by | Jun 30, 2019 4:53 pm | Comments (40)
Paul Bass Photos
Elicker (above) addresses Bethel congregants (below).
Days after an opposing campaign attacked his wife and her fellow federal prosecutors as Trump co-conspirators, mayoral candidate Justin Elicker took to the pulpit Sunday to urge New Haveners to transcend “political rhetoric” and “come together as a city.”
by | May 17, 2019 5:36 pm | Comments (3)
Allan Appel Photo
Sumeyya Sahim, only in the U.S. six months from her native Istanbul, Turkey, arrived early at the Diyanet Mosque Friday. Five days after someone started a fire there, the congregation was ready to gather again in communal prayer.
by | May 7, 2019 3:57 pm | Comments (4)
Brian Slattery Photos
Seated before the New Haven Oratorio Choir, artistic director Daniel Shaw raised his hand. The choir stood silent. Shaw asked pianist Alexis ZIngale to play a few notes on the piano so the choir members could hear their pitches.
“Measure 18,” he said, and gave the signal. Section by section, the choir members fell into the music, unspooling lines of sweeping harmonies that filled the wide open space of the Church of the Redeemer on Whitney Avenue with song.
by | Feb 26, 2019 1:01 pm | Comments (0)
Sam Gurwitt Photo
Hancock heals Jason at Victory Temple.
Elder George Hancock Sr. held out his hands as Assistant Pastor Diane Daniley Langford unscrewed the cap of a bottle of Filippo Berio olive oil and poured a splash on his palms.
by | Feb 18, 2019 1:01 pm | Comments (0)
Sam Gurwitt Photo
Pastor Darlene Hayes Daniley at the organ.
That’s why I praise You
I lift You up
And I magnify Your name …
There was no choir raising a joyful noise inside Victory Temple for the Sabbath. No band; just a drum and small Hammond organ. And yet … The rafters shook. The Lord’s name was magnified.
by | Dec 21, 2018 1:13 pm | Comments (1)
Allan Appel Photos
Father Westerberg beside a rendition of the Last Judgment.
Michael Westerberg will preside over Christmas services one last time next week, then step aside after 38 years overseeing the transformation of the Holy Transfiguration.
by | Aug 13, 2018 8:01 am | Comments (25)
Thomas Breen photos
Varick Pastor Kelcy Steele at Sabbath services Sunday.
With sweat pouring down his face and the jubilant sound of drums, keyboards, and a hundred pairs of clapping hands before him, Pastor Kelcy Steele revved up one of New Haven’s most influential African-American congregations to make their presence known at the polls this Tuesday.
by | Mar 28, 2018 7:52 am | Comments (5)
Markeshia Ricks Photo
Barber at Yale: Guns kill. So does policy.
During a week when Christians will contemplate the death and resurrection of a savior, the Rev. William J. Barber II, the leader of a revived national Poor People’s Campaign, stopped by Yale University’s Battell Chapel Tuesday night to point the way for how the United States of America might resurrect its moral compass.
Continue reading ‘Poor People’s Quest Eyes “Policy Violence”’
by | Aug 28, 2017 7:28 am | Comments (5)
Allan Appel Photo
Pacavisiting Immanuel Baptist.
Sunday morning Immanuel Missionary Baptist Church‘s Associate Pastor Ron Smith — a former city clerk and 2015 mayoral aspirant — preached an impassioned sermon with the theme “Nothing is impossible.”
Those words had particular resonance for one visiting worshipper, Marcus Paca, whose campaign to unseat incumbent Mayor Toni Harp constitutes taking on the New Haven’s Democratic establishment.
by | Feb 21, 2017 9:00 am | Comments (0)
Allan Appel Photo
Gardner, Streets, and Hughes in back row with kid choristers.
Slavery still exists in the prison-industrial complex. Voting rights have been reversed. But we can prevail against systemic evils — because we have done it before right here in New Haven.
That history lesson with contemporary resonance highlighted a sermon that kicked off a three-year celebration of the historic Dixwell Avenue Congregational United Church of Christ as it moves towards its 200th anniversary in 2020.
by | Jan 30, 2017 3:02 pm | Comments (0)
Paul Bass Photo
Inside Star of Jacob Sunday.
A cold wind was blowing outside, but inside a church in the Hill, ev’ry voice rose to the rafters with hope.
by | Mar 28, 2016 1:35 pm | Comments (0)
Allan Appel Photo
Burdell Mamie Smith-Taylor at Friday’s event.
“We miss you, we love you, and when we grow up, we want to be just like you!”
by | Mar 21, 2016 7:32 am | Comments (11)
Paul Bass Photos
Congregation at Sunday’s inaugural Restoration Church service.
Co-founders Betty Lorde and Kim Jenkins.
In the front row of an historic church service, Kim Davis sang a hymn entitled “Holy, Holy, Holy,” not as an outcast, but as a deacon.
by | Jan 19, 2016 8:37 am | Comments (0)
Lucy Gellman Photo
Robert Davis, second from right, channels King at Monday’s event.
In Roget’s Thesaurus there are some 120 synonyms for blackness, and at least 60 of them are offensive. Such words as “blot,” “soot,” “grim,” “devil,” and “foul.”
The sentence rang out across the expanse of Christ Church on Broadway, each word falling and bouncing back, with a sure and steady weight, like marbles across the church’s stone aisles.
by | Jan 18, 2016 2:16 pm | Comments (0)
A low, grounded Buddhist chant to unleash compassion and a long, melodious reading of verses from the Koran were very unlikely to have been heard at Trinity Episcopal Church on the Green when that gorgeous Gothic building was erected back in 1816.’
Sunday night those sounds — along with prayers to Allah, Adonai, Jesus the Risen Lord, and Siva — filled up the sanctuary, along with 200 parishioners and admirers and 13 clergy members from a wide range of New Haven faiths and denomination.
Continue reading ‘Buddhist Chants, Koranic Verses Mix With Epsicopal Prayers’
by | Jan 18, 2016 8:48 am | Comments (1)
Allan Appel Photo
When the image of a black Christ filled St. Rose of Lima Church, New Haveners who originally hailed from Guatemala felt a bit more “a la casa” — as if at home.
by | Oct 2, 2015 1:52 pm | Comments (0)
It began with profound silence. Then smoking incense, and then the din of a distant bell.
Continue reading ‘Holy Transfiguration Enters Second Century’
by | Oct 1, 2014 10:49 am | Comments (0)
Jordi Gassó Photo
Sun filtered through stained-glass windows, bathing pews with white light as congregation members took their seats.
Continue reading ‘125 Years Later, St. Michael’s Seeks A Rebirth’
by | May 20, 2014 12:49 pm | Comments (0)
Allan Appel Photo
Croog & Faiman, together almost twice as venerable as their shul.
“You sold shoes on Legion Avenue. Three dollars a pair,” Paul Weiss told 100-year-old Herb Croog.
“Your grandfather circumcised me,” Croog reminded 90-year-old Samuel Faiman.
by | Apr 14, 2014 11:38 am | Comments (2)
Mallory Pellegrino came for the jazz. She stayed for the people.
by | Apr 2, 2014 3:16 pm | Comments (2)
Theresa Carr was praised for her daring, outrageousness, and creativity in the name of causes ranging from gay rights to nuclear disarmament.
Then, as part of a Tibetan Buddhist end-of-life ceremony, her lifelong partner lit the corner of her photo, chanting “Namo, Amitabhaya, Hri” until the image was burned to a cinder.
Continue reading ‘Oft-Jailed Activist Receives Final Release’
by | Feb 23, 2014 8:44 pm | Comments (1)
Allan Appel Photo
“I’m happy right now, but it’s not over yet. I want a new Ukraine.”
by | Jan 21, 2014 12:02 pm | Comments (2)
Kathleen Cei Photos
The St. Luke’s Steel Band and Music Haven’s Haven String Quartet may seem an unlikely combination. It is. They know it, and they made the most of it at a joint annual Dr. Martin Luther King Community Celebration Monday afternoon at St. Luke’ s Episcopal Church.
They lifted every voice — and every violin, and every steel drum.
Continue reading ‘Lift Every Voice ... Violin, & Steel Drum’
by | Oct 24, 2013 11:36 am | Comments (1)
Allan Appel Photo
The former pastor argued that spirituality without religion (SBNR) is not enough. The current pastor said religion without spirituality (RBNS) isn’t enough either.
But they agreed on the food.
by | Oct 4, 2013 10:20 am | Comments (7)
Allan Appel Photo
Pastor Valerie Washington frequently tells the story of how David calmed Saul’s agitation — some interpreters call it mental illness—with the playing of his lyre.
In a storefront church on Whalley Avenue, her little congregation is putting that into practice: making a big noise for God through a practical and spiritual ministry that comforts hurting people with the healing power of music.
Continue reading ‘From Whalley Storefront, A Spiritual Song Rises’