I’m going to brag for a minute about something other than my sweet girl…

I like my church for a lot of reasons, and our engagement with churches of other faiths is pretty high on that list. There are lots of examples – like the interfaith service we hosted in our sanctuary with Christian, Jewish and Muslim worshipers on the one-year anniversary of the September 11th attacks. When Lee and I went to Cuba on a mission trip, we traveled with members of Congregation Mickve Israel, Savannah’s oldest synagogue. On that trip I had my first visit to a temple when we were invited to a Jewish service and dinner in Havana.

Last Sunday marked my second visit to a temple – this time, the local one belonging to Congregation Mickve Israel, overlooking Monterey Square just a few blocks from my own church.

Our church is undergoing major roof repairs, so our sanctuary is off-limits for the month of January. I love that when our doors closed, the synagogue opened theirs, offering us a place to hold services on Sunday mornings.

The temple is beautiful, and I look forward to services there this month. I’m also proud of the way our church leaders showed respect for the sacred place and acknowledged our surroundings by reading from the Torah and sharing Bible verses in Hebrew.

To all this I say, “Shalom!”