Families used to grow up in the same church, and it was practically the end of the world if a child came home with a fiancé from another faith. Today, it isn’t such a big deal, but it still can be difficult to get multiple faiths together at holidays with people who are related. Imagine having a church with four different faiths coming together. It’s not just having separate services at different times, but actually building a community together. It’s really happening in Long Island, New York, at Brookeville Church.
About Brookeville Church
The Protestant church was founded in 1732 by Dutch settlers. It’s one of the oldest churches in America with an existing congregation. This is its philosophy, per its website:
“Brookville Church is a welcoming, friendly and heartfelt community who follows the teachings of Jesus; a message of love, acceptance and servanthood. We offer a home for those who are rediscovering Christianity or have been disillusioned by past church experience. We invite all people to participate in our community and worship without judgment.”
In 2013, the church changed its sign to represent the four groups that are coming together, not to blend the faiths, but to demonstrate an inclusivity and education between the groups. These are the other groups that use the church:
- The Interfaith Community: Long Island
- Muslim Reformed Movement Organization
- The New Synagogue of Long Island
One group is Jewish. Another is Islam. The Interfaith Community is a group of families who came together because they were raising their children in two different faiths. Many of them are Jewish-Catholic. The congregation hosts a children’s education class. The Islam congregation leads a weekly study of the Quran. The New Synagogue hosts a Shabbat service on the first Friday of the month. Brookeville itself hosts the Sunday worship services, but it often has participants from the other groups. Each group holds ceremonies respective to their own faiths, such as a bar or bat mitzvah, or confirmation.
This change didn’t happen overnight. For three decades, their leader was Latino advocate the Rev. Allan Ramirez, who has since retired. He focused on understanding and dialogue between faiths. This brought the church to having multiple faiths under the same roof. It’s not simply a financial arrangement. They worship together and have classes together. The children from all faiths came together on Palm Sunday waving branches in honor of the Christian holiday. Then, they were able to see a play that reenacted the story of Esther for the Jewish holiday of Purim.
Why Should We Bring Faiths Together?
When you consider the number of wars fought over religious differences, it’s important to teach people how to talk about their faith without starting a war, even if it’s just between two individuals. We need relationships with others, even when we can’t agree. But surely we can find places where we are similar to bring us together. This takes dialogue and learning about each other’s faith. We can’t do this when there’s no commune.
We’ve written about the House of One, a church in Berlin, Germany, that houses three religions in separate spaces within the same building, with a communal room at the center. In Omaha, Nebraska, three faiths came together in the Tri-Faith Center, which houses a fellowship hall shared by the congregations. These groups are demonstrating that we can live and celebrate together while still enjoying our own faiths.
Reach out to neighbors who are different from you to form community bonds. You’re probably more alike than you realize. You worry about the safety of your children. Your neighbors do too. You recycle. You’re not the only one who cares about the environment. Find the commonalities you do have and build relationships.