Fires in California have destroyed at least a dozen houses of worship

(RNS) — Last Friday, Najeeba Syeed attended Jumma prayers at Masjid Al-Taqwa, a congregation where she had prayed for years while living in Southern California.

Less than a week later, Syeed, a theology professor and interfaith leader, learned that Al-Taqwa, a historically African-American mosque in Altadena, California, had burned to the ground – one of more than a dozen houses of worship damaged or destroyed that year the wildfires that raged in and around Los Angeles last week.

Even as local faith leaders mourned the loss of their sacred sites, they banded together to offer words of comfort and practical assistance to those affected by the wildfires.

Syeed, who holds the El Hibri Endowed Chair in Interfaith Studies at the University of Augsburg in Minneapolis, said Altadena has a long history of interfaith cooperation and that local faith leaders have called each other, offering support and looking for ways to work together.

“They help their own communities, but they also go the extra mile and help each other,” said Syeed, who splits her time between Los Angeles and Minnesota. “That’s part of the story – faith communities, even when damaged, are still there for the wider community.”

She said a number of Muslim and black-owned businesses that had long surrounded the mosque were also damaged in the fire. Worshipers attending Jummah prayers often went to these shops to get coffee or halal meals afterwards. In addition, the mosque also offered educational courses and other community activities.

“It was a center for the community and, God willing, it will continue to be a center in the future,” she said.

Less than a quarter-mile from Masjid Al-Taqwa, only a bell tower remains from the Altadena Baptist Church, which was founded by a Swedish congregation in the 1920s and is now a racially diverse faith community. About 15 families from the community also lost their homes in the wildfires, said the Rev. George Alstine, 88, who has been on staff at the church for more than 50 years. Alstine said a safe containing the church’s history was likely lost in the fire, including records from the church’s early days.

He said congregations in the community – both Christian and non-Christian – have often worked together to serve their neighbors, including leading the Altadena Congregations Serving Together food pantry, housed across the street from Altadena Community Church and also destroyed by wildfires.

Alstine said church members gathered online Friday evening to check in and talk about how they could help their neighbors and plan for the future. For now, he said, they’re taking things day by day.

“We survive,” he said.

At least four wildfires are currently raging in Southern California. accordingly According to the Los Angeles Times, 11 people were killed and more than 12,000 buildings burned, including at least a dozen houses of worship. Below include the Pasadena Jewish Temple, Corpus Christi Catholic Church and at least 10 Protestant churches.

Other communities suffered fire damage but were not completely lost. including Calvary Chapel in Pacific Palisades, where the sanctuary was damaged but not the entire campus.

“We probably lost the sanctuary and need to rebuild it,” said Anderson, who started as pastor of the church this week. posted on X. “But miraculously, the rest of the property is virtually untouched.”

A hermitage and other buildings at the Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center were also destroyed by the fire, according to an update from the retreat center website.

“It makes perfect sense to understand that our faith is being tested!” the center’s director wrote in an update. “But we are pilgrims of hope, as Pope Francis exhorted us this year. Hope will not disappoint us. We will recover and be there for you again.”

The Theosophical Society Library Center based in Altadena, which housed a large archive of the Theosophical Society, a movement founded in the 19th century “dedicated to the upliftment of humanity through a better understanding of the unity of life,” was also lost in wildfires, the Wild Hunt, a website that covers pagan news, has reported.

Alstine said faith communities in Altadena affected by the fire will continue to help their neighbors and will begin planning for the future in the coming days. For now, he said, Altadena Baptist’s church office will likely be located in his home. And he hopes church members will soon be able to see the building firsthand.

He also said the bell in the church’s tower came from a former church in Pasadena and was used to call volunteer firefighters in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The bell tower that is still standing symbolizes that the church has not disappeared, Alstine said, even if its building burned down.

“Maybe we should send someone there on Sunday and call them,” he said.