Touch not my anointed.

December 19, 2007 9:45 PM

Brooklyn Storefront Houses Of Worship. Amateur photos of 100 storefront houses of worship in Brooklyn, NY.
posted by sklero (17 comments total)

Used to pass these places all the time: this totally takes me back. As they say here in Japan, "natsukashii"!

Thanks for the post.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:50 PM on December 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

This one, though, is certainly not a storefront...
posted by flapjax at midnite at 10:00 PM on December 19, 2007

Someone needs to do this for San Francisco's Mission district.
posted by vacapinta at 10:01 PM on December 19, 2007

This is cool. I dig the Moses mural.
posted by tepidmonkey at 10:04 PM on December 19, 2007

I grew up with these too in the Crown Heights section of B'klyn where my parents had their little shop. They all had the same ugly white signs. And they all looked the same inside also with rows of aluminum folding chairs.
posted by cazoo at 10:13 PM on December 19, 2007

I forgot to mention that the saddest thing about these storefront churches was seeing weddings take place in them. Depressing!
posted by cazoo at 10:15 PM on December 19, 2007

First there's something oddly beautiful about these. Then, after you see about 20 or so of them, they stop being odd and are just beautiful.
posted by roll truck roll at 10:21 PM on December 19, 2007

so great! makes me nostalgic for my time in NYC, there was one of these in the basement of my building in two bridges/LES.

thanks for posting!
posted by ethel at 10:27 PM on December 19, 2007

I've never actually seen a service at this one on Myrtle next to the crazy spanish-speaking person tireshop (for some reason, I've always thought the two must be related).
posted by iamck at 10:40 PM on December 19, 2007

I can't find a good picture of the outside, but I think the Church of John Coltrane was the first storefront church I'd ever heard of. Since then I've noticed them in a few town I've visited (Cleveland, NY, LA) and am always intrigued.

Some of these look like they could be old taverns. Actually, I'll bet at least one was.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 10:45 PM on December 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

Stay tuned for the 100 Queens storefront houses of worship I'm working on for ya!
posted by DenOfSizer at 3:29 AM on December 20, 2007

Strangely, these look just like my neighborhood storefront churches.

Brookland (/Michigan Park/Woodridge/Mount Rainier) represent!

Some of these look like they could be old taverns. Actually, I'll bet at least one was.

The first one you posted looks like it was a doctor's/dentist's office, the second looks like a store with large display windows. I don't really see bar in either of those.
posted by Pollomacho at 4:48 AM on December 20, 2007

Neat. Doesn't one of these appear in The Dream Team, or am I remembering the wrong movie?
posted by uncleozzy at 5:45 AM on December 20, 2007

Down south you see a lot of churches set up in odd buildings, but the one that really impressed me was the one set up in an ex-gas station, with the pump islands still out front.
posted by localroger at 5:47 AM on December 20, 2007

This one is a block from me.
posted by josher71 at 6:08 AM on December 20, 2007

Wonderful. Love your post. Thanks.
posted by nickyskye at 10:20 AM on December 20, 2007

You've been Boinged.
posted by xod at 10:26 AM on December 20, 2007