Church hosts certificate of occupancy barbecue

BRIDGEPORT -- The Rev. Kenneth Moales Jr. ended what he called a week of miracles Sunday with a nearly four-hourlong "certificate of occupancy celebration" and a barbecue at his Union Avenue church.

The festivities at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit followed the issuance this week of a temporary certificate that the church had lacked since it opened four years ago, despite state laws that require the document as proof a building is safe before it is occupied.

"We had a ball. Because God is the greatest power, we shall not be defeated," said Moales, former campaign manager for Mayor Bill Finch and chairman of the city's Board of Education.

The church was granted the certificate just hours after city officials conceded it had been operating without one. The situation ended with City Building Official Peter Paajanen, who claimed he had no idea the church was operating there, getting a talking to from a state building official.

That news, meanwhile, followed the revelation that the church was in default on $7.3 million in mortgages and that liens totaling nearly $1 million more had been filed against the church and a number of properties it owns in the city's East End.

Despite his annoyance at his church's financial and zoning troubles becoming front-page news, Moales said God turned the attention around to benefit the congregation.

He claims the church has spent $900,000 over the last three years on necessary improvements at the massive new sanctuary, but has been waiting for a city inspector for a year and a half. He said he had been told there was a backlog of inspections.

"Realistically, if I had that much power and was using the mayor, I could have gotten someone here (before) two years," he said.

City officials did not reply to requests for comment Sunday.

Since the church's financial plight was made public, Moales said new financial backers, big and small, have also stepped up.

Last Wednesday, an anonymous donor gave $35,000 to pay off one of the church's smaller bills. And a Catholic friend has pledged $5 a week to the church until the mortgage is paid in full, Moales said.

The church is also undertaking an ambitious fundraiser, with a goal of raising $1 million by Sept. 21, the third anniversary of Bishop Kenneth Moales Sr.'s death. That, Moales said, was the lowest point in the church's history.

Despite the financial difficulties, the congregation and its faith have never been stronger, he said.

Parishioners agreed.

"We get dragged through the muck and mire, but we're still here," said Neal McGee, who owns a barbershop on Stratford Avenue. "God is good. Anytime you try to do something good, you are always going to come up against obstacles."

"All things happen for a reason, because God is yet in charge," added Wilhelmina Jackson, former chairperson of the church's trustee board.

As if proving the church is fine, Moales on Sunday announced that it would be undertaking, and funding, a new initiative at the Central Avenue house where his father first founded the church -- then called the Prayer Tabernacle Church of Love.

The church will soon get the necessary permits, Moales said, to convert the off-white house back into a residential setting. It will then house a married couple -- who now work for the church's day-care and after-school program -- who will become foster parents to African-American boys in a program called the Genesis House.

Unfortunately, there is no shortage of African-American boys in the foster care system no one wants to adopt, Moales said.

He said he would announce more details, including the name of the foster care agency the church is partnering with, next month.

The house had previously been designated a religious school, before the Love Christian Academy moved into a one-story addition attached to the cathedral building. It is located directly behind the Union Avenue church.

Moales Jr. said the initiative was one of his father's many goals.

ktorres@ctpost.com, 203-330-6321, http://facebook.com/ktorresbpt or http://twitter.com/ktorresbpt.

Source: http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Church-hosts-certificate-of-occupancy-barbecue-4692315.php

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