Religion
At 8:14 p.m., on Monday the mosque on San Pablo Avenue in Richmond suddenly bustles with activity. Adhan, the Islamic call for prayer, is said. When the men wrap up their Quran reading and spring from their seats, it is time to break the 16-hour fast that started at 4:45 a.m. Worshippers walk to a narrow alley inside the mosque and sit together to break their fast. With their first bite of the fruits and dates spread out on a…
Perenna Fleming is psychic, but she’s not a psychic. That’s what she says.
As part of a system-wide initiative to increase its African American student population, officials from California State University, Sonoma visited St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church in Richmond on Sunday with a message: “Send us your best and brightest,” CSU president Rueben Armiñana said to church members from the pulpit.
As they have every Sunday for the last 70 years, members of the Davis Chapel filed into church on a recent weekend and took their seats in the red-cushioned pews. The first sunlight of the day streamed in through the stained-glass windows and members of the choir took their positions behind the altar. Clapping their hands and stepping side-to-side in rhythm, the white-robed choir raised its voice in harmony and sang: “Oh to the blood of Jeee—sus. To the blood…
In the last decade, the Mormon church has increased its membership by nearly 2 million people, making it the fastest-growing religion in the world. At the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Richmond, its members demonstrate the success the church has made in Latin America, the place of origin for many new converts.
It was a vision that would change the way they celebrated Christmas forever. Burgundie Spears was a sophomore in college when she decided to give up her own Christmas to begin collecting clothing, toys, and food for “Christmas in Richmond,” an annual event—which became a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit in December—that helps those in need. “The organization was literally birthed out of my spirit,” Spears, now 27, said of the faith-based organization. “It didn’t make sense to start something while we…
The House of Prayer Ministries, located near Nevin and 2nd Street in the Iron Triangle, only has about 20 church members. It’s a small parish, but lead Pastor Kenneth E. Wilkerson says it’s a strong one with deep love for people in the area. “We have a heart for this community, for Richmond,” said Wilkerson, while sitting in the church’s small back room and watching his “worker bees” buzz around clearing plates from people who stopped in for a hot…
Eleanor Thompson is known in the Iron Triangle neighborhood as an advocate for youth and their safety. What’s less known is that she is motivated to work for the young people of Richmond by her own childhood experience. Thompson was born in Arkansas but moved to Arizona when she was six. By the time she was 14, she had lost both her parents and entered a foster home with her two younger sisters, then 13 and 12. Despite being the…
Members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, representing six Catholic parishes in Contra Costa County, pledged a monetary donation and were welcome to walk or run as little or as much as they wanted for two hours during the fifth annual Friends of the Poor Walk/Run.