USA: A leap of faith and an American moment

This is unusual in itself, of course, a church converting to a mosque. But what captured the essence of this changing congregation and gives hope for our region’s and our country’s future was the ceremony itself. 

Members of the Lakeside Lutheran Church pray with members
of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community during services Oct. 31.
(Photo by Laura Matthews, for The Patriot-News)

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: PennLive | The Patriot-News
By Jeanette Krebs | November 06, 2010

A hidden moment happened last Sunday in Harrisburg, a uniquely American one. It passed quietly, perhaps in part because of the cacaphony of campaign buzz going on just two days before the big election. In any case, no politicians were there to give speeches or glad hand. I was happy I was there as a refresher of what our society can be at its best.

Lakeside Lutheran Church, which opened in 1970, held its last service in the beautiful Harrisburg building that sits on Division Street near Italian Lake and across from the towering Zembo Shrine Center. That same building will soon be occupied by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, which bought the church property from Lakeside.

This is unusual in itself, of course, a church converting to a mosque. But what captured the essence of this changing congregation and gives hope for our region’s and our country’s future was the ceremony itself.


We see examples of the misunderstandings and mistrust of the growing Muslim presence in the United States everywhere. It has shown itself in the lingering national debate over the creation of a community center and mosque near ground zero. It is in the reaction to National Public Radio firing Juan Williams for saying he is nervous when seeing people in traditional Muslim garb board an airplane he is on.

Despite these incidents, we know we can’t lump all people of Islamic faith into the category of potential terrorist, yet judging by what has been said too much of that is still happening.

Muslims are a growing segment of our society and have one of the fastest-growing religions on our country. The estimated 5 million to 7 million Muslims in the U.S. include immigrants and those born in the United States.

The president of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Akram Khalid, an engineer, lives near Chambersburg with his wife, a physician, and their four children. He has been a citizen since 1990. He is among those leading the rising number of mosques in the United States, which have increased 25 percent from 962 in 1994 to 1,209 in 2000.

This brings me back to the ceremony for the newest mosque in our region. It was bittersweet. The Rev. Richard Hair led his Lutheran congregation through one last worship as it sang “A Mighty Fortress is My God,” took Communion and ceremoniously put out the candles and lights around the altar. The church closed because its membership has slowly dwindled and the congregation made the difficult decision to put its beloved church up for sale.

On Oct. 4, the congregation voted overwhelmingly to sell the property to Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, which has mosques in York and Mechanicsburg.

As the Lutheran congregation tearfully ended its service, dozens of Muslim families filed into the back of the church, taking seats in the pews. Then, Hair asked everyone to get up from their seats and the two congregations formed a circle around the Protestant sanctuary.

That is when Hair did something truly inspiring. He handed Khalid a framed letter and the two men embraced. The letter said in part: “As the new worshipping community at Lakeside we welcome you. We respect your right to change this worship space to meet the needs of your community but, we hope that you will experience the love, peace and joy we leave behind. Lakeside is our past; let it be your future.

“We pray that Lakeside will provide you a safe haven for worship. We pray that you will find your place in the multicultural, multifaith community of uptown Harrisburg. We pray that your community will be spared the prejudice caused by the current political climate. May you have freedom instead of persecution, love instead of hatred and a sense of peace. We pray that your message of ‘love for all, hatred for none’ will be heard by your neighbors.” It was signed: The Lakeside Lutheran Congregation.

A Muslim man, in turn, read a verse from the Quran that honors Mary, the mother of Jesus. People of various backgrounds stood together, some grieving an end, others anticipating a beginning.

I was struck by the show of mutual respect and thought again about this quiet moment.

A religious home was being transferred from one group that had loved it for decades to another who hoped to do the same. No one spoke of feeling nervous, no one protested outside and no one uttered an ugly word. Two different religious groups had come together to honor each other before going their separate ways. But in passing, each gave the other something lasting.

Anyone lucky enough to be there will remember this moment as one from which we all could learn much.

JEANETTE KREBS is editorial page editor. 255-8111 or jkrebs@patriot-news.com.


Photo: Members of the Lakeside Lutheran Church pray with members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community during services Oct. 31. (Photo by Laura Matthews, for The Patriot-News)



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