Deep in America’s heartland, a Reform synagogue, a nondenominational mosque and an… [Episcopal] church are all putting down roots on a 37-acre tract of land that once belonged to a Jewish country club. A body of water called Hell Creek runs through the development, over which the faith groups plan to build “Heaven’s Bridge.”
Fantastical as it sounds, this interfaith campus is currently in the works in Omaha, Neb. Slated for completion in 2014, the Tri-Faith Initiative is an experiment in religious coexistence in a city better known as a hub of corn-fed conservatism.
“The only other place where such a thing exists is Jerusalem,” said Dr. Syed Mohiuddin, chairman of the Creighton University School of Medicine. Mohiuddin’s organization, the American Institute of Islamic Studies and Culture, is building a mosque on the campus. “Jerusalem is so important to these three faiths. We are sort of reproducing that model.”
In New York. In Florida. In california. But in Omaha !!! The TEC already has 6 churches and a Cathedral in Omaha. Three of the churches are doing well while the other three on life-support. And Trinity Cathedral is not much with Plate & Pledge of only $180K in 2009. I find it hard to believe that they will find the funds necessary to establish this new church in Omaha. Statmann
The irony is that the real Jerusalem is a place of seething tensions. Not only between the three monotheistic religions but even within them. When you celebrate Mass in the (Latin) Chapel of the Crucifixion in the Holy Sepulchre you find an Orthodox monk sitting watching you balefully – their chapel is parallel and you must not do anything forbidden eg sing. Jews have these tensions too: on my last visit I read in the Israeli daily Ha-Aretz that payphones were being removed from proximity to ultra-Orthodox yeshivas because the students were coming out of the classes to ring Reform or Conservative organisations to rain abuse on them. So, all in all, the heavenly Jerusalem may be a symbol of peace and reconciliation but the earthly Jerusalem … but perhaps Omaha may do better after all. I wish them well.
I think this is a monetary boondoggle myself, and I was ordained in Nebraska. I mean, I wish them well, but I think the money that is being ponied up for this is a real waste.