The other day I was having my weekly informal chat with Pastor Daniel Meeter at Old First Church and among other things he told me that he was expecting a Buddhist Monk and a Sikh that evening.

They were coming by to check out the sanctuary that will be the site of Old First’s unusual Martin Luther King Day activity.

Meeter has decided to divide the church’s  sanctuary into six separate sections each devoted to a different faith, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism.

This will enable people to silently pray for peace in their own way side by side.

It’s an inspired idea and a few months ago Meeter told me that he wanted to create a King day event that just wasn’t a whole bunch of people making speeches.

“We’re just trying to find ways that religious people can do something together as American citizens, so that religion doesn’t separate us, but somehow unites us,” Meeter told the Brooklyn Paper.

This unusual event is just one week away. Old First’s all-religion day in honor of Martin Luther King will be on Monday January 21, at the church which is located on Seventh Avenue and Carroll Street.

OSFO’s takes piano lessons with church member Helen Richmond at Old First. That’s when I usually see Pastor Meeter and we our chats, which are  always interesting and insightful. The other day he recited an XJ Kennedy poem to me that I wish I remembered enough to put here. We talked about writing and blogs and ways to reach out to the community. 

As we were leaving, I peeked into the sanctuary and saw the Sikh, Meeter and the Monk in the big sanctuary getting ready for the big day.

It was a sight to behold.