freaked out and kept oscillating between two different pages, and now that link just returns the first hit of my last search.

[ron_newman]

I don't know how that happened. Maybe this link will work better? (Page has a special "Save URL" button which is contrary to how the web is supposed to work.)

[leko.livejournal.com]

Ok, that worked. It looks like it's the same thing I found on my own, and they pretty clearly violate it. I will attempt to contact them and let them know they're in violation before I do anything else.

Thanks.

[canavaliagirl.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting the link! I feel better about approaching them now.

[beowabbit]

If contacting the church directly doesn’t help, another thing to try before bringing cops or lawyers into it is to find another reasonably local church of the same denomination (presumably an anglophone one or one where the pastor speaks English well) and contact them about it, with some gentle hints about how you’ve heard that all your neighbours call the cops all the time but you’d rather approach things gently and respectfully and you’re sure that behaviour isn’t representative of the denomination as a whole. Then the church could get some advice/pressure from a source they regard as friendly.

Another thing you might try is seeing if you have any neighbours who are Latino/Latina who are also annoyed by the noise who might be willing to contact the church. Again, that way they’d be being contacted by somebody they have a little more predisposition to see as an ally (and perhaps more importantly by somebody they could communicate with easily).

[ron_newman]

Sounds like a good idea, but I'm not sure they are 'denominational'. At least I couldn't find any links on their web site leading to any sort of higher-level organization.

[beowabbit]

Well, they’re some flavour of Baptist: “Compañerismo: Bautizandos” means “Fellowship: Baptizing” (or maybe “Fellowship: Baptists”).

[glowroper.livejournal.com]

"Baptist" or baptizing or baptized is a very common adjective in evangelical independent church names. Given the worship style, it is likely that they are not afffiliated with the American Baptists or the Southern Baptists, the main flavors of Baptist in the US.

[ron_newman]

If the police are not helpful or you don't want to call them, consider approaching your ward alderman instead. That would be Sean O'Donovan (Ward 5), but you're also right across the street from Ward 4 (Walter Pero). (Here's a ward map.) It's possible that Alderman-at-Large Bill White will be more helpful than either, as he lives a block away on Browning Road.

[ron_newman]

And here's the Board of Aldermen's page. Click on each name in the left column to get his or her contact information.

Pastor Morales

[grateful1311.livejournal.com]

Pastor Luis Morales speaks fluent English. His assistant also speaks English. The noise ordinance in Somerville states that there is to be no loud noise between 11pm and 7am. Call your aldreman, he can help.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

If this is a problem that a lot of people in the neighborhood have, then perhaps approaching your alderman is a better strategy than raising the matter with the church directly.

[righteousness-1.livejournal.com]

Have they no Christian concern for their fellow man? What would Jebus do?

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

He'd say: "Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of people in order to be noticed by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So whenever you give to the poor, don't blow a trumpet before you like the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they will be praised by people. I tell you with certainty, they have their full reward! But when you give to the poor, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be done in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And whenever you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to stand in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they will be seen by people. I tell you with certainty, they have their full reward! But whenever you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees from the hidden place will reward you."

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Well, the door is closed. It's the windows that let the sound out!

[righteousness-1.livejournal.com]

Too funny!

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

This has become a recent problem, as many 'storefront' churches are opening around the city, and they are not your typical church service. They tend to be very loud, often held at night, and attendees are not very good about observing parking regulations. They also sometimes rent space in what appears to be a quiet neighborhood. Good luck!

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

This is a church which holds church services in a church building which it purchased.

I find your comments vaguely racist/xenophobic, and not just because you make the assumption that a Spanish-language evangelical church must be a "storefront" church.


(Note: I am a Mayflower-descendant Episcopalian myself, so this is not a matter of my own ox being gored, just suggesting that you check your own assumptions and privilege.)

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

Ron has already corrected, but I fail to see where the OP said that in was a Spanish language evangelical church?

Unless that got edited. I was out of town.

[ron_newman]

The church that the OP is complaining about is indeed a Spanish language evangelical church, but it is not in a 'storefront'.

[ron_newman]

The church being discussed here is in a large, old Winter Hill church building formerly occupied by a Congregational church. It is as far from 'storefront' as you can get.