SAN DIEGO (RNS) — For more than a decade, the Rev. John Fanestil, a United Methodist minister, has held a Sunday service at Friendship Park, a historic meeting place on the U.S.-Mexico border overlooking the Pacific Ocean between San Diego and Tijuana. While Communion is celebrated each week, Fanestil began the nonsectarian Christian ministry to help preserve the park as a public space where family members separated by their immigration status can interact, even if their interaction takes place through border fencing.
But in recent months, Border Church, or La Iglesia Fronteriza, has blossomed into a multifaith movement that includes a group of Muslims, who call themselves the Border Mosque, that has been joining Fanestil in prayer since April.
On Sunday (Oct. 27) the two groups will co-host “Pray Beyond Borders,” a binational day of prayer that will include indigenous, Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders, as well as civil rights activist Linda Sarsour.
