RELIGION

A-to-Z Guide to Greater Cincinnati:
"Best Place to Live in North America"

Sade Slaughter, 6,
prays at Christ Emmanuel Christian Fellowship Church

Tristaters profess strong faith, worship

BY BEN L. KAUFMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Greater Cincinnatians find continuing encouragement, solace and not a little excitement in their faiths.

They support myriad ministries, find time for Promise Keepers and other organizations, and in some cases, battle over such issues as ordination of women and gays and whether a humanistic synagogue is too radical for Reform Judaism.

None of this is new. Churches and synagogues were among the early permanent buildings in the growing city, and 19th-century religious fervor was omnipresent as missionaries, reformers, utopians and evangelicals challenged alcohol and the status quo, fought for souls and called people to God.

Thousands attended religious debates, newspapers carried the arguments to distant audiences, and camp meetings and tent revivals were commonplace.

Today, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and others also have made homes here, and hard work has made interfaith cooperation so much a part of the communal ethos that only its absence is remarkable.

Enquirer poll revealing

In an 1996 Enquirer poll unique for breadth and depth, 89 percent of respondents said they believe in God and 67 percent attend weekly worship.

Among the respondents who had religious affiliations, they generally identified themselves as:

Protestant, 49 percent.
Roman Catholic, 30 percent.
Jewish, 1 percent.
Muslim, 1 percent.

Only 5 percent responded "none" when asked for their affiliation.

Baptists and Methodists - including traditionally black denominations - are the most numerous Protestants.

In addition to traditional churches, the region is experiencing growth among non-denominational congregations, especially those drawing on Pentecostal/Charismatic traditions and worship and courting younger seekers.

Catholics powerful presence

The Tristate long has had a powerful Roman Catholic presence, and cathedrals on both sides of the Ohio River are popular among worshippers and tourists.

St. Peter in Chains, dedicated in 1845 and adjacent to Cincinnati's 1890s City Hall and equally historic Plum Street Temple, is the oldest Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the country.

Showier is the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington, Ky., dedicated in 1901. It is a replica of the Gothic Abbey Church of Saint-Denis in Paris, with the interior three-tiered walls drawn from Notre Dame de Chartres and a facade from Notre Dame in Paris. Inside are murals by Frank Duveneck, the area's leading turn-of-the-century artist and founder of the Munich School.

Nearby, Mother of God Church is Covington's most visible religious structure with its lighted twin spires and admiring stares from people who often think it must be the cathedral.

Reform Jews make impact

Reform Jews made an indelible imprint on Cincinnati. Plum Street Temple - also known as Isaac M. Wise Temple - is a recently restored architectural jewel, and Hebrew Union College in University Heights is the international center for training liberal rabbis, cantors and Jewish educators.

The pioneering ecumenical Restoration Movement of the early 19th century heavily influenced Tristate residents, eventually dividing into the Disciples of Christ, Church of Christ, and Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. Cincinnati Bible College and Seminary is supported by many of these congregations.

God's Bible School and College continues to thrive, educating students from kindergarten through a four-year college degree in Wesleyan Holiness tradition.

Greek Orthodox Christians opened their striking Byzantine-modern Holy Trinity-St. Nicholas Church in 1972, and smaller congregations of other Orthodox national traditions have prospered in recent years.

The latest jewel is the Queen City's crown is Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati, a mosque and education facility built by Tristate Muslims in suburban West Chester, with stained- and leaded-glass windows, a copper dome and marble fountains.

Suburban Cincinnati also includes the Maritan Gallery, run by artist William Schickel and his family in the Loveland train station, where art often draws on religious themes.