Announcement: Art and Faith Bridging the Jewish and Black Communities: Stories of a Historic North Minneapolis House of Worship
The Twin Cities Houses of Worship Project (HOW) and its partners announce a two-day community oriented opportunity to learn about and engage with the intertwining histories of the Jewish and Black communities in North Minneapolis. Learn about these marginalized communities through stories related to a landmark building that has served as the spiritual home of two congregations: the Jewish Tifereth B’Nai Jacob congregation that built the building and worshiped there until 1957, and the Holiness/Pentecostal First Church of God in Christ congregation that has worshiped in the building since purchasing it in 1957.
Exhibit opening and lecture, May 10th 4:00 - 7:00
Symposium, May 11th 9:00 - 3:30
Location: The University of Minnesota Robert J. Jones Urban Center for Research Outreach - Engagement Center, 2001 Plymouth Ave N Minneapolis
Project Team
Dr. Jeanne H. Kilde, Director of the Religious Studies Program, University of Minnesota, and co-director of the Twin Cities Houses of Worship Project. Author of When Church Became Theatre: The Transformation of Evangelical Architecture and Worship in Nineteenth-Century America (2002), Sacred Power, Sacred Space: An Introduction to Christian Architecture (2008), Editor of The Oxford Handbook of Religious Space (2022).
Dr. Marilyn Chiat, art and architectural historian and co-director of the Twin Cities Houses of Worship Project. (See bio above)
Pastor Tierre Webster, First Church of God in Christ. Executive Director, Damascus Way.
Bishop Fred Washington, Minnesota Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, Church of God in Christ.
Board Chairman John Lewis, First Church of God in Christ.
Dr. Greg Donofrio, Associate Professor of Architecture and Director of the Heritage Studies and Public History Program, University of Minnesota.
Dr. Yuichiro Onishi, Associate Professor and Chair of the African American & African Studies Department, University of Minnesota.
Ms. Vanessa Steele, Outreach and Campus Immersion Coordinator, African American & African Studies Department, University of Minnesota.
Dr. Natan Paradise, Director, Center for Jewish Studies
Kate Dietrick, Archivist, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Mr. Rolf Anderson, historic preservationist, Minneapolis
Cheryll Fong, Interim Curator, Northwest Architectural Archives
Sponsoring Organizations
The Twin Cities Houses of Worship Project, the First Church of God in Christ, the School of Architecture (UMN), the African American and African Studies Department (UMN), the Center for Jewish Studies (UMN), the Art History Department (UMN), the University of Minnesota's Robert J. Jones Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UMN), the Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives, Institute for Advanced Study (UMN).
This activity is supported by an Imagine Fund Special Events Grant, an initiative of the University of Minnesota Executive Vice President and Provost, established through a generous gift from the McKnight Foundation, and facilitated by the Institute for Advanced Study.
