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Black LGBT Church in Search of Permanent Home in Harlem

Harlem's only Black LGBT church is finding difficulty as they search for a permanent home.

Rivers of Living Water is a Black church in Harlem, New York, where LGBT individuals have a safe space to be open about their sexuality and worship freely. But the congregation is finding difficulty in its search for a permanent home, The Village Voice reports.
 
"When people know we are LGBT they find it to be a problem. We have been in shared spaces since I started in 2008," Vanessa Brown, the senior pastor says. Brown adds that finding a space that is financially feasible adds to the difficulty. "You can find a space but they don't want to sell to you because you're LGBT."

The congregation has had to move four times in three years.
Julie Chisholm May, a member of Rivers of Living Water, explained why the church was instrumental in giving her hope. 

"I have gone through some tragedies in my life and my church has seen me through," she shared. "Because of my church I'm not at home watching pastors on television...living an isolated life."
Currently, Rivers of Living Water has been holds services in the basement of the United Methodist Church in the Upper West Side. 
Follow Natelege Whaley on Twitter: @Natelege_

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(Photo: The Village Voice)

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