(Photo: Facebook/United Congregational Church)United Congregational Church in Bridgeport, Connecticut
Posted on 12/08/2016 8:59:07 AM PST by SeekAndFind
A Christian congregation in Connecticut that dates back to the 1600s has sold its church building to a Muslim group that plans to turn the building into a mosque.
(Photo: Facebook/United Congregational Church)United Congregational Church in Bridgeport, Connecticut
According to The Wall Street Journal, the historic United Congregational Church will sell its 1920s Georgian-Revival style church building to the Bridgeport Islamic Community Center for a price of $1 million.
The church dates back to the Colonial Era, when it was founded in 1695 as the Ecclesiastical Society of Stratfield. In 1916, the congregation merged with another congregation and officially became the United Congregational Church. Although the congregation once totalled over 3,000 members when the main church building was constructed, WSJ reports that the congregation total has dwindled to just 300.
Although the congregation has sold the church building, it will still remain a part of the community. The United Congregational Church plans to temporarily rent space at another building in the town until it can find another permanent location to buy. The two ministries will also form a partnership to run a soup kitchen and homeless shelter that will be located at the Islamic center.
"This is much bigger than a sale of a building. It's about healing wounds. It's about building peace. It's about making friends," the Rev. Sara Smith said at a press conference on Monday. "It is about showing a witness to the world that the children of Abraham and everybody else included can work together, can live together in respect and dignity. Isn't that what all of our faiths are about?"
Ahmed Ebrahim, who heads the Bridgeport Islamic Community Center, told WSJ that the two factors that led his organization to purchase the historic church building were that it's already zoned for religious use and has the space needed for the 1,000 Muslim families in the Bridgeport area that expect to worship and pray at the mosque.
"It's a perfect fit for our needs," Ebrahim explained, adding that the outgoing Christian congregation will help prepare the building by removing the cross from the altar.
"It's sad," Ellen Carter, a member of the United Congregational Church, told WSJ. "On the other hand, it's necessary, and we are happy it's again going to be used as a house of worship."
Similar things are happening in Bristol Township, Pennsylvania, where the closed Immaculate Conception B.V.M. Catholic Church was sold to the United American Muslim Society of Brooklyn for nearly $1.8 million in October.
The sale of the Catholic church comes after the congregation merged with the Queen of the Universe Parish in 2014. The church remained open as a worship facility until Jan. 1, the LevitttownNow.com reports.
Here comes the Caliphate.
And so it begins.
America, God just answered a prayer. You better get your asses into those churches and thank Him.
Same thing happened to a church around here.
Someone bought the building across from that and opened a bar/restaurant that serves a pork BBQ menu and has a big glowing neon pig in the front window. Directly facing the mosque.
Until they kill you
“It’s sad,” Ellen Carter, a member of the United Congregational Church, told WSJ. “On the other hand, it’s necessary, and we are happy it’s again going to be used as a house of worship.”
Should be demolished by the owners.
Put in a gas station mini-mart and make a much better return while also protecting the community from the blight of Islam.
Women pastors. When will we see women imams in that mosque?
I’d burnt it to the ground before I saw the stinking muzzie moon risen above my Cross.
If I were a member of the congregation,I’d rather vote to burn the building to the ground than let Satan take it over.
You missed the first evidence that it wasn’t really a Christian church. “The Rev Sara Smith”.
How much you want to bet that the “rev” is a lesbian too?
When God’s people turn away from God’s word and start accepting things that God rejects, they should expect their congregations to shrink and their lands to be taken over by the enemy.
I don’t have problem with this. The Church was for sale, they bought it.
If someone didn’t like the idea, they could have easily outbid them for it.
The Caliphate came to our country when we allowed the first muzzie to live here.
“Historic Christian Church to Be Converted Into Mosque; Members Take Down Cross From Altar”
Another step in the mohammedan conquest. Meanwhile, the leftist idiots are focused on cross-gender restrooms.
Fools.
and turned it into a BBQ joint!
A church without Christ in it is just a building.
You got it spot on - many times, you absolutely CAN judge a book by its cover
http://www.uccbridgeport.org
http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/New-minister-signals-changing-times-for-435075.php
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