Source: The Toledo Blade
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090704/NEWS10/907049970/-1/NEWS
If you open the doors, the crowds will come.
That’s the way it seems to work for Toledo Area Ministries and its annual Houses of Worship Summer Tours.
This year’s series of tours begins its 16th season on Tuesday morning.
“Last year there were over 100 people at all of the tours and a couple of times there were 200 or 300 people,” said Polly White, one of the event organizers. “They are still very popular and people really turn out for them. And I’m thrilled that they’re still going strong.”
Ms. White came up with the idea of the summer tour program in 1994 and has helped plan the program ever since. Also helping organize this year’s lineup were Steve Anthony and Donnajean Stockmaster.
“I thought that there are so many beautiful churches around and people are interested in seeing them,” Ms. White said of her initial inspiration, “but you can’t get in a lot of them now because they have to be locked up during the day.”
What started as a tour of Christian churches has been expanded to include Jewish synagogues, the local Hindu Temple, and Islamic mosques, reflecting the religious diversity of northwest Ohio.