House of Prayer Builds Solidarity among Followers of Three Religions | Voice of America - English
In cities across America, you can find churches for a variety of Christian denominations, synagogues and mosques, each serving its own religious community. Some cities have built interfaith centers, with no permanent religious symbols, which various congregations can feel comfortable using for worship.  In San Francisco, there is a project that creates a shared worship space, incorporating a synagogue, a church and a mosque ? a space that will foster solidarity and mutual respect among the followers of the three religions. VOA's Faiza Elmasry reports.
Noe Valley Ministry is a small Presbyterian church in SanFrancisco, California. Like many other American churches, it has welcomed localorganizations and other religious groups to use its facility. Beyt Tikkun, aJewish congregation that does not have a permanent building, was invited tohold its services in the church. The Rev. Keenan Kelsey says when the churchbuilding needed major repairs, she turned to the larger community for help. "Someyears ago, we had some critical work to do on our building," she says."As a small congregation of working-class people, we couldn't turn withinthe congregation to do this work. So we developed a group called the Center forSpiritual Community." Throughthis coalition of local organizations and activists, she says, volunteers fromoutside the church got involved in the renovation. "Out of that, almost organically, without thinking itthrough," she says, "there is this sense that 'What if we tookseriously the fact that we are a center for spiritual community? What would itmean to renovate our building to accommodate the three Abrahamic traditions?'We are not a melting pot of religions. We come and each say our own prayers andencourage mutual respect." SinceBeyt Tikkun was already worshipping in the building, the church's Center forSpiritual Community turned to the third religion that traces its roots back toAbraham. Souleiman Ghali, founder of the Islamic Society of San Francisco, sayshis members liked the idea of a shared house of prayer. "We discussed it among ourselves in the Muslim community," he says."And we like it. We like to be part of something good. We are going to doas much as we can to make it come into reality." KeenanKelsey says the next step is to raise the funds needed to complete the project. "We have an architect," she says. "We haveprobably a year to set it up and a year to do the work. Then, we'll begin inaction." Inthe process, they are also forging strong relationships and betterunderstanding among people of different faiths, according to Christopher Keen,co-chair of the Center for Spiritual Community, which is overseeing theproject. "Souleiman Ghali and several others met last week with this architect,a famous local architect who has designed a number of churches and synagoguesbut never built a mosque before," he says. "We were sitting in achurch building and we talked about, what would it take for this churchbuilding to be a place where Muslims could worship and feel welcomed? "Wegot into all sorts of really interesting things around how do the bathroomsneed to be designed so people can wash themselves before the prayer? Can youwalk from the bathroom to the place of worship up a flight of stairs? So we'vegotten into just a very pragmatic dialogue about how do you physically sharethis space." The idea of a shared worship space was welcomed by the Rev.Paul Chaffee, director of San Francisco's Interfaith Center. He says theproject is another opportunity to educate people and promote interfaithdialogue in the city. "It'sa lot easier to be biased and hate people when all you have is an image of themand you don't live with them," he says. "Let people know that thosestrangers across the street who look different and sound so different arereally very much like they are. Not only that, they would be good friends ifthey met." ChristopherKeen agrees. He says he hopes the Abrahamic House of Prayer will also givemoderates of each religion a stronger voice. "Ifyou look across these three Abrahamic traditions, the moderates of each faithhave more in common than the extremists," he says. "So in all of ourreligious faiths, I believe, we see the damage being done by our own brethren,if you well, and yet moderates oftentimes are comfortable just staying put andnot doing a lot. So, the challenge is ? as moderates ? to make the effort tohave a dialogue and to create real connections." Keensays once those real connections are created, it will be easier for Jews,Christians and Muslims to better understand and trust one another, andtogether, build a stronger community.