West Main Church of the Nazarene

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I shot this yesterday afternoon.

I have always been struck by the extreme plainness of this church on West Main Street in a working class neighborhood near downtown Fort Wayne. The backlit cross in the wall is the only adornment on the cinderblock church building.

 

[gb hill]

Times are a changing, but I remember down here at least, the Nazerine denomination were sort of a plain type of people themselves. Women wore their hair up in a bun, long dresses, no make up. You've seen them. Men wore long sleeve shirt even in summer. My wife is kind of that way except she lets her hair hang down & doesn't wear black pilgrim looking shoes.🙂

I like how you composed the shot & I like your color work. I don't know what your shooting with as late but it is doing you a nice job. Keep em coming. Down here in North Carolina it doesn't look like winter is coming but I think it will. I see you have snow. I can wait on that!😉

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Thanks Greg. I knew some people who went to Nazarene churches here when I was in high school, and they were not that conservative in their dress. One of them is a minister now! They just dressed like everyone else though. The only religious people around here who wear the modest hair and old fashioned dresses are the Amish. There are a surprising number of them in the Fort Wayne area.

We have not had much snow, its been a strangely warm winter. When I was a kid, Fort Wayne would have blizzards that would leave 2 or 3 feet of snow in a night, and most of the winter was below freezing. Now, half the time the temps are in the 50s and the snow is light, and melts by the next day.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I saw this as I was photographing the church. The neighbor had discarded this old Christmas decoration behind a toolshed on the edge of his backyard.