Church keeps faith in development plan.

• Position: Macedonia True Vine Pentecostal Church of God in Winston-Salem - Brief Article

Winston-Salem traces its history to 1766, when Moravian leaders laid out the boundaries of Salem. The city's latest brush with faith-based real estate is the brainchild of Sylvester D. Johnson of Macedonia True Vine Pentecostal Church of God.

Johnson says the church, founded in 1946 by his grandfather, has 2,500 members in more than 100 congregations worldwide. He's planning a $35 million mix of single-family homes, housing for the elderly, a new church, an elementary school and new offices for WSMXAM radio station. He has put up a $30,000 deposit -- 5% of the $600,000 price -- on 38 acres of scruffy pine-owned by the city on its northeastern fringe. The first check bounced. The city has since gotten a certified check, though by mid-June, aldermen had not accepted it. The contract gives Johnson 18 months to come up with $15 million of the project's cost. The city is eager to sell the parcel, which it acquired in 1995, but only for what it considers a good use.

Johnson declines interviews, but he has demonstrated 11th-hour prowess at raising money. He and his wife, Gwendolyn, filed a petition under Chapter 13 of the bankruptcy code in 1997 because of debts from building the existing church complex, a brick structure that...