There is no other church service in town like this one tonight. No Bible verses have been read, no prayers were led by the preacher at the pulpit, no choir is here to sing any hymns. People don’t come here to listen to sermons. They come to be touched by the Holy Spirit, to be delivered, to witness miracles.

The crowd is a blend of old and young, black and white and shades of brown, people with homes and people with none. They are here to have their demons cast out from them. In a few hours, that’s exactly what they’ll get.

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It’s a spring morning, and a couple dozen students are gathered in the gym at the Detroit Day School for the Deaf, practicing their parts in the school production of “Roots.” There’s no dialogue because almost none of the actors can speak or hear.

But the students were determined to put on a play, and ways were found to adapt.

This is the first year they’ve done this play. And it will be the last. The district announced that this century-old school is closing for good.

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This is how movie watching goes at Mini Book Shoppe on Gratiot north of Seven Mile on the city’s east side. Although its quaint name suggests otherwise, you will not find the novels of William Faulkner or the gentle verse of Robert Frost on the shelves here.

Instead you can buy the latest issue of Buttman Magazine. Or the Fat Boy, a dildo as thick as a wrist. Or a blowup doll modeled after a porn star that, when inflated, looks nothing like a porn star. And you can watch porno movies in darkened little cubicles all by yourself.

Mini Book Shoppe is an old-time sex shop and peep show. Its deceptive name vanished from the building’s outdoor signage a remodeling or two ago, partly to dissuade the occasional stray innocent who’d wander in looking for comic books or a mystery novel. The sign out front now says only, “Adult Videos. Peep Shows. Magazines. Novelties.” Because that says it all.

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