My mom sent this to me. This is a real place of worship in Las Vegas.
What do think, good name for Romeo?
Update: So, it’s my day off and I simply had to find the back story for this "funny named church." I mean, who really names a church Thomas Paines Church of Christ and Common Sense?
Well, I found the backstory on a Las Vegas news site.
"The last temptation of Larry"
Sept. 8The story: This was just another story about a strip club owner who became obsessed with Thomas Paine and decided to open a church in his honor.
In 1972, Larry LaPenta opened a piano bar called Larry’s Villa at the corner of Rancho Drive and Bonanza Road. At the urging of a bored customer, LaPenta turned the bar into a topless joint. Since then, he said, Larry’s Villa has expanded three times. And while not as big as Sapphire or as crowded as Club Paradise, it does pretty well.
When asked exactly how much money the Villa makes, LaPenta balked. But noting that he owns land and other businesses in the valley, he said he is worth about $15 million.
So what does the 83-year-old strip club owner do with all that money? How does he give something back to the community? What’s his last wish?
To open a church, of course.
In the summer, LaPenta leased a space on West Charleston Boulevard for Thomas Paine’s Church of God and Common Sense. He planned to use the space daily. Activities were to include self-improvement meetings, a Toastmaster’s (or public speaking) night and current-event debates.
"It’s going to be a church for patriotic Americans," said LaPenta. "It’ll be nondenominational, nonsectarian. Basically, we want us all to be better Americans, to unite and to do what we can to improve our lives and our country. The way things are going now, it looks like America is really going to need good, supportive citizens."
The update: Since opening, the Church of God and Common Sense has hosted only a few meetings. It has not been open on a regular basis and its future seems uncertain. This is due, in part, to LaPenta’s poor health.
Shortly after the church opened, LaPenta caught pneumonia. Recently, he caught it again and checked into a local hospital. He is expected to be released shortly, said Larry’s Villa manager Ron Lenox, and hopes to continue to promote the church.
"He’s a very well-to-do gentleman," said Lenox. "And I imagine that church is going to get everything if something happens to him. He’s going to keep that church going perpetually, whether he’s with us or not."
MATT O’BRIEN
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