Jennifer Stultz

In a world where religious differences often separate people, one local congregation, All Saints Episcopal Church, has opened its doors to another, the Pratt branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which has been meeting in the All Saints building for over a month.Members of the latter congregation have temporarily found themselves homeless, due to the expansion of and renovation of their church building.Reverend Karen Lemon, who has been Vicar at All Saints for the past 25 years, said it was an easy decision to make when Mark Green, the current Presiding Elder at Pratt’s Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, inquired about using the Episcopal church building for meetings.Green noted that relationships forged between members of the two churches over the years led him to approach Lemon with the request.For at least the past 10 years, members of All Saints Episcopal and the local Latter Day Saints have been working together—at Lemon’s initial invitation— to provide a meal and a spiritual message at one of the Lenten lunches held annually at Pratt United Methodist Church.The two faiths will also be sharing monthly potlucks together while meeting in the same space.“We are very grateful that they are welcoming and inclusive and saw another congregation in the community in need and were willing to open their doors to us,” said Green.This is not the first time that All Saints has opened its doors to members of another faith.

The apostle Paul gives us great encouragement in 2 Corinthians 4:16-17.