Sacred Spaces

As we reached the end of our week long exploration of Sacred Spaces, we look back at what we have seen, experienced and learned. This week we visited 10 different sacred spaces from a variety of religious traditions. Through out our time together, we learned a number of new and interesting things. First, how...

Our visit to the local Catholic church provided a great look at how intentional design creates an atmosphere of deep respect regardless of the religion you believe in. After touring the sanctuary and observing how elements like light and sound can make an environment sacred, we transitioned to the classroom to present our own...

Our final day brought on last visit to Our Lady of Good Counsel in Moorestown. Our visit to the local Catholic church provided a great look at how intentional design creates an atmosphere of deep respect regardless of the religion you believe in. In the church we were able to make connections in terms...

Temple Beth Shalom When you first enter Temple Beth Shalom and you walk towards the sanctuary, you see these pieces of art that hold significance to the synagogue. Our group was then shown three different, very special Torahs. We were shown one that is usually used for teaching, one that was very well preserved...

By Anja and Anjali On our third day of the Sacred Spaces IL, we traveled to two different sacred spaces of two distinctly different religions. Hope Community Church Our first Sacred Space of the day was the Hope Community Church on Main Street, Moorestown. While there, we saw that the Hope Church is not...

By Meena and Alexa On the second day of our Sacred Spaces IL, our group traveled to several different sacred spaces in Philadelphia. When our group first arrived in the city, we took a tour of Friends Center, a Quaker meeting center. There, we learned all about the different organizations that work with Friends...

On our first day of Intensive Learning, we visited three Christian churches on Main Street, each with a different denomination. The first church our group visited on Monday was First Baptist Church of Moorestown. There, we took a tour led by music director Howard Raudenbush and art director Dabid Acosta; we saw prayer, discussions,...

On Wednesday, we had breakfast at the Reading Terminal Market and walked around Philadelphia; we made our way to Congregation Mikveh Israel. Although it may at first seem like an average place of worship, it has a deep and interesting history. Congregation Mikveh Israel was established in 1740 and is one of the first...

Hey everyone! Today in Sacred Spaces, we visited the largest Hindu temple in the United states, the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Robbinsville, NJ, with Mrs. Mitali Pande and Mrs. Gail Barna. It’s an amazing environment that helped us immerse ourselves in Hindu art, architecture, culture, and inspiring thoughts. At the campus entrance, we...