In Long Island, Muslims, Jews and Christians Share Sacred Space

December 21, 2003

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/21/nyregion/21LONG.html

On December 21, 2003 The New York Times reported on Protestant churches on Long Island that have opened their doors to Jewish congregations. The Times notes that "for Protestant congregations burdened with high costs of maintaining churches, renting out space - to other faiths, or, more commonly, to other Protestant denominations - has become crucial to making ends meet... But the arrangements, particularly when they involve different faiths, are also building bridges of understanding. 'Nobody seems to have any trouble with it,' Rev. Lynda Clements, Pastor of Cutchogue Presbyterian Church said. 'Everybody feels that it is God's grace in our midst.'" At the Brookville Reformed Church, the Jewish Congregation of Brookville, a Reform synagogue, had been holding Shabbat services for more than six years. About a year ago the church also invited in the Muslim Reformed Movement Organization, which meets on Sunday afternoons.