EARTHQUAKE: THE LONG ROAD BACK : Temple Is Temporary Home to Baptist Church

It is not every day that people pray to Jesus Christ from the pulpit of Temple Israel. But it is not every day that the Messiah--the Messiah Baptist Church, that is--needs temporary shelter because of a natural disaster.

If calamity brings people together, nowhere was it more evident than in the chapel of the Jewish congregation in Hollywood, where 150 members of the Southwest Los Angeles African American church found refuge on a sunny Sunday morning to conduct their weekly services.

Rocked by Monday’s earthquake, which caused lightning-shaped cracks in the church’s bell tower and inner support columns, Messiah parishioners were welcomed with open arms by Temple Israel, with which they have had a covenant relationship for four years.

As a 16-member gospel choir belted out a rollicking version of “Oh Happy Day” in front of the holy ark, the eternal light and the tablets--in Hebrew--of the Ten Commandments, a smattering of yarmulkes could be seen swaying in time with the gold and fuchsia hats of elderly black congregants.

“This is the first time in Temple Israel’s history that we have welcomed a church to pray to Jesus Christ in our synagogue,” said Senior Rabbi John L. Rosove. “It’s wild. But we have a real sense of community with Messiah. And we feel very grateful we’re able to reach out.”

Messiah Rev. Kenneth J. Flowers, who has preached at the temple several times--the latest at a joint Martin Luther King Day celebration last week--said he also felt at home with the arrangement.

“Wherever I pray,” he said after the conclusion of the 2 1/2-hour service, “I get the fire in my bones.”

Messiah Baptist, one of several major African American churches and community institutions in Southwest Los Angeles to suffer crippling damage in the quake, is expected to be closed anywhere from three months to a year while repairs are made. In the meantime, it has been offered nearly unlimited use of the Jewish facility.

However, Flowers said because of the distance from the Crenshaw district, Messiah will probably set up shop temporarily at a location closer to home. Next Sunday, he said, services will likely be held in a Southwest Los Angeles elementary school or the sanctuary of Angelus Funeral Home.

At Temple Israel, where many Messiah members arrived in a church bus, earthquake damage was limited to a fallen chandelier in the main sanctuary--shuttering it temporarily until the remaining light fixtures are reinforced.

“Our structure is strong,” said Rosove, shortly before the church choir sang “The Solid Rock.” “We’re literally on a rock here.”

Rosove drew shouts of “Praise the Lord” when, in opening remarks, he told the Messiah congregants: “If you need a place to worship, Temple Israel is your home.”

But in a sanctuary where the sermons rarely threaten to blow out the speaker system, Flowers delivered a particularly passionate message, based, fittingly, on a passage from the Old Testament.

“So many have turned away from God, so many have turned their backs on God,” said Flowers in rhythmic cadence. “The Lord has sent us a natural disaster to bring us back together.”

That message was not lost on anyone.

“This is what the Lord has planned for us to do,” said Erma Jean Carter, who runs Messiah’s nursery school program. “He wants us to be aware we are brothers and sisters, regardless of our race and religious affiliations.”

Bob Green, a Temple Israel member who danced in the aisles as the white-and-red-robed choir sang of Jesus washing sins away, said he couldn’t agree more. “This,” declared the retired shoe salesman, “brings us all together.”