Coltrane Church: Eviction Has Been Delayed for 60 Days

UPDATED: March 1, 4:30pm.

San Francisco’s Saint John Will I Am Coltrane African Orthodox Church planned to protest their impending eviction Tuesday, but thanks to some good news received just hours before, they are going to be celebrating instead.

The church received a notice last week from the San Francisco’s Sheriff’s Department that it must remove all of its possessions from its space in the West Bay Community Center by the morning of March 2. After fighting for weeks, the church appeared to have little recourse.

But just minutes before 2pm, the Coltrane Church tweeted from its account that “The People’s Power Prevails!”

On the church’s Facebook page, representatives thanked the church’s supporters:

https://www.facebook.com/stjohncoltranechurchwest/photos/a.284607624917.186773.274649844917/10154488586324918/

The church announced that it was celebrating in front of its current location — 1286 Fillmore St., San Francisco — at 4pm Tuesday.

At the event, attended by dozens of supporters and local media, Archbishop Franzo King, who co-founded the church back in 1971, arrived to applause.

“It was not a reprieve; we just refused to leave at gunpoint,” King told the crowd.

After speaking with the media, King announced that another meeting would be held on March 20 at 11am, where church representatives would discuss issues they had with the landlords, the managers of the West Bay Community Center.

This story will be updated when new details are learned.