by | May 23, 2020 10:06 pm | Comments (11)
Thomas Breen Photo
Pastor Kelcy Steele.
Pastor Kelcy G.L. Steele of Varick Memorial AME Zion Church released the following statement in response to President Trump’s call for churches to resume worship services:
Continue reading ‘Steele Slams Trump’s Return-To-Church Call’
by | May 22, 2020 6:29 pm | Comments (5)
The Rev. Jerry Streets Friday on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven.”
Covid-19 has not just challenged our ability to move safely in the physical world. It has also challenged our ability to navigate through the spiritual world — to figure out how to best to survive, and live.
Continue reading ‘Rev. Streets Lays Down The Covid-19 Spiritual Challenge’
by | May 20, 2020 1:55 pm | Comments (1)
Tanya Howell: Ramadan is beautiful, even now.
Ramadan came at just the right time this year for nurse Tanya Howell, even if it has required some adjustments.
by | May 19, 2020 12:20 pm | Comments (2)
Courtney Luciana Photos
From left, Virginia Percy, son Todd Percy son, Earl Percy, Rev. Morton Percy, daughter Natalie Oliver (seated).
Reverend Morton and Virginia Percy and the NAACP teamed up to prepare a “family” dinner for 20 people — with a side of protective masks.
by | May 18, 2020 3:56 pm | Comments (3)
Free a lot more prisoners — and do a better job keeping the remaining ones safe from Covid-19.
Hold off on reopening up houses of worship for services — but do tap them as Covid-19 testing sites in underserved hot zones.
Continue reading ‘Faith Leaders Press For Covid-19 Relief In Neighborhoods & Behind Bars’
by | May 12, 2020 9:58 am | Comments (37)
Zoom
Monday night’s Zoomed-in NHPS Board of Ed meeting.
• Board of Ed speeds up approval for pandemic marking policy.
• Also OKs next year’s schedule, with day off for Eid and shorter February break.
by | May 7, 2020 10:18 am | Comments (3)
Laura Glesby Photo
The Rev. Boise Kimber.
The Rev. Boise Kimber doesn’t want churches to rush reopening their doors. He wants them to prepare for when the day comes.
by | Apr 19, 2020 9:27 pm | Comments (4)
Maya McFadden Photo
With services suspended due to Covid-19, Mount Calvary Deliverance Tabernacle congregants drove en masse by the home of Pastor Robert Smith IV to let him know they miss him and the church.
by | Apr 17, 2020 12:25 pm | Comments (2)
The Westville Synagogue on West Prospect Street was shot at, not by bullets, but by projectiles from a BB gun.
The incident likely occurred some time between April 10 and April 13. The police responded Tuesday at noon, when someone associated with the congregation entered the building and reported the damage.
No one was hurt as the building was empty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with congregants gathering only virtually at home to celebrate the eight-day Passover holiday.
by | Apr 16, 2020 12:42 pm | Comments (1)
An eclectic group of rabbis, pastors, and imams from throughout the city wants New Haveners to know that they are not alone during this Covid-19 crisis, and that interfaith solidarity provides one path forward for emerging from this trying moment with an even stronger community than existed pre-pandemic.
Continue reading ‘Interfaith Leaders Speak Up For Solidarity’
by | Apr 13, 2020 10:40 am | Comments (0)
Facebook Live
Bishop Charles H. Brewer III invites congregations to address Covid-19 during livestreamed sermon.
The growing toll of Covid-19 was at the forefront of the minds, and prayers, of Dixwell Avenue congregants this Easter Sunday.
by | Apr 10, 2020 5:27 pm | Comments (1)
Friedrich Nietsche, the man who famously declared that God is dead, also said he might have become a good Christian, as was the case with that other former pagan, renegade, and convert St. Augustine, had Jesus’ disciples only been better examples of human beings.
Was this too much to ask?
by | Apr 9, 2020 9:18 am | Comments (2)
Zoom
Wednesday’s state-spanning virtual seder.
We were at the point in our virtual seder when we were supposed to invite Elijah the Prophet into the room. At our table, a place had been set. Elijah’s glass of wine was full. My wife Steph was explaining to the 21 adults and 3 children assembled online that we all just needed to open our doors to let the prophet in. On each screen, we watched as people got up to open their front doors. Then a new icon appeared in the lower right-hand corner of the gallery of windows.
“Oh, look,” Steph’s mother Laurie said, “Elijah the Prophet is connecting to audio.”
Continue reading ‘Elijah The Prophet Dials In For Virtual Seder’
by | Apr 8, 2020 2:30 pm | Comments (1)
Nu Haven Kapelye members on newly released “Eliyahu Ha Navi.”
Elijah the Prophet came to New Haven just in time for Passover — but he sounded different.
by | Apr 8, 2020 2:17 pm | Comments (0)
Thomas Breen photo
A near-empty Green amidst the pandemic.
(Opinion) Easter and Passover are gone, at least as we know them. The New York Times has recipes for one for Passover. Easter egg hunts are showing up as puzzles on interactive TV shows. Like some in need of a ventilator, we are desperate for the fresh breath of the religious holidays but are coming up short.
by | Apr 7, 2020 1:05 pm | Comments (0)
by | Apr 6, 2020 1:10 pm | Comments (0)
Imam Saladin Hasan.
The Covid-19 pandemic and its repercussions are like the Red Sea: Allah will hold the waves back. In return, all Allah wants is gratitude.
This was the message at this week’s Ju’muah service at the Abdul-Majid Karim Hasan Islamic Center on Dixwell Avenue.
Continue reading ‘Gratitude Broadcast From Dixwell Ave. Mosque’
by | Apr 1, 2020 3:59 pm | Comments (47)
From video footage
Teens flee with beaten rabbi’s keys …
… then speed off.
Rabbi Rosenstein.
After surviving a violent attack by two teens in front of downtown’s Chabad House, a New Haven rabbi offered thanks to the almighty — and to fast-responding cops who tracked down and caught the offenders.
by | Mar 31, 2020 3:05 pm | Comments (0)
Zoom
Rev. Steven Cousin, Rabbi Michael Farbman, WNHH Station manager Harry Droz on “Dateline New Haven.”
Holy weeks are beginning— when Christians are accustomed to lining up for the eucharist and hearing sermons and music in church.
Passover is less than two weeks away — when Jews cram around family tables for night-long seders.
Continue reading ‘Pastor, Rabbi Adapt, Preserve Rituals Amid Covid-19’
by | Mar 30, 2020 10:47 am | Comments (0)
YouTube
Calvary Baptist Church Minister Emily Cui introduces the five central points of her sermon.
The streets are quiet. Are you also internally quiet enough to hear God?
Minister Emily Cui asked her congregants that question on Sunday morning, with the help of YouTube Live.
Continue reading ‘Mandarin Sermon Message: How To Love Others During A Pandemic’
by | Mar 24, 2020 10:32 am | Comments (2)
Bethany Watkins.
Maya McFadden Photo
Immanuel Baptist crew prepares meals to go.
“People’s need for a meal isn’t going to change just because of this crisis,” Immanuel Missionary Baptist Church soup kitchen head Bethany Watkins said as volunteers helped her to put on a version of the church’s weekly soup kitchen modified to keep people safe, and fed, amid the spread of Covid-19.
by | Mar 23, 2020 10:42 am | Comments (1)
The Rev. Harlan Dalton.
In the weeks and months ahead, what will we learn about our deep behavior amid the covid-19 pandemic?
Will social distancing be mainly about keeping out of sneezing range? Or will many of us begin to display something more insidious?
Continue reading ‘Try To Love Your Neighbor As Yourself —Even At 6 Feet Apart’
by | Mar 22, 2020 10:59 pm | Comments (0)
Agape Minister Jeremy McKain sings while Senior Pastor Willa Moody bobs on the dance floor.
The congregation of Agape Christian Center joined together in song as usual on Sunday morning. Instead of repeating after the pastor in person, however, many of the voices chimed in through Facebook Live.
by | Mar 21, 2020 1:52 pm | Comments (0)
Dixwell’s Varick Memorial church has partnered up with the governor’s office to form a new Community Pastoral Response Center charged with providing pastors and faith-based communities with up-to-date information about the covid-19 pandemic.
Continue reading ‘Community Pastoral Response Center Launched’
by | Mar 20, 2020 1:13 pm | Comments (41)
Robert Bass at age 12.
Hugs are out. Hand sanitizer, in.
Those are among the new realities of burying loved ones in the Age of COVID-19.
I learned about those realities this week when we buried my brother.