Partnership with Ward AME Church

Adat Shalom has partnered with Ward AME Church, an African-American Church community near downtown Los Angeles, over the past two years to promote mutual understanding, beginning with connections between the families at our two religious schools.  The partnership began in 2017 with participation in the Kingdom Day Parade on Martin Luther King Day, when our leadership and religious school students walked alongside Ward AME Church youth carrying the signs they made together expressing equality and love for all people.  Later that year, we began to connect adults in the community, inviting our Ward AME Church friends to join us at our November Community Shabbat Dinner before Thanksgiving.  The children reunited for the 2018 Kingdom Day Parade, marching with clergy, families, and board members from Adat Shalom and Ward AME.
We also support Ward AME’s efforts to provide emergency housing on their church campus by collecting food, toiletries, and other necessities that they then provide to the individuals who arrive seeking shelter.  Our community donates and packs more than 150 individual bags at a Tot Shabbat, and community volunteers arrange delivery.  It is an impactful Shabbat for the entire community and one that we plan to continue regularly in partnership with our friends at Ward AME.
This program, currently in its second year, creates meaningful connections and conversation and continues a longstanding tradition of mutual support between American Jewish and African American communities in support of equality and human rights.