James Street activist Bill Chappel sent me some pix he took at the Fire Muster that I covered here June 7th, among which was a foto of the old Wayne firetruck in a slitely different place than I saw it later, in front of what used to be the Second Presbyterian Church.
"Foto (c) Bill Chappel 2009"
In April 2008 I noticed that the formerly empty church showed a poster of a new occupant, in the glass case at the corner of Washington and James Streets.
WISOMMM is apparently a Newark-based Moslem organization with various programs, including the Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School, in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, and a child-care center. The WISOMMM website says:
Women in Support of the Million Man March, Inc. (WISOMMM), a non-profit community based organization, was created after the Million Man March that took place in Washington, D.C. on October 16, 1995. It was originally formed to be a womens contingent and a means of support to carry out the principles of the March. WISOMMM has continued the spirit and momentum and is committed to serving the community according to the tenets of the March which include faith, empowerment, self love, self-determination and reunification of the family.
I was walking by the former church one early evening many months ago and saw a (black) gentleman in a bowtie just inside a side entrance, and started to ask him what kinds of programs are conducted there. He was abrupt in telling me that functions were private (and making plain that I was not welcome inside). He provided absolutely no information in turning me away, just barely civilly. His attitude was more than verging on rude. This is the kind of thing that has turned the people of this country off to Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam, which organized the Million Man March, and is known for its bowtied-and-jacketed look.
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Bill's foto contains a banner I did not see on Fire Muster Day, which makes me wonder if WISOMMM has become more conciliatory toward non-Moslems.
"Foto (c) Bill Chappel 2009"
I searched the Internet and found a website for that church, which appears to be based in, of all places, Dubai, the largest city in an emirate of the same name, part of the United Arab Emirates. Dubai is 96% Moslem, but does have other communities, thanks to a large number of foreign residents, most of whom went there for simple economic benefits: to work.
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Bill thinks that WISOMMM owns the building and rents to the church on Sundays, while using the sanctuary for Moslem religious services itself on other days, but I see no mention of religious services on WISOMMM's website. If there are Moslem religious services in the former Second Presbyterian Church, that would explain the loudspeakers, which would be used for a muezzin's call to prayer.
Most Christians don't know that Islam reveres Jesus as a prophet, and some sects within Islam hold that the Mahdi and Jesus will both preside over the end of the world. So it's not actually bizarre that Fresh Anointing International Church should be based in a Moslem country nor that a Moslem organization should welcome a Christian church to hold services in their building one day a week.
Origin: wiccalessons.blogspot.com
