The Reporting Religion students took the streets of Philadelphia in the spring of 2017 to capture some images of religious and spiritual life in the City of Brotherly Love.
Though it was dedicated to the US over 140 years ago by B’nai B’rith, a Jewish humanitarian organization, the “Religious Liberty” statue near the National Museum of American Jewish History still has a powerful message. Dedicated in 1876, the statue is a reminder with recent events that religious liberty is guaranteed
Located on 17th and Diamond Streets, Epiphany Fellowship Church celebrated Palm Sunday in its third floor sanctuary. Just as most other churches across the world do, the day commemorates Jesus’s return to Jerusalem. As he entered on a Donkey, civilians raised palms of tress proclaiming him as the lord.
The Church of the Advocate in North Philadelphia at 1801 West Diamond Street is a historical landmark from the late 19th century. It hosted Black power events in the 1960s and was the place where the first female Episcopal priests were ordained in 1974. The church continues to promote social activism by hosting gentrification panels and serving as the meeting place for the Stadium Stompers, an opposition group formed against a proposed on-campus stadium at nearby Temple University.
Buddhism has a growing influence over the “western world,” but not by way of conversion. Buddhism has infiltrated popular culture through practices like yoga, meditation and even fashion. Pictured here is a young man, Nicholas Gunderson, who found these Buddhist prayer beads at an open-air market in South Philadelphia. He wears these beads for style, not spirituality, which doesn’t occur with relics of other religions nearly as much
Who needs a holy place to offer prayer? Sometimes, all you need is Applebees. Two young men, one an Applebees employee, were spotted praying in the restaurant on Castor Avenue. The two were old friends in high school that happened to stumble upon each other and apparently share a prayer.
On a sunny Sunday afternoon, St. John’s Church stands proudly in Northern Liberties, Philadelphia, among modern architecture, vehicles, and ever-changing landscape. As the fifth oldest remaining church in Philadelphia, and the seventh remaining church in the state of Pennsylvania, it is now known to members as the Holy Trinity Romanian Orthodox Church
The Society for Helping Church hosts its Palm Sunday worship service directly across the street from the Makkah Masjid Islamic Cultural Center. These two religiously affiliated buildings are only a block north of Temple University’s main campus. The closeness of the two buildings are part of the religious diversity surrounding the university
The only synagogue designed by noted architect Frank Lloyd Wright, Beth Sholom Congregation evokes the facade of Mt. Sinai. Worship has historically been responsible for architectural innovation since antiquity. The synagogue is located at 8231 Old York Rd, Elkins Park, PA
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