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In a move that has the potential to shake up the religious landscape of the area, an Upper West Side synagogue has sold its building to a controversial Christian group hailing from South Korea, Crain’s New York Business reports.
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Romemu Synagogue has sold its building at 176 West 105th Street (at the corner of Amsterdam Avenue), an approximately 10,000 square foot property, to the World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCOG) for $10 million—$1 million more than it cost Romemu to buy it from the YMCA of Greater New York back in 2018.
WMSCOG, a new religious movement founded in 1964, purports to have approximately 3.7 million members across 7,500 churches in 175 countries as of 2023. The Church was founded by Ahn Sahng-hong, who the group reveres as the second coming of Jesus Christ. Hong died in 1985 and was succeeded by Zahng Gil-jah, worshipped in the church as God the Mother. Since it’s founding, the group has supposedly predicted the end of the world three times: first in 1988, then 1999, and most recently in 2012.
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The church, which some experts and former members have described as a cult, and which The Christian Council of Korea calls ‘heretical,’ has been accused of a series of aggressive and deceptive recruitment tactics, particularly on college campuses. Some students have recounted being approached by missionaries posing as theology students who need help on a project and offering an opportunity for volunteerism or bible study.
One Yale student described the church as “Using concerning practices like repeatedly, persistently approaching students with friendly smiles and empty compliments, asking for their contact information, repeatedly texting them, and using concerning psychological control tactics like reprimanding people for having beliefs that diverge from their own.”
One ex-member, Michele Colon, who spent two years in the group, filed a lawsuit in 2015 which claimed that the Church “uses a number of psychological control tactics…to prevent its members from exposing its criminal and tortious behavior.”
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The lawsuit was eventually dismissed but Colon, who spoke with People Magazine, said “They don’t tell you what they are all about upfront, because if they did, no one would join them…you’re spoon fed information when they feel you’re ready to hear it. If you ask questions, they just tell you to ‘Study more’ and that all of your questions will be answered if you keep studying. They dangle a carrot in front of you.”
Another former member, Michelle Rodriguez, told the Daily Beast that the group “deprived her of sleep and forced or coerced her to work or engage in other activities for extremely long hours for no compensation and alienated her from her family and friends” in order to control her. In addition, she claims she was forced to pay 10% of her income to the church and pushed to have an abortion when she got pregnant because a new baby would take time and effort away from the church.
The church has pushed back against these claims, but other ex-members have described similar situations, including spending over 30 hours a week volunteering at the church; being bombarded by calls, texts, and home visits if they ever missed services; and spending even more money (as much as 30% of their income) on the church.
“I was constantly trying to preach to everybody I met … I was incredibly worried constantly about their salvation … which brings us to social life, because no one wants to be around you,” Former house church leader Tara Fryer-Tamang told Australia’s 7 News.
“Since it’s founding, the group has supposedly predicted the end of the world three times: first in 1988, then 1999, and most recently in 2012.”
If at first you don’t succeed….
(Actually, it happened back in 1983, but few people noticed it.)
Cool we have a new predatory cult in the neighborhood. How many vulnerable people can they brainwash?
One might start to estimate that by taking a look at how many locals have already been brainwashed, not by the WMSCOG but rather by other pernicious cults. Perhaps we’ll have a better idea of that number a couple months from now.
Well, at least it’s not the return of the Sullivanians!
Why is this one a cult and the other religious groups not?
We might have found our first member!
Thanks for my laugh of the day, Steve!
sad- one laugh a day?
you need more joy in your life.
join a cult.
Is there any way to stop the sale or has it already gone through? Anything that can be done legally post-sale to stop their recruitment efforts/proselytizing?
Relentless mockery? Sometimes it’s effective, as we saw last night.
Who ever wrote this article did some research. Kudos. This is one of the most prolific Cults in the world. Funny thing is they teach all about how “Jews got it wrong” and you should follow Mother God who is alive and lives in Korea. This is a dangerous group.
I’d like to invite the leaders over for an Art study, welcome party and a bread breaking ceremony followed by 48 hours (a holiest of numbers according to Mr. Cruise) of God’s work, cleaning varnishing and painting around my UWS Building. If they do a good enough job, they will be offered membership cards, which, along with a minimum financial investment of 125,000 (ask Travolta on the meaning of this joyous number), they can come clean varnish paint, launder, cook and walk the designer UWS Pug any time they wish. For a donation of course.