Like Jesus driving the money changers out of the temple, the Rev. Courtney Edward Krier has managed to shoo the city of Las Vegas away from his downtown church’s doorstep.

Last weekend, Krier, who presides over Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church on Ogden Avenue and Ninth Street, noticed city workers had bored holes to mount a parking meter next to a streetlight just feet from the church’s front door.

The planned meter — along with a new sign telling congregants to “Pay to Park” — proved too much for the pastor, who started working the phones on Monday. MORE