I’ve just been reminded of something that took place here in town a few years back.
A local church was the victim of an arsonist. The sanctuary was a total loss. Several other nearby churches offered space for worship, but the one that worked out best was to use the worship space of the synagogue that was not so far away. Lovely space designed for worship, and not in use on Sunday morning! There was a breakfast beforehand and all the synagogue asked was that any sausage served be turkey sausage. So cool.
This, or something similar, has happned before, when other congregations had to share space for a while, due to accidents usually.
Have you ever been a part of something like this, or has it happened where you live?
There was an article in our local paper about a synagogue that is undergoing a complete remodeling, and because of that needed to find a temporary home for their Torahs and a place to meet for the two years that the remodeling will take place. The Presbyterian church nearby offered their fellowship hall, and the Torahs were moved about a week ago.
Not that unusual around here, particularly since we have 150+ year old churches that have a tendency to burst into flames or have their boilers go out for weeks at a time.
One long-term arrangement I’ve seen is for churches located near college campuses to let independent youth worship groups use their facilities. While the old folks are using The Book of Common Prayer in the sanctuary, the kids are down with a communal meal and some folk songs in the basement.
There was a show in Canada called “Little Mosque on the Prairie” about a mosque sharing space with an Anglican church, and the hi-jinx that ensued. I found it to be an enlightening show. It’s on Hulu Plus if you ever want to check it out.
‘Little Mosque on the Prairie’ is what we always called the one in Perrysburg, Ohio - you’re driving down the highway, endless cornfields on either side - and suddenly, there it is!
When our (Anglican) village church was undergoing renovations a few years ago and the local school hall was in use for a production, we decamped our services to the local Roman Catholic church - they had an early Mass, and we had a later service that may or may not have been a Eucharist.
The local high school hall has been used for a second Sunday morning service for many years, with some give and take around things like productions and maintenance.
I am surprised and afraid. Nobody expects the ruthlessly efficient Spanish Inquisition to lend their church hall to anyone without a fanatical devotion to the pope.
An Air Force base I lived on as a kid only had the one chapel, so all services were conducted there. IIRC, the services were Catholic, generic Protestant, and Jewish. There was a rotating column behind the altar that had a cross, a crucifix, and a Star of David* on different sides, and the chaplain would usually** turn it to the proper side. It all seemed to work. This’d be in the late '70s.
*Mogen David? I forget the proper term.
**Occasionally, he’d forget to change it, and we’d have one of the others over the altar. I don’t recall anyone ever saying anything about it.
There’s a church building in my town that has been a Seventh-Day Adventist church for many years, and now there’s a second sign in front, advertising services for a Presbyterian church.
If you don’t know, SDA worships on Saturday, and the Presbyterians worship on Sunday.
IDK if the SDAs have any issues with the Presbyterians cooking or eating meat in their building; their interpretation of the Bible encourages vegetarianism.
Grace Episcopal in Chicago’s Printers Row is a very urban worship center, and has served as an incubator space for several faith communities over the last three decades, including a Jewish congregation. Currently there’s a Lutheran and some sort of Korean Evangelical Christian church that use the sanctuary, in addition to the Episcopal services Sunday morning.
Our two weapons are fear and surprise…and a ruthless efficacy… Our three weapons are fear, surprise, a ruthless efficacy…and an almost fanatical devotion to ecumenicism (our Lutheran and Catholic churches have been sharing space during a major rebuilding).
In Tacoma, the local Anglican church (traditionalist Episcopalians) has their services at a Lutheran church.
In Seattle, the downtown Plymouth Church (United Church of Christ) hosts both daily Catholic masses and Friday night Muslim prayer services.
My wife used to teach at a Lutheran day school on Chicago’s Northwest side, which was attached to, and sponsored by, an ELCA Lutheran church. Over the course of decades, the neighborhood had turned over repeatedly, from German (heavily Lutheran), to Polish (very Catholic), and then to Hispanic (also very Catholic), and as a result, the congregation had shrunk.
In the years before the church finally closed its doors, they rented out their sanctuary to a Hispanic evangelical Christian congregation, which didn’t have a church building of their own. The Lutherans had their service on Sunday mornings, and then the evangelicals had their service on Sunday afternoons.
And, not exactly the same thing, but there’s a martini bar down the street from my house, which rents out its space on Sunday mornings for worship services for a small Methodist congregation.
This was how it was for Basic and AIT in the Army, at Ft. Knox in the mid 90s anyway. A single chapel near the training barracks with multiple services of different faiths. I don’t recall ever seeing that after training at any of my permanent duty stations though.
Magen David, Mogen David is a kosher wine made by the same company that makes MD20/20
So מָגֵן דָּוִד really translates as “mad dog,” eh?
Our synagogue went through extensive renovation about 17-ish years ago and during that time we used the fellowship hall of the Episcopal church right up the block. It was great. When we had the “oneg” (the reception after Friday night services) in one of their conference rooms, they hung cloths over the crucifixes and other religious pictures. I’m not sure that was 100% necessary, but it was a sensitive, gracious gesture.
Another smaller synagogue that I used to belong to met regularly in a Lutheran church, It was lovely.
You beat me to it. I’m a Seventh-day Adventist, and yes it is quite common for SDA churches to rent their facilities to a Sunday church. We do, and it helps pay the bills.
It’s standard for our church to look for renters who have beliefs that are compatible with ours–most protestant churches work out just fine as renters (or places where SDA churches can rent).
Just like any other denomination, there are conservative and liberal SDA members. Some do not want the sanctuary used by any other church, while others folks don’t care a whit, as long as the rent comes on time, and there are plenty of other opinions in between. It ultimately comes down to the church board as to whether to rent or not.
In the mostly forgotten film “Up the Academy” the chapel had a stained glass windows with numerous religious symbols and the words “It takes all kinds” in a faux gothic font across the bottom.
One summer our Methodist Church worshiped at the synagogue down the street while our Sanctuary was being repainted and the floor refinished. I believe some years prior we had lent our Sanctuary or possibly the Church Hall to that congregation while they were renovating their building. I didn’t find the arrangement that remarkable, seemed like any congregation would help another with a temporary worship space if they could. We’re all in the same basic business and it’s a cooperative.
So cool.
