Brookville Multifaith Campus
In response to a declining congregation, the Protestant church in Brookville, Long Island, needed to find a solution to meet the financial burden of continuing to use the building as a place of worship. In 2006, it decided to rent-out the church to a Jewish community, so that the building could also be used as a synagogue, and then to a Muslim community, to also use it as a centre for the study of the Koran.
But this landlord-tenant relationship, under the impetus of three unorthodox clergies, quickly turned into a life-changing adventure for these religious leaders as well as their congregations from three different faiths.
Doctor Sultan, Rabbi Stuart and Reverend Vicky, who may from the outside look like they conform to type, are in fact three rebels who share a boundless respect and curiosity for each other's spirituality, at the risk of upsetting their respective hierarchies. Together, they seek to promote understanding of the other, the exchange of experiences, the building of lasting peace and a voluntary commitment to common service. Each group maintains its own religious identity, but fosters an open environment for transmitting, learning, celebrating and honouring each religion.
It is on this campus that they welcome and guide, in particular, inter-faith couples, but also couples from the LGTBQ community.