It appears that we are to blame for preventing the church from moving forward on their planned redevelopment of the center because we are stubborn and difficult to work with, an idea that they have been promoting both to the other tenants in the center and to the public at large, but there are two sides to this struggle. More importantly, however, the struggle between Lafayette Music and Flatirons Community Church is not simply a contest to determine the proper reading of a legal contract. The ramifications of this struggle go far beyond whatever settlement we may ultimately achieve or whatever some court may rule and there is far more at stake than our life’s savings as well. This struggle goes to the real heart of what Flatirons Community Church is and how they actually relate to local businesses, how they treat the community at large, and how they view their own congregants but to really understand this point, it is necessary to go back to the very beginnings of the church's plan to convert this property into offices and a few retail properties. Since I have no insider knowledge of what transpired within the church, I can only make deductions from the various bits of evidence that I have been able to gather over the last six months but I would be happy to provide the written evidence that I do have on which I have based my conclusions. What is clear is that at some point in the late summer or early fall of 2014, FCC conceived a plan to convert a major portion of Lafayette Marketplace into offices. A key element for implementing this plan was that three retail businesses, Juliana's Bakery, Boulder Piano Gallery and Lafayette Music, would have to be gone for the work to commence. Walls touching on those units would be built out and most of the eastern half of the center would be completed gutted before building out the offices essentially from scratch. Juliana's was having difficulties and tried to work out a reduction in rent with the previous landlord, Jim Quinlan. Quinlan was not interested in working out a new arrangement and even claimed that other people were interested in the space and so the bakery left. Not surprisingly, no one else rented the space after they left. Lafayette Music was behind in its rent, something FCC's supporters and its pastors love to keep reminding everyone about. Why they love so much to keep bringing it up seems a bit bizarre since the issue of past due rent that was paid in full should be irrelevant to the current battle but it actually is quite relevant in light of the history of how everything got started. Rather than approach us last fall to talk to us about the church's plans, the church apparently decided that the best approach in acquiring the property would be to let Quinlan evict us. The church also knew that once Lafayette Music was gone, Boulder Piano Gallery would leave of its own accord and then both spaces would be vacant. Paul Brunner, the executive pastor, knew that we had been attending Flatirons, although he might not have known that we had been attending for six years. Jim Burgen, the lead pastor, likes to give a sermon each year urging people to talk to their neighbors to see if they could use some help and we are located right across the street from the church. One might think that, as professing Christians, someone from the church might have thought fit to talk to us and ask us why we were having difficulties but that might have risked spending some additional money. Or someone might have wondered what consequences this eviction might have on the lives of two of their congregants, but that also might not have been a prudent business decision. Unfortunately for the church, we decided to "force" Jim Quinlan to settle on the rent to stop the eviction and the word “force” is not used lightly. The eviction notice arrived the week before Thanksgiving and within days our attorney contacted Quinlan's attorney with an offer to cure the demand. Quinlan's lawyer said he would get back but we never heard a thing. Not until we finally got to the point in January where we were finally prepared to force Quinlan to go to court to settle the rent issue with the full $48,000 he had demanded in hand, did his attorney finally agree to negotiate. Perhaps not coincidentally, this offer to negotiate came on a Sunday, shortly after the last service at Flatirons. Among other things, the church never mentions the fact that Quinlan had been over charging us for the prior two years. Admittedly, we should have complained and taken action sooner but people make mistakes. Having gambled and lost, the church was now stuck with a tenant that should have been removed by the previous owner. The question this narrative should suggest is what kind of institution, claiming to be Christian, takes such a ruthless or, from another perspective, indifferent approach towards a local business owner and its own congregants in order to facilitate a business deal involving over $5 million. Paul Brunner actually made it clear in an e-mail addressed to me that the church would not have even offered to buy the property if the church had not been convinced that we would be gone. What does this attitude, then, also suggest about the church's attitude towards local businesses in Lafayette in general and the community at large? Admittedly, we only contribute a couple of thousand dollars a month in sales and other taxes to the city, but that is still more than the church contributes. What people see now in the struggle we are having with Flatirons is only the tail - the head lies hidden in the past. It is only now that the truth is gradually beginning to come out. The question people need to be asking themselves is what the church is willing to do to continue to increase its wealth and power - who else is expendable?