Church Accused of Being Cult Buys Upper West Side Building
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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.
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.
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.
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