Mount Olivet Baptist Church

Mount Olivet Baptist Church...

... originally Temple Israel

There are many big churches in my corner of Harlem. Many of the churches were originally synagogues, built about a century ago when German Jewish families moved to Harlem. Mount Olivet Baptist Church at 120th and Lenox was originally Temple Israel. The synagogue was built in 1907 and was once one of the city's most prestigious synagogues. Mount Olivet, an old and influential black congregation in New York, acquired the building in 1925 when that congretation moved uptown to Harlem from mid-Manhattan. You can see the Stars of David at the top of the four enormous columns and in the stained glass windows.

Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean spoke at Mount Olivet last November. Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe spoke at the church in 2000.

Much of the above information comes from the AIA Guide to New York City and the New York Times.

Comments

[Harold Hill Murphy]

If this is the church Hugo Chavez is suppose to speak this is for you. What are you thinking of? Chavez is a Marxist and don't you realize what Marxist goverments do to Christians? North Korea, and Cambodia and other Marxists countries HATE Christianity and murder Christian. Check it out. If you sell yourselves out for a little "cheap oil" you will be a traitor to Jesus and our free country. Chavez is a friend of Castro and you know what Castro is, a communist. Communist is a atheist religion. That means no God. Isa that what you want?

[Dr. Anne Martin]

How can you, as Christians, allow Chavez to speak from your church? Do you endorse all the evil that he has done in his country? Do you not realize this is just a stunt to disrespect America and President Bush?

We are ashamed that you would sell out Christianity (and our President) for a cheap price on heating oil. What do you think the Lord is thinking as He looks down on all of this?

Saddened,
Dr. Anne Martin

[Daisy]

I am totally shocked that a Baptist church is allowing Chavez to speak from its pulpit; although I shouldn't be.

The Bible says that in the "end times" churches will fall away. It seems my Christian brothers and sisters in New York are willing to sell out for cheap oil. This really saddens me. Isn't your pastor teaching the Truth? It is your responsibility to see that he/she does!

I guess I am naive in believing that with so many books published on the "end times" that we are all aware of the way the enemy will try to deceive us.

It is my prayer that the members of Mt. Olivet Baptist church will get back to the basics of the Bible and stay strong in their faith. Study Revelations, Daniel, Ezekiel, etc.!

Trust in the Lord for your finances and don't trade your eternal glory for some cheap oil.

I pray that this will convict some fellow believers to be strong.

In Christ

[Patty]

Shame on Mount Olivet Baptist Church in Harlem, and the leaders of this church. Shame on you! Our President is a devout Christian man, and after Mr. Chavez calls him the "devil" at the UN, you invite him into your church to honor him??

In Luke, the devil tempted our Lord Jesus in the wilderness. The devil said if you are the Son of God, turn this stone into bread. Jesus replied, "It is written, man must not live on bread alone. The devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and said I will give it all to you, if only you bow down and worship me. But Jesus again resisted the devil, and said, "It is written, worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only."

We are to honor our Lord in all that we do. We are to worship Him alone and depend on Him for all of our needs. We do not need anything by way of the devil.

[David]

As a SOUTHERN Baptist, I am appalled and ashamed that a church calling itself Baptist would behave in such a manner. To invite a man such as Hugo Chavez to speak in your church is tantamount to apostasy, and you should all be ashamed of yourselves. If you can listen to our President give his Christian testimony and then listen to an unsaved firebrand like Chavez, you are the worst kind of Christians if you believe in Hugo Chavez. We in this country should not be selling ourselves out for heating oil and allowing an outsider to come in and call our President the Devil. If any of you have studied your Bibles lately, you might notice a resemblence between Mr. Chavez and Satan, not George Bush. Chavez is a "false teacher" -- wake up.

[Iris]

Jesus says to love our enemies and to pray for them..........however, I do not believe He would approve of letting one of our enemies spew hatred from the pulpits in this country. Our president is a Godly man and certainly does not deserve the treatment afforded him through your church. Yes, you might as well have called Mr. Bush a devil because that's exactly what you did by letting Chavez speak in your church.

[Chris]

The people at this "church" are all evil and their pastor is going to burn in hell. And that makes me happy. They decided to take a big fat shit on me and everyone else who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan by letting that turd (chavez) speak at their "church". I hope they all die horribly and slowly. Actually I hope they all out live their children.

[Louis Dubost]

As a Christian, who has been in the ministry for 45 years, has formerly served as a pastor of Baptist churches, and who has studied the Bible through the years, I am not at all shocked or surprised at what happened today at Mount Olivet Baptist Church in Harlem. Mount Olivet Baptist Church is an apostate church with apostate leaders, who stand away from the truth of God's word. Apostates are those who ignore God's Word, oppose God's Word, and contradict God's Word. We can recognize such by what they stand for and what they spew out from the pulpit.
Yes we can identify apostates by their words and their actions. First of all, if the leadership of the church was theocentric (God-centered), they wouldn't have invited Chavez to their pulpit in the first place. If Mount Olivet was a Bible-believing church, they would have prayed for His salvation, but they would have practiced what the apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians, "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers for what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?" (verse 14). He also stated in the same letter, "Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord..." (v.17). Simply put they wouldn't have invited Chavez to their church to be a guest speaker.
Jude tells us in his brief letter how we can recognize an apostate. A particular attitude precedes and governs his words. Apostates despise dominion. This refers to the example given in verse 6 of the angels who rebelled against God's authority when they "left their own abode." To despise dominion is to demonstrate an attitude of determined self-will in opposition to established authority. In Romans 13, verse 1, it states "Let every soul be subject tot he governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God." Our God revealed His will in the last election and President Bush was appointed.
The leaders of the church and their guest Chavez stood in opposition to that established authority in this country. The apostle went on to say in Romans 13, verse 2 that "...whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves."
The other characteristic of apostates in verse 8 of Jude's letter is that they defame dignities, as the children of Israel defamed Moses, who was God's appointed leader over them. Chavez defamed our president, while the leaders and those attending and supporting the service gave approval. They were not the least bit concerned regarding God's approval.
One day, Jude tells us in verse 14 & 15, "Behold the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment on all..."
They will be a "Payday someday!" The very sad thing is that apostates cannot and will not be saved. The writer to the Hebrews declared, "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened...and have tasted the good word of God...if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance..." (verses 4-6). They have believed the lie perpetrated by the Liar, Satan himself (John 8, verse 44) who has deceived them, and they cannot and will not be saved.
One day these apostates will stand at the Great White Throne Judgment and after a just judgment they will cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20, verses 11-15).

[Louis Dubost]

I wanted to uncheck "Remember Personal Info" when I posted my comment, but I forgot to. Could you please remove ny name, email address, and the URL for me?

Thank You,

Louis Dubost

[J R Brown]

This is a typical example of the Black communitie's use of religion as a tool of "empowerment". From Jesse Jackson and Louis Farrakan, the Black community has used "religious piety" as a way of adding credibility to their social movements. These people are not Christians...the are activists.
A true Christian would never allow such a thing to take place in their place of worship.
One day the Black community might learn that being a Christian means more than just owning a building called church and using it as a soapbox to decry all the bad things that happen to them. Jesus said to be in the world but not of the world but these folks dont really care what Jesus has to say anyway...unless they can spin it to forward their social agenda. This is not about whether they have the first amendment right to say whatever they want...its about knowing the diffence between right and wrong. These people have absolutely no moral compass. Yet they are a reflection of our society as a whole. We are the proverbial whore of Babylon...we have no soul...no sense of right or wrong...only political correctness. Our society is as corrupt as this church.

[Joe]

Dear Commenters,

I took the photos above nearly three years ago. I am not associated with Mount Olivet Baptist Church nor is this the church website. I have no idea whether anyone associated with the church reads this site. Venting against the church in this space may make you feel good, but is accomplishing little.

[Loretta Russo]

I never thought I'd see such a display of traitorous - that's right: TRAITOROUS - behaviour from a Baptist church , here in the USA.
Mount Olivet Baptist Church in Harlem has just had its podium/pulpit/hall/sanctuary/ premesis soiled by the Devil's own: Hugo Chavez.
Mount Olivet Baptist Church needs to step out of the political limelight for awhile and reflect upon what its mission and reason for being is.
As a former journalism student, I recall one of my professors saying, "Each letter and each phone call represents 10,000 viewers on the television."
Well, here's an E-mail representing 10,000 people, Mount Olivet.
Your opening your arms to this demon-influenceed man has defiled you.

Loretta L. Russo

[Anaiz L Cleghorn]

As a Christian I feel ashamed and saddened about yesterdays events at Mount Olivet Baptist Chrusch in Harlem. I fail to understand how inviting and endorsing the opinion and comments of a mentally disturbed politician from a foreign country does enrich the lives of any fellow Christians.
To judge, criticize, condemn and crucify our political leaders does not supports in any way any Christian values. If anything this church in Harlem allowed the Devil to speak freely. Not only did the congregation of American citizens and so-called Chrisitans was exposed to His toxic hellish speech but they fully supported it by applauding it and hailing Alleluias!??
The sad part is that the people of Venezuela, South America are suffering at his expense, but now they have been totally misrepresented in the eyes of every American and worst of all in the HOUSE OF THE LORD!
Shame on the leaders of this Church for not maintaining the integrity of the house of God and for allowing the tongue of the devil himself to feel your hearts with bitterness and lies.
May the Lord forgive you for this major oversight, 1st amendment or not, your responsibility lies first to the Lord and not to the American Constitution.
God Bless America!

[Patty]

I have tried to find a web site or email address for Mt Olivet Baptist Church, but have been unable to. I called what I believe to be the number to the church (212-864-1155), and spoke with a lady. When I asked for an email address for the church, she said "it was not working." She said I could write them a letter. Their mailing address 201 Lenox Ave. New York, NY 10027. I think we should print all these postings and send them their way! God bless all my brothers and sisters in Christ!

[steve palmer]

So, the congregation at Mt. Olivet has heeded Paul's words and 'Suffered fools gladly."

They welcomed one of the biggest fools in the Western hemisphere a few days ago. And we all know to whom I refer.

I am glad I am not Baptist any more. And the Pope was right.

Steve Palmer

[Chris J.]

I was very disappointed to hear that a Baptist Church would have such an individual as Hugo Chavez to speak behind the sacred desk. It is too bad that you allowed him the freedom to speak behind your pulpit when his people do not has this freedom in his country. I understand that this church probably is liberal theologically which makes it easy to be liberal politically. The purpose of the Church is to reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It appears that this is not the case here at this church. We are told by the Apostle Paul we are to pray for those in office. You not only seem to be negligent in praying for your President, but you are actually opposing him when you jump ship and promote a Communist like Chavez. If you think communism is ok, move your church there and you will find that communists are not as friendly there as they are when they are here in America. God did not create man to be ruled by the government like in communists countries, but He created us to be free. Please do all of us liberty loving, flag waving Baptists a favor and remove Baptists from your name, because you stopped being a baptists in my book the second you stopped promoting Jesus and what He has done for man, and started promoting mere men, and I guess I should say evil men such as Chavez who blantantly opposed your President and even went so far as call him a devil. As a baptists myself this was offensive to me. This gives all baptists a black eye. Our Baptists forefathers always believed in a man's individual soul liberty. In fact this is one of our Baptists distinctives. This teaching is found in Romans 14:5 and 12. The liberty to choose his religion without being coerced by the government. If the government cannot answer to God for me, it has no business dictating to me my religion. Since I am the one to answer to God, I should be the one to make the decision, not the government. Socialism, and Communism does not believe or practice this. Therefore you have not only betrayed your country, but your denomination. Repent and turn back to the Lord from your Laodicean spirit. Repent or rename yourself Mount Olive Communists Church. He that hath an ear let him ear what the Spirit sayeth to the churches.Interpreted as "You had better listen!" For a better view of your church please see Revelation 4:14-22 and follow the instruction Christ gives to this struggling church. I hope you receive this in the spirit it was given in, with a spirit of love for Christ and His church.I love you enough to tell you the truth.

[r campbell]

I know this isn't the best place, but people will see it, like i did. the sad thing is that the black and latino community has had a terrible disservice done to them by the people in the congregation of mt olivet. i am sickened by what chavez said there but he is an idiot and thug. I can just see him as the dumbed down class bully in the third grade. however much worse than anything chavez said or may say is the reaction by the american citizens in the congregation. i felt a deep sense of revulsion when i heard that they applauded, laughed at and cheered his remarks. how can an american of any ethnic group do this??? a sense of horror should have been felt by any sensitive american of any political stripe.

this approach at olivet will only cause a greater amount of sympathetic support for the president and his party, it certainly does for me.

[Isaiah 45:22]

The Bible teaches us to PRAY for our leaders and to obey the laws of the land.
When Israel was in Babylon, God them while they were in EXILE to pray for that nation because if that nation prospered then so would they the Israelites prosper. Whether you like President Bush or not, I am quite sure that as Daniel said that it is God who set up kings and leaders to accomplish His will and purpose. So, it was no surprised to God that Bush is President. Now, Bush will have to give an account for his actions as we all will. But the Bible clearly states that we are to pray for our leaders.
We are in the Laodicean church age. I’m a black man and I see that my black brothers and sisters have been bamboozled by these so called “Black Leaders.”
May God have mercy on us.

[Jeannine Stoute]

It is good that so many believers have stood up to bring correction to this local assembly, Mt Olivet Baptist Church, -- the leadership as well as it's flock are playing the role of Judas Iscariot, against our God & King Jesus Himself! Their recent actions reflect a seed of hate that was festering long before they desolated the podium that was once holy dedicated to LORD ALMIGHTY GOD!
However as believers it would be better if we communicate directly with the offenders; re-driect your posts to the leadership of Mt Olivet Baptist Church. Their address has been provided previously. Print your comment & mail it to the ones who really need to hear it. Word of caution let your words be weighty and savoured with the salt of the kingdom. Ye which are spiritual restore.
Again I thank you for standing up and speaking the truth in love. He that loves, Corrects.