Bethel A.M.E. to worship at Oheb Shalom
Members of Bethel A.M.E. Church, forced out of their landmark Baltimore building, will take temporary refuge at Temple Oheb Shalom, the spiritual leaders of the two congregations said Wednesday.
A week after lightning struck the steeple of the church on Druid Hill Avenue, the Rev. Frank M. Reid III and Rabbi Steven M. Fink announced that the Christian congregation would hold Sunday services at the Reform Jewish synagogue in Park Heights through Labor Day.
Fink called Reid after learning of the July 1 fire to offer Oheb Shalom’s 900-seat sanctuary to the church. The two congregations have long worked together, holding joint services in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., maintaining a community garden and engaging in the Black and Jewish Forum of Baltimore.
“We thought, in light of the hate crime that took place recently over in Washington at the Holocaust museum, with the ethnic violence going on in China at this time, that this partnership between the Jewish faith community and the Christian faith community, this partnership between the Jewish community and the black community, reestablishes a bridge that has existed between our two communities for hundreds of years,” Reid said.
“Our congregation and Bethel A.M.E. are family,” Fink said. “Our officers and board of directors decided immediately upon learning of this event to offer our facility to Bethel A.M.E.”
(Photo by Tasha Treadwell/The Baltimore Sun)While the church has a membership of 17,500, Reid said Oheb Shalom will be large enough to accommodate the number likely to attend Sunday worship. At Oheb Shalom, the church is planning to hold a single service at 9:30 a.m. beginning this Sunday.
Oheb Shalom is located at 7310 Park Heights Avenue.
The synagogue offered similar assistance to members of First Mount Olive Freewill Baptist Church two years ago after their building was destroyed by a lightning strike and fire. That congregation now worships across Park Heights Avenue from Oheb Shalom at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation.
One reason Christian and Jewish congregations can share worship space is because their schedules don’t generally conflict. The Jewish sabbath runs from sundown Friday through sundown Saturday. Most Christians observe their sabbath on Sunday.
Another reason Bethel and Oheb Shalom make a good fit: the synagogue is part of a group of Reform Jewish congregations that hold joint services during the summer. This summer, those services are being held at Har Sinai, so the Oheb Shalom sanctuary is going unused.
Bethel A.M.E. held its first service after the fire last Sunday at Pier Six Pavilion in the Inner Harbor. Members will participate in an ecumenical prayer service at Union Baptist Church on Wednesday “to strengthen our faith in the face of the fire.” That event begins at 7 p.m. at the church at 1219 Druid Hill Avenue.
Reid said it was not yet clear how long it would take to repair the fire damage at Bethel or how much it would cost.
