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A Letter from Lowell:
Welcome to the Ecologies of Learning Newsletter! At EOL, we study how communities of faith in the New York Metro Area relate to their surroundings and make a difference in their neighborhoods. Our studies can help congregations better impact their communities, help scholars better understand religion in urban life, and help public officials and community groups better understand and support communities of faith. With our website, our community forums, and this newsletter, we hope to share EOL’s exciting work with people from all these walks of life. By reading our newsletter, you’ll learn how religion is a force in the city. In this issue, Moses Biney writes that African immigrant congregations not only help members preserve their culture and adapt to American life–they also work positively to affect their local communities. A number of the churches he has studied, for example, are attempting, bravely, to bridge racial and cultural divides. You’ll also find portraits of New York congregations and religious individuals here. This month, Katie DiSalvo highlights Graffiti Church in Manhattan’s East Village, where we have conducted research for over a year. Like the 80 congregations in this neighborhood of just over one square mile, Graffiti has watched neighborhood safety, rent, and popularity increase over recent years. Congregations unable to afford space have left, and new congregations have opened, hoping to attract the young, mobile adults who like to come to the area. Many think the East Village cannot be both an entertainment hotspot and a close-knit neighborhood for long, while others enjoy the nightlife and see it as vibrant and positive rather than problematic or threatening. In future newsletters—and at the forums announced in the “What’s Happening” section—we will show how other congregations face these challenges and opportunities. I hope you enjoy this newsletter, and that you will give us your comments and ideas (contact information on the other side). Please visit www.ecologiesoflearning.org for much more information and many opportunities to share in the EOL community. I look forward to learning with you about religion’s role in Metro New York. Together we can build a new environment in which religious congregations, seminarians, scholars, activists, and public officials can work together for better cities and stronger communities of faith. Sincerely, |
African immigrant Congregations in New York:
In neighborhoods throughout the New York Metro Area, I have found stores, old warehouses and dilapidated buildings renovated and converted into churches and mosques. Brightly colored signs (some with neon lights) announce their presence: “Pan- African Church of God in Christ,” “Presbyterian Church of Ghana in New York,” “The Light Mosque of Faith” et cetera. In these mostly storefront churches and mosques, immigrants from Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and other African countries meet for religious practice and community life. Literature on immigrant religion suggests such congregations mainly serve as a ‘home away from home’ for their members, becoming “ethnic enclaves” within which cultural identities are preserved and reproduced. They also seek to change the religious and socio-cultural landscapes of their I immediate neighborhoods and of American society in general. Some, for example, are striving to combine races and ethnic groups often divided.The predominantly Nigerian, Bronx-based Redeemed Church of God Restoration Chapel, for example, is attracting Hispanics into its fold. Many of these congregations exist in depressed areas, and some have brought physical changes and services to needy communities. The Redeemed Church of God Restoration Chapel converted a dilapidated, abandoned auto shop into a beautiful 500-seat sanctuary and offices. The Celestial Church of God, an African Indigenous Church located in Newark, New Jersey, runs a farmers’ market that sells residents subsidized foodstuffs. This church also helps residents access government assistance programs.  Members of The Presbyterian Church of Ghana 256 W. 123rd Street, NYCTo read more by Dr. Biney, including an in-depth comparison of two African Immigrant churches, visit the research” section of www.ecologiesoflearning.org. |
Portrait of Graffiti Church By Katie DiSalvo With extensive ministries, a beautiful new building, and many successful church plants, Graffiti Church (also known as East 7th Baptist) looks like an established congregation with a formula that works. But the East Village has changed dramatically through rapid gentrification since the mid-eighties, and Graffiti is one of many local religious organizations in a period of transition. Like many religious groups in transition, they have re-examined mission, liturgy, and membership. Since it was founded as a Southern Baptist mission site in the Seventies, the congregation has focused on meeting the physical and spiritual needs of the area’s poor residents. However, Graffiti is committed to being a community-based church, and its local community has changed. The East Village now includes many young professionals. Church leadership has decided to pursue new-resident members. This decision is rooted in new perspectives on their mission and their understanding of need. According to their Director of Adult Ministries, Kareem Goubran, “Christ meets us through our points of need…We’re used to bringing Christ to people who are homeless, addicted…[Young professionals] have needs too–loneliness, depression, purpose.” Staff members, all of whom were drawn to Graffiti out of solidarity with the poor, are avoiding thinking in “us and them” terms about these new residents. Instead, they are emphasizing commonalities: everyone needs to love and be loved, Kareem explained, and everyone can serve others. Today, in written and spoken word, leaders refer to the congregation as “Graffiti: A Church That Serves.” Reaching young professionals and integrating them into a diverse, largely poor congregation has been difficult. As part of their effort to, as Kareem puts it, “bring other cultures into the community,” Graffiti has examined its liturgy and changed its music. They added classical instruments and contemporary Christian songs to their traditional gospel fare. These changes have not always been easy. Some members are nostalgic for the early years; others call for more aggressive change. According to Kareem, facing changes in the neighborhood has been positive– “it’s stretching.” “It’s exciting,” he continued. “We’re called to maintain our identity–which is a church that serves and cares for the poor – while being open to God’s leading and embracing a community that is different from the one we’re used to serving.”  E 7th Baptist Church / Graffiti Church 205 E 7th Street, NYC Read more about Graffiti at www.graffitichurch.org
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WHAT’S HAPPENING EOL launches its website! **We invite you to enter our site and share in our Ecology of Learning: www.ecologiesoflearning.org Installation of Dr. Dale T Irvin as the 11th President of New York Theological Seminary Thursday, February 22 - Friday, February 23, 2007. For more information check out our website or call 212-870-1211 Community Forums: March 5, 2007 5:00-8:00pm "Religious Congregations and 'Cultures of the Night' in Manhattan's East Village" @ Henry Street Settlement Abrons Art Center: 466 Grand Street, NYC **April 15, 2007 4:30pm-7:30pm "Youth in the Lower East Side" jointly hosted by the Interfaith Center of New York. Location to be announed. "When Urban is Global:The Post-Industrial City as a Learning-Lab for Ministerial Education" **June 14-24, 2007. A seminar for seminary faculty. For information contact Dr. Lowell W Livezey, llivezey@nyts.edu |
