Bucks County worshipers celebrate diversity

By the end of the week, Mary and Ian Jeffery will have worn yarmulkes at synagogue, walked barefoot in a Buddhist temple, and clapped joyfully at a black church.

The Bensalem couple, long ago immigrants from the United Kingdom, are in the midst of a weeklong tour of Lower Bucks County faith. Today is Wednesday, so this must be the Mongkoltepmunee Temple.

"It's a wonderful week," said Mary Jeffery, who runs a driving school with her husband. "Even if you don't understand the language, you feel the meaning because you know they are worshipping God."

The Jefferys - she's Irish Catholic, he's English Protestant - are immersed in Unity Week, an annual congregation visitation program organized by Building a Better Bensalem Together, a youth community-service organization.

The event, which started four years ago, aims to highlight themes of peace, acceptance, and diversity through the neighborhoods' disparate expressions of faith. The week kicks off every year on Martin Luther King Day.

Each day, a different religious congregation hosts an observance and a reception. The congregations sing, chant, and pray for tolerance and justice in the ways of King, but in a manner that reflects their traditions.

This year, attendees were asked to bring canned goods for the food pantries that serve residents in the area, and donations made during at least one observance will benefit a Haitian relief organization.

Linconia Tabernacle Christian Center in Trevose hosted an exuberant kickoff Monday with an evening celebration organized by eight churches in the Feasterville and Trevose Ministerium.

Praise dancers who interpreted gospel songs while moving in the aisles of the church brought many in the audience of more than 200 to their feet.

Though progress has been made, "we have a long way to go," said Bishop Kenneth White of Linconia Tabernacle. The ideal of a completely tolerant, post-racist America is not yet a reality, he said.

Bucks County still struggles with hidden racism and intolerance for cultural differences in some communities, said John Jordan, president of the Bucks County branch of the NAACP.

Jordan says his own outlook "grows daily" as he has "embraced people with disabilities, the gay and lesbian community, and different ethnic groups. I'm loving it."

Last night, the BAPS Swaminarayan Temple, a Hindu congregation, was to host a Unity Week observance at its Levittown building. Typically, a temple history and an explanation of chants and prayers are presented. The Buddhist monks of the Mongkoltepmunee in Bensalem plan to lead a service at 11:30 a.m. today.

"We welcome the guests, and the monks usually chant for peace and the Dr. King spirit," said Win Somboonsong, who attends the Thai Buddhist temple.

The service will be followed by a buffet of traditional Thai dishes prepared by temple members.

When St. Ephrem Roman Catholic Church hosts its service at noon tomorrow, it will be the first time for the Bensalem congregation.

Father Stephen Katziner says he will give attendees what he calls a sitting tour of Catholic faith and practice, in part by talking about the significance of church furnishings and statues.

The week will take a musical turn at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow at Congregation Tifereth Israel of Lower Bucks County in Bensalem. On the bill: the No Place For Hate Choir and a combo featuring Rabbi Jeffery Schnitzer on drums.

The program puts "a face on the members of the different faith communities," Schnitzer said. After that, they are no longer strangers, he said.

Ernette Reid, 84, of Trevose, attended three of the sessions last year and plans to do the same this year.

She sat Monday with several ladies from her congregation, St. Andrew's-in-the-Field Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, during the refreshment hour at Linconia Tabernacle.

"I was especially impressed with Buddhist. I'd never been inside a temple before," Reid said. "Their form of worship, accoutrements - beautiful."

Winding up the week will be a service and luncheon Friday at St. Katharine Drexel Mission Center and National Shrine.

Sister Patricia Downs, director of the Bensalem center and shrine, will speak about King and St. Katharine and about dreams fulfilled.

The Jefferys plan to be there. They have attended every service in Unity Week since its beginning.

It's an event and a feeling Mary Jeffery says she never could have experienced in her native Northern Ireland.

The Unity Week celebration will continue today and end Friday in Bensalem.

Today: Mongkoltepmunee Buddhist Temple services, 11:30 a.m. at 3304 Knights Rd.

Tomorrow: St. Ephrem Roman Catholic Church services, noon at 5400 Hulmeville Rd.; Congregation Tifereth Israel program, 6:30 p.m. at 2909 Bristol Rd.

Friday: St. Katharine Drexel Mission Center and National Shrine, closing program, noon at 1663 Bristol Pike.

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