Earlier this month, a dozen East Village religious institutions opened their doors to the public, offering a three-hour tour of their spaces. At each stop along the way, the religious leader for that particular institution spoke briefly about its background and history. From left to right, Anthony Donovan, organizer of “Open Houses”; Reverend Adriene Thorne, associate minister, Middle Collegiate Church; Rabbi Greg Wall, Sixth St. Community Synagogue; Imam Mohammad Rahman of Madina Masjid Mosque; household member Venkata Bhatta and monk Yajna Purusha Das, head of the Bhakti Center; Ted Walker, Mary House, Catholic Worker; Father Arthur Wendel, retired pastor (in wheelchair), Most Holy Redeemer Roman Catholic Church; Reverend Winnie Varghese of St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery; Father Michael Suvak of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Protection; Reverend David Kossey of St. Mary’s Orthodox Church; and Tibetan lama Pema Dorjee of the Nechung Foundation. They’ll participate in an interfaith concert together on Dec. 7 at Middle Collegiate Church at E. Seventh St. and Second Ave. Middle Collegiate’s Thorne said, at the last concert, the imam sang with a shawl over his head in the church; he doesn’t have a chance to sing in the mosque, but has a great voice. The rabbi plays the sax.
Bonnie Rosenstock
