A presence in Harlem
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HARLEM, N.Y. — A slight, one-story building on 129th Street, nearly lost beneath miles and miles of tall apartments, has been home to various faiths over the years. Now, an enlarged logo of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stands out like a billboard on its front.
Perhaps the sign is large to show that members of the current congregation are very serious about who they are.
And perhaps the sign is an indication of the high interest in growth that the Church has in this densely populated pocket of black suburbia. Another indication of an interest in growth are the six full-time missionaries serving from the branch who spend their days canvassing streets and climbing up apartment stairs where they meet with various levels of welcome. They bring in an occasional convert.
Inside the small meetinghouse on Sunday morning, visitors find abundant welcome as Harlem 1st Branch President Ronald M. Anderson warmly greets all, a congregation of about 60. Several nationalities and ethnic groups are represented in the congregation, with members from Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and African nations, as well as longtime residents of Harlem and some from the western United States.
"Our numbers have doubled in about four years," President Anderson said in a brief interview between meetings. He rocked a baby in a carriage as he spoke. "It makes me happy to see a lot of the people we have baptized going to the temple, and filling callings."
Around him in the small facility are swirls of energy. A youth Sunday School class meets behind partitions on one side, the Primary in a small basement room, and the adult Sunday School class in front in the chapel. President Anderson's baby falls asleep and he takes a few more minutes to explain that traditional Harlem is changing: the area that has always had a high transiency rate now also has lower crime rates.
"Harlem is a much safer neighborhood. Bill Clinton has an office five blocks from here. Five years ago, a former president would not have considered putting an office here."
As a result, in the midst of the comings and goings, are more people of middle America. At the same time, higher rents are pushing out some longtime residents in search of less expensive housing elsewhere.
"We have people moving in because of that, and people moving out because of that," he said. Still, "our numbers have been holding very steady."
President Anderson, who is a member of a local ministers' association, hopes to soon outgrow the small building. Growth can come from members moving in from such areas as Puerto Rico or the Caribbean, students from the west attending school in New York, or new converts. One recent convert is a man who used to sit on a porch near the meetinghouse and watch people attend services. One day he came inside to the meeting. In a few weeks he was baptized.
But such conversions are rare. More often, investigators are brought in through the traditional way, as was branch member Agnes Martinez. Her family's first contact with the Church was through missionaries. A family member "juked" the missionaries, or made a false appointment. The family member mentioned that to the mother just as the family member left.
"Now I am left holding the bag," she responded. But when the missionaries showed up, "I felt sorry for them," said Sister Martinez. "We put their bicycles in the living room and we sat in the kitchen where all our conversations take place. It was lunch time, so I made them a little something and asked them what they were doing, and why they were doing it."
The missionaries explained the Restoration to her. She recognized the "families are forever" theme from television commercials and had a comfortable and deep feeling that led to her later baptism. She has since been one of the branch stalwarts and particularly enjoys going to the temple.
"The temple is a hard place to leave," she said. "Then we have to come back to what we really live in."
Others who come into the branch are converts from areas such as the Caribbean. Pat Gladden was a young single mother when the missionaries came to her sister's home in the Virgin Islands "and I accepted what they were telling me. I was baptized within a month," she said. "I was going through a real rough time in my life. Sometimes in life it takes for us to hit bottom to realize that we need a change in our life; not a change from bad to worse, but a change from worse to being good."
As a member, she continued, "I have met so many wonderful, caring, loving people over the years. There has been the caring and nurturing my daughter has received from people in the Church.
Members are criticized for belonging to the Church, she said.
"I tell other people: 'Don't knock it till you've tried it.' "
Another member who was often questioned about his membership is Manny Mercado, counselor in the elders quorum presidency.
"I consider myself a pioneer in the Church in California," he said, explaining that he served a mission in Orange County, Calif., in the mid-1980s. "I had people inviting me into their homes, not to find out about the Church, but to ask why I was a member of this Church."
He told them he had gained a testimony that Joseph Smith was a prophet. Brother Mercado joined the Church in 1984. "Then one year later, President Ezra Taft Benson asked us to pray about the Book of Mormon. Then I realized that the Book of Mormon is the word of God." That testimony led to his serving a mission, he said.
After his mission he returned to Puerto Rico where he served on the high council.
"I am happy to be in Harlem," said Brother Mercado. His return is more than to a neighborhood. He once attended services in this building when it was leased by another religion. As resident of Spanish Harlem, he looks forward to the day when a Spanish-speaking branch will be organized nearer to his home.
Bernice Savage, a longtime resident of Harlem, investigated the Church. After her third missionary lesson, she was ready to be baptized. "There are a lot of things we need to understand," she said. "But now we do. We will never be the same."
Estelle Cowan was baptized after taking the missionary lessons and brought six other people into the gospel with her. When she telephoned her identical twin, Lillian Ervin, who lives on Staten Island, to be a referral, Sister Cowan found to her surprise that her twin had also joined the Church.
"We weren't that close before," she said. "The gospel brought us together. I thank my Heavenly Father for that."
Elders Talen Bundy and Michael Van Oostendorp, serving in the New York New York Mission, explained that missionary work is tough but rewarding in Harlem. When they knock on a door, they never know what to expect. But the prospect of finding additional members such as these is the hope that keeps them going.
E-mail: jhart@desnews.com
