For more than 60 years, the building at the northwest corner of North Hanley Road and Amherst Avenue in University City has been a house of prayer.
First it was Shaare Zedek synagogue. Then, in 2014, the Jewish congregation merged with Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel synagogue to create .
All along, every day, somewhere in the building, somebody has prayed.
That’s what inspired Rusty Maple after he moved in.
Maple is lead pastor of the Hanley Road location of , a Christian church with six outposts in ºüÀêÊÓƵ. For nearly a year now, Maple’s church, and Kol Rinah, have shared the same building.
“We have learned from a people more devoted to prayer than we are,†Maple says.
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The unique arrangement was born of practicality.
Rabbis Noah Arnow and Scott Shafrin were looking for a new location for Kol Rinah.
Maple’s church, then situated a few blocks south, at Hanley Road and Maryland Avenue, was growing, and wanted to find a location north of Delmar Boulevard, which once separated Jews in ºüÀêÊÓƵ by class, and in the 20th century became a dividing line between black and white.
The two congregations — one Jewish, one Christian — found each other and made a deal.
They’d switch buildings.
But the Maryland Avenue location was going to need quite a bit of work before Kol Rinah could move in, and that created a dilemma. The men of the cloth forged a plan.
They would worship under the same roof.
The opportunities for conflict were enormous.
To prepare Kol Rinah for its new birth as home of a Christian congregation, volunteers from The Journey wanted to work on Saturday, the Jewish sabbath. There would be crosses representing the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in a building where Jews were still worshiping, celebrating holidays and traditions, and praying, every day, praying.
For Jews, having dealt with anti-Semitism in one shape or another for generations, the cross can represent a real “historical trauma,†Arnow says.
Consider the recent decision by College of the Holy Cross, a Jesuit university near Boston, from the “Knights†because of its historical representation of the Crusades, in which Jews and Muslims were killed because of their faith.
Working to share space with a Jewish congregation has opened Maple up to a new understanding of how the cross is viewed by those of a different faith.
“In a sense,†he says, “we have felt the offense of the cross.â€
For both congregations, the process of sharing a building has led to new understanding of each other’s faith and tradition.
“The learning has not come in a sermon,†Maple says.
Arnow points to the book of Ezekiel, which appears in both the Jewish holy texts and the Christian Old Testament. In that book, the prophet makes about 90 references to God revealing himself in various actions.
“These things have happened,†Arnow says, paraphrasing the text, “so that you may know that ‘I am the Lord.’â€
In the past couple of months, the congregations have looked for opportunities to learn from each other, from participating in shared meals and attendance at an annual carnival to celebrate the Jewish festival of Purim.
At a time of great national division, in a location that represents the historical divides still present in ºüÀêÊÓƵ, these two disparate faith bodies are worshiping under the same roof, learning from each other while being true to their own beliefs.
“Construction is temporary,†Arnow says. “For a lot of our congregation, this has been a learning experience.â€
Sometime in the next year, the two congregations will separate, with Kol Rinah moving to its new building, and The Journey completely settling into its new home.
Shafrin hopes that moment will mark a change, but not an end, to the relationship between the two congregations.
“You know,†he says, “when we’re not living in the same building, we can still do things together.â€