wfn.org | Church Shares Facilities

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3548 notes).

Note 3548 by UMNS on April 9, 1997 at 12:17 Eastern (11661 characters).

Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT:  Ralph E. Baker                         192(10-71B){3546}
          Nashville, Tenn.  (615) 742-5470           April 8, 1997

EDITORS NOTE: This story is a sidebar to UMNS #191 {3545}

New York United Methodist church shares
facilities with Jewish congregation

by Robert Lear*

     NEW YORK (UMNS) --  A Friday visitor to the time-stained gray
stone edifice on 86th Street here, would at first glance note
little unusual about the bulletin board identifying St. Paul and
St. Andrew United Methodist Church.
     The conventional stopped with the nameline.
     Instead of the usual Sunday worship listings, this board
carried the times of Shabbat (sabbath) services Friday and
Saturday, noted a scheduled bat mitzvah and concluded with the
names of rabbis J. Rolando Matalon and Marcelo Bronstein,
spiritual leaders of Congregation B'nai Jeshurun.
     Continuing a six-year venture in interfaith relations, the
sabbath observance April 4 was the setting for a memorable worship
experience for members of the United Methodist Commission on
Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns (CCUIC).  Commission
directors were visiting New York City as part of their spring
meeting in Convent Station, N.J.
     Sharing facilities began when the roof of Congregation B'nai
Jeshurun's 77-year-old temple, situated a few blocks from the
United Methodist church, collapsed without warning in the pre-dawn
darkness of May 25, 1991.
     A subsequent invitation from St. Paul and St. Andrew to the
Conservative Jewish congregation to celebrate High Holy Days in
the 100-year-old United Methodist Church was accepted, and the
relationship has flourished and expanded beyond any expectation.
     In the words of Dennis Hevesi, writing in The New York 
Times, the two congregations have "prayed together, ... delved
into their theological connections and differences, ... joined
forces in social causes, ... shared each other's pain, including
memories of the Holocaust, ... danced together," and opened their
arms to Muslims and other faiths.
     For the small United Methodist congregation, the shared
arrangement has brought new hope in a battle against a shrinking
membership and the cost of maintaining a 100-year-old "landmark"
building that cannot be altered in appearance.
     "We were two congregations with similar visions and similar
needs," the CCUIC members were told as they prepared to join the
estimated 1,200, mostly youthful Jewish worshippers filling the
time-worn sanctuary for the weekly Shabbat service.
     After a brief orientation ("the prayer book reads from back
to front;" "stand when others stand," "use the Hebrew
transliteration to follow the service), and a gingerly donning of
yarmulkes by the men, the United Methodists  took their places in
front of a 30 feet by 20 feet banner proclaiming:  "How good it is
when brothers and sisters dwell together in harmony."
     The next 90 minutes witnessed to that paraphrase from the
Psalms with singing in Hebrew, praying, praising and dancing in
the aisles.  Later, there was a Shabbat supper and more singing,
praying and dancing, including an enthusiastic rendering of the
words of the banner sung in Hebrew and danced to the tune of "When
the Saints Go Marching In."
     As they boarded their bus for a late-night ride back to New
Jersey, CCUIC members reflected on the words of Rabbi Marcello
Bronstein during his brief homily:  "Love and respect is the best
thing we can offer each other. ... maybe together we can bring
some harmony to the world."

                                #  #  #

     * Lear is retired director of the United Methodist News
Service Washington office now living in Wernersville, Pa.

Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT:  Ralph E. Baker                         192(10-71B){3546}
          Nashville, Tenn.  (615) 742-5470           April 8, 1997

EDITORS NOTE: This story is a sidebar to UMNS #191 {3545}

New York United Methodist church shares
facilities with Jewish congregation

by Robert Lear*

     NEW YORK (UMNS) --  A Friday visitor to the time-stained gray
stone edifice on 86th Street here, would at first glance note
little unusual about the bulletin board identifying St. Paul and
St. Andrew United Methodist Church.
     The conventional stopped with the nameline.
     Instead of the usual Sunday worship listings, this board
carried the times of Shabbat (sabbath) services Friday and
Saturday, noted a scheduled bat mitzvah and concluded with the
names of rabbis J. Rolando Matalon and Marcelo Bronstein,
spiritual leaders of Congregation B'nai Jeshurun.
     Continuing a six-year venture in interfaith relations, the
sabbath observance April 4 was the setting for a memorable worship
experience for members of the United Methodist Commission on
Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns (CCUIC).  Commission
directors were visiting New York City as part of their spring
meeting in Convent Station, N.J.
     Sharing facilities began when the roof of Congregation B'nai
Jeshurun's 77-year-old temple, situated a few blocks from the
United Methodist church, collapsed without warning in the pre-dawn
darkness of May 25, 1991.
     A subsequent invitation from St. Paul and St. Andrew to the
Conservative Jewish congregation to celebrate High Holy Days in
the 100-year-old United Methodist Church was accepted, and the
relationship has flourished and expanded beyond any expectation.
     In the words of Dennis Hevesi, writing in The New York 
Times, the two congregations have "prayed together, ... delved
into their theological connections and differences, ... joined
forces in social causes, ... shared each other's pain, including
memories of the Holocaust, ... danced together," and opened their
arms to Muslims and other faiths.
     For the small United Methodist congregation, the shared
arrangement has brought new hope in a battle against a shrinking
membership and the cost of maintaining a 100-year-old "landmark"
building that cannot be altered in appearance.
     "We were two congregations with similar visions and similar
needs," the CCUIC members were told as they prepared to join the
estimated 1,200, mostly youthful Jewish worshippers filling the
time-worn sanctuary for the weekly Shabbat service.
     After a brief orientation ("the prayer book reads from back
to front;" "stand when others stand," "use the Hebrew
transliteration to follow the service), and a gingerly donning of
yarmulkes by the men, the United Methodists  took their places in
front of a 30 feet by 20 feet banner proclaiming:  "How good it is
when brothers and sisters dwell together in harmony."
     The next 90 minutes witnessed to that paraphrase from the
Psalms with singing in Hebrew, praying, praising and dancing in
the aisles.  Later, there was a Shabbat supper and more singing,
praying and dancing, including an enthusiastic rendering of the
words of the banner sung in Hebrew and danced to the tune of "When
the Saints Go Marching In."
     As they boarded their bus for a late-night ride back to New
Jersey, CCUIC members reflected on the words of Rabbi Marcello
Bronstein during his brief homily:  "Love and respect is the best
thing we can offer each other. ... maybe together we can bring
some harmony to the world."

                                #  #  #

     * Lear is retired director of the United Methodist News
Service Washington office now living in Wernersville, Pa.

Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT:  Ralph E. Baker                         192(10-71B){3546}
          Nashville, Tenn.  (615) 742-5470           April 8, 1997

EDITORS NOTE: This story is a sidebar to UMNS #191 {3545}

New York United Methodist church shares
facilities with Jewish congregation

by Robert Lear*

     NEW YORK (UMNS) --  A Friday visitor to the time-stained gray
stone edifice on 86th Street here, would at first glance note
little unusual about the bulletin board identifying St. Paul and
St. Andrew United Methodist Church.
     The conventional stopped with the nameline.
     Instead of the usual Sunday worship listings, this board
carried the times of Shabbat (sabbath) services Friday and
Saturday, noted a scheduled bat mitzvah and concluded with the
names of rabbis J. Rolando Matalon and Marcelo Bronstein,
spiritual leaders of Congregation B'nai Jeshurun.
     Continuing a six-year venture in interfaith relations, the
sabbath observance April 4 was the setting for a memorable worship
experience for members of the United Methodist Commission on
Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns (CCUIC).  Commission
directors were visiting New York City as part of their spring
meeting in Convent Station, N.J.
     Sharing facilities began when the roof of Congregation B'nai
Jeshurun's 77-year-old temple, situated a few blocks from the
United Methodist church, collapsed without warning in the pre-dawn
darkness of May 25, 1991.
     A subsequent invitation from St. Paul and St. Andrew to the
Conservative Jewish congregation to celebrate High Holy Days in
the 100-year-old United Methodist Church was accepted, and the
relationship has flourished and expanded beyond any expectation.
     In the words of Dennis Hevesi, writing in The New York 
Times, the two congregations have "prayed together, ... delved
into their theological connections and differences, ... joined
forces in social causes, ... shared each other's pain, including
memories of the Holocaust, ... danced together," and opened their
arms to Muslims and other faiths.
     For the small United Methodist congregation, the shared
arrangement has brought new hope in a battle against a shrinking
membership and the cost of maintaining a 100-year-old "landmark"
building that cannot be altered in appearance.
     "We were two congregations with similar visions and similar
needs," the CCUIC members were told as they prepared to join the
estimated 1,200, mostly youthful Jewish worshippers filling the
time-worn sanctuary for the weekly Shabbat service.
     After a brief orientation ("the prayer book reads from back
to front;" "stand when others stand," "use the Hebrew
transliteration to follow the service), and a gingerly donning of
yarmulkes by the men, the United Methodists  took their places in
front of a 30 feet by 20 feet banner proclaiming:  "How good it is
when brothers and sisters dwell together in harmony."
     The next 90 minutes witnessed to that paraphrase from the
Psalms with singing in Hebrew, praying, praising and dancing in
the aisles.  Later, there was a Shabbat supper and more singing,
praying and dancing, including an enthusiastic rendering of the
words of the banner sung in Hebrew and danced to the tune of "When
the Saints Go Marching In."
     As they boarded their bus for a late-night ride back to New
Jersey, CCUIC members reflected on the words of Rabbi Marcello
Bronstein during his brief homily:  "Love and respect is the best
thing we can offer each other. ... maybe together we can bring
some harmony to the world."

                                #  #  #

     * Lear is retired director of the United Methodist News
Service Washington office now living in Wernersville, Pa.

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