This gorgeous vintage photo of Trenton's Gethsemene Baptist Church, like neighboring St. James P.E. Church has been vacated and is now the home of the Macedonia Baptist Church community. The tree in the foreground is long gone. A CVS pharmacy now occupies the lot on the left, out of the picture. The graphic below shows the home page banner of the current tenants of what was Gethsemane Baptist Church at 1300 Greenwood Avenue. Macedonia Baptist Church acquired the property on November 2, 1980.
I have removed all comments relating to my original post wherein I mis-spelled Gethsemane, (Thanks Alan W. for the correction.) I have removed the comments that revolved around my choice of words and re-posting the entire page for the benefit of future visitors who are using the net to search for "Gethsemane Baptist Church." I didn't like the direction in which my original description was written and the veiled controversy accompanying it.
Another black religious community? Not sure I agree with the choice of words.
ReplyDelete"ANONYMOUS:"
ReplyDeleteSORRY I HAVE OBVIOUSLY OFFENDED YOU IN SOME WAY; IT WASN'T INTENTIONAL. YOUR CHOICE OF WORDS COULD SUGGEST THAT I HAVE RACIST TENDENCIES, WHICH I DO NOT AND NEVER HAVE HAD. SEE THE ADDED POST TO THE GETHSEMENE PAGE.
TOM
I believe the wording that Anonymous wasn't comfortable with was "taken over by another black ...". By saying "another" you indicated that you have in mind at least a couple such instances. Whether you think that's good, bad, or indifferent, a reader could infer that by labeling it with "another" that you have given it a negative connotation, especially since you preface it with "taken over", which is an phrase showing aggression. You probably didn't (or still don't?) see it that way, probably because you didn't mean it that way. Much more neutral would have been "St. James P.E. Church has been vacated and currently houses a black religious community."
ReplyDeleteThis was the first time I stumbled across your site, having seen a nice old picture on Google images. I'm really into digital preservation of historical materials and from a cursory overview of your site appreciate the importance of the work that you've done. Keep it up!
Sincerely,
Anonymous #2
Thanks Anonymous #2 you described my thoughts exactly and more eloquently than my original comment. And thanks Tom for the follow-up, I'm sure it wasn't intentional.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous #1
It certainly wasn't meant to be a negative comment, and I fail to see that there is anything wrong with a facility being taken over by a successor. I appreciate any and all comments. Thanks for visiting and I hope you all return often.
ReplyDeleteTom
Incidentally: The original "anonymous" comment referred to my choice of words viz: "black religious community" and had no reference to the phrase "taken over."
ReplyDeleteTom (again)