Prince Rogers Nelson was known to the pop music world only by his first name, Prince, but to his local Jehovah's Witnesses kingdom hall he was known by another simple moniker: Brother Nelson.
Prince was raised a Seventh-day Adventist, but became a Jehovah's Witness in 2001 and was a regular at the St. Louis Park Congregation outside Minneapolis for a decade.
Members told the
Los Angeles Times the mega-star known for his purple outfits and sexual imagery was the exact opposite at Kingdom Hall meetings, where he dressed in a suit and tie and sang only with the rest of the congregation to pre-recorded music.
"He was accepted as our brother," Josephine Parker told the Times during Sunday's meeting, the first since Prince's death. "He wasn't treated as maybe the world would treat him."
"We feel it deeply. It is a sad loss," congregant David Osborn told CNN. "He was a brother, simply a brother."
James Lundstrom told CNN Prince never acted like a pop star at the Kingdom Hall. "His dress would be very similar to what I am wearing as well," he said motioning to his traditional suit. "Not flamboyant."
Lundstrom became friends with Prince about 14 years ago and said he sometimes went with him when he evangelized door-to-door. Once, a woman interrupted him mid-presentation and said, "Excuse me, but has anybody told you you look a lot like Prince?" she asked.
"It's been said," he replied.
Jehovah's Witnesses do not belive in the Trinity and that Jesus is equal to God the Father, and therefore are not considered Christian by most Protestants and Catholics. They also do not believe in blood transfusions, but Prince's fellow congregant David Osborn told CNN that belief did not contribute to his death.
"Nobody said he couldn't get surgery, absolutely not," he said. "We are not anti-medicine. In fact, we go out of our way to try to find the best medical care that we can."
Lundstrom told CNN they expect to see Prince return to them one day.
"We expect Brother Nelson to be resurrected here on earth, just like the Bible says," he said. "When Jehovah cleanses this earth of all its evil, there will be a resurrection. We're gonna welcome him back."
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