I think the most challenging part of tracing Prince’s spiritual journey is gathering information about his earliest religious experiences. Luckily, several sources identify Park Avenue United Methodist Church in Minneapolis as the place where he attended Bible study as a child (I actually included the church in a past blog entry, “‘Around the World in a Day’ – Prince’s Spiritual Landmarks”). It was also the church that Prince returned to when he married his first wife, Mayte Garcia (who, by the way, will star in a VH1 reality show, “Hollywood Exes").
I would love to go through the church records to confirm Prince’s attendance. I also plan to speak with someone about the core beliefs that Prince would have been exposed to by attending the church. There are reports that Prince’s family classified themselves as Seventh Day Adventists, so it would be interesting to get more clarity about exactly where the family stood.
The Minnesota newspaper, Star Tribune, is a valuable source of information about this topic. I’ve found articles about Prince’s wedding and his half-brother’s funeral at the church. The newspaper also interviewed a former youth leader at the church who said the artist attended church camp. In my research, I’ve selected a specific group of magazines and newspapers to study for information about Prince, and how the media viewed him. I am going to think about adding the Star Tribune to that group.
I’ll keep you posted on my church research. Hopefully a trip to Minnesota will be in the near future!
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