Muslims Visit our Church

Anthony Stevens-Arroyo, on the far right, his wife, Ana Maria Diaz-Stevens, on the far left, and their son, Adan Stevens-Diaz, next to his mother, pictured with a group of Muslims from the Chestnut Retreat Center in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania at the Church of Saint Luke

-Michael Sullivan

Members of Fethullah Gulen’s Islamic Hizmet Movement from the Chestnut Retreat Center in Saylorsburg are on a tour they call “experiential worship houses visit project” as part of their effort to experience the traditions of various faiths. At the 10:30 am Mass on Sunday, January 19th close to a dozen Muslims from their group came to witness our worship. Semih Kiyma, the leader of the Pocono Interfaith Council and member of the Hizmet movement, expressed his deepest gratitude for the warm hospitality they received during their visit and added that “attending and experiencing the Mass was such a profound experience for us all.”

Semih explained this initiative will “aim to visit various places of worship, not only to connect with our neighbors, but also to experience how they worship and explore their sacred spaces to understand their physical architecture and deeper meanings behind the signs and symbols that are significant to believers”.

The Church of Saint Luke was pleased to welcome these Muslims attend our Mass. From a usual group of 6, the number of Muslim visitors to St. Luke’s grew to a near dozen, showing the good will that has been achieved by our parish’s Faithful Neighbors Ministry After the Mass, they were given a tour by Anthony Stevens-Arroyo and his family of our Church which helped our visiting group to “better understand and appreciate the theology, sacraments and signs at the church.”

Tony Stevens explaining the baptismal font to the Muslims

This successful interaction with these local Muslims will hopefully bear fruit in bridging the gap of religious divide. At the Church of Saint Luke, we are motivated by the love of Christ to welcome the strangers, and to help bring peace through dialogue.

Deacon Phil speaking with Tony and the Muslims after Mass

The followers of Fethullah Gulen at the Chestnut Retreat Center are scheduled to meet with our community again on March 12th. We are planning to share an iftar dinner and discuss the history of fasting in Catholic and Muslim traditions. Planned for Lent, we want to explore the various ways of fasting to better understand and appreciate our own Catholic observance of the Lenten fast.