"I know Ken," Burress said when he presented Geis with the award from the Citizens for Community Values. Carmel stemmed from a 2010 Union Township Police Department undercover sting. ![]() The criminal charges that led to Déjà Vu leaving Mt. Their efforts to regulate sexually oriented businesses with local laws launched court battles that Union Township did not always win. "As a result of that, we've had over 100 sexually oriented businesses close in the state of Ohio," Burress said.īut when his group targeted Déjà Vu, called Rumors when it opened in the mid-1990s, "We just couldn't gain any headway," Burress said.īurress said he contacted Geis, who worked with a team of police, prosecutors and township trustees. and that dancers could not touch customers. Now, it also has a large sign in front with a cross and the face of a concerned-looking Jesus marking the building as the Full Gospel House of Refuge.Įarlier this year, Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values, presented Union Township Administrator Ken Geis with an award for his role in shutting down Déjà Vu.īurress said his group, formed in 1983, shut down strips bars and porn shops in downtown Cincinnati and helped pass a state law that said the businesses could not operate between midnight and 6 a.m. The property already has nearly 220 parking spaces. "Our purpose is to serve the community and provide a foundation for salvation." "We are a non-denominational church because denominations were created by man," Thoma said. at the Full Gospel House of Refuge, where you better be able to back up any spiritual beliefs you have with text from the Bible. Thoma said the public is invited to services Sundays at 2 p.m. In the videos, Pastor Robert Cox hoofs it up in the Full Gospel House of Refuge's new sanctuary as attendees sing and clap to old time gospel songs – no hymnbook neededĪ white-haired elderly lady in a white crocheted sweater is one of the people who appear irresistibly drawn to the front of the church to jump, swing and sway with Cox as a guitarist and drummer keep the music moving. It is definitely not Déjà Vu all over again, although YouTube videos of the church's grand opening service June 29 show dancing will not go the way of Déjà Vu, which agreed to close up shop at the end of 2011 in a plea deal made after employees were convicted of illegally operating a sexually oriented business. ![]() The Full Gospel House of Refuge has renovated just over 9,000 square feet of the building, which now holds a sanctuary that can seat some 160 people, two Sunday School classrooms, a large fellowship hall, a kitchen, restrooms and a pastor's office, said Thoma, who is serving as project manager. The church bought the single-story stucco building from the Union Township Community Improvement Corp., the township's economic-development arm, for $300,000 last December. The Full Gospel House of Refuge was able to go one better than what the Union Township officials proposed. "We listened to the Lord, and the Lord came through for us," Thoma said. That we wouldn't find the building, the building would find us. "The beauty of this story is we have been searching for and praying for a new building for some years," Thoma said, adding that he gets goose bumps every time he tells it. ![]() So when Union Township officials approached the Full Gospel House of Refuge about leasing with an option to buy the former site of the Deja Vu strip club, right around the corner at 516 Old state Route 74, the non-denominational Christian church considered it a message from Heaven. ![]() Carmel Tobasco Road for seven years to stop looking for a new building and to trust that it would appear. Carmel.Ĭhurch secretary Timothy Thoma says God told him and other members who'd been worshiping in a building on Mt. Members of the Full Gospel House of Refuge were growing weary of their small, storefront accommodations in what the locals call downtown Mt. they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength."
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