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Part of being Trinity Church and St. Paul’s Chapel — two very visible and long-standing sites of Christian worship and community in Lower Manhattan — is building a path into civic involvement that is connected to our tradition as people who believe in resurrection and transformation.

Sometimes our worship buildings serve as town halls, where we convene debates and forums on slavery reparations, employment issues, and homelessness. At other times, we go out to the other town halls in Lower Manhattan to listen and add our voice.

You may have heard of the controversy surrounding Cordoba House, a Muslim Community Center currently planned for a disused retail space near the World Trade Center site. The community center, as envisioned, will be an international beacon for promoting inter- and intrafaith relations, and will include a prayer space, performing arts center, culinary school, swimming pool, and restaurant.

Many people have voiced concern, to put it mildly, that a Muslim institution would be located so close to Ground Zero. And so I was compelled recently to attend a local Community Board meeting to express Trinity’s support for the Cordoba initiative. Trinity welcomes Cordoba House as a neighbor who shares values of compassion and understanding and a commitment to reconciliation and peace.

Lower Manhattan is one of those places in New York City that feels old. The streets down here curve, leaving the straight angles to the grid farther north. You are never far from the ancient and symbolic presence of water here. There are old churches, old houses, and the street names evoke the activities of the Lenape and the first colonizers.
Trinity has been an enduring presence here for more than 300 years. Several of our founding fathers worshipped in Lower Manhattan, confident that the values of Trinity Church reflected the principles on which our nation was founded. Among those principles was freedom of religion.

These values were poignantly reinforced after 9/11 when volunteers from all faith traditions came to St. Paul’s and formed a powerful community of service to relief and recovery workers. Because of the service of volunteers of all faiths, St. Paul’s Chapel became a national symbol of peace and reconciliation and the site of a deeply personal memorial to thousands.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, continue to affect many people’s lives. St. Paul’s remains a site for people to come to mourn their loss, and we collect funds for medical costs for first responders. In Lower Manhattan, Trinity Wall Street and Cordoba House share a valuable common ground – a space broad enough to accommodate many, and firm enough to sustain the efforts needed to forge community.

The Initiative was approved by the Community Board, 29-1, with 10 abstentions.

Blessings,

The Rev. Canon Anne Mallonee

Vicar, Trinity Wall Street