As Jacksonville’s population has increased, so has its cultural and spiritual diversity.
That diversity will be the focus of the Inaugural Mayor Brown’s Interfaith Celebration at 7:30 a.m. Friday at the Osborn Center.
The city’s multitude of faiths and congregations have been invited to come together to celebrate in the spirit of community.
Representatives from myriad local faiths and congregations have been invited to share affirmations, including the Diocese of St. Augustine, Beth El Synagogue, the Jacksonville Masjid of Al-Islam, Bethel Baptist Institutional Church, Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist, First New Zion Missionary Baptist Church, St. Andrew’s (By-the- Sea) Lutheran Church, Unitarian Universalist Church of Jacksonville, Southside Community Church, Beach United Methodist Church, African Methodist Episcopal Church, Southside Church of God In Christ, Woodlawn Presbyterian Church, St. John the Divine Greek Orthodox Church, Faith Christian Center and FreshMinistries.
When Julie Ingersoll, professor of religious studies at the University of North Florida, moved to Jacksonville from California 11 years ago, she noticed the relative lack of spiritual diversity in the community compared to the West Coast.
“I was used to a variety of religions,” said Ingersoll.
The predominantly Christian community of a decade ago has evolved into a rich spiritual culture that Ingersoll said many people might not recognize because of the size of Duval County.
The Beaches, Northside, Westside, Southside, Avondale, San Marco and Mandarin are apart geographically and in some ways, philosophically.
“There is no real center to the city, so most people don’t encounter people from outside their neighborhood,” said Ingersoll.
She said the spiritual community has expanded beyond traditional, conservative Christian and Jewish followers to include a significant Muslim population as well as Buddhists and Hindus.
The influx of residents from India has increased the Hindu community in Jacksonville and citizens from Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe have increased the number of people of the Muslim faith, she said.
Ingersoll cited the presence of several churches with nondenominational disciplines and that there are two Unitarian congregations in Jacksonville along with other changes in the spiritual makeup of the city.
“That’s interesting, considering the generally conservative nature of the community,” Ingersoll said.
There is also a small community of pagans and Wiccans, which Ingersoll described as an “earth-based religion” that began in Europe and predates Christianity.
“I think people will be stunned at how global Jacksonville has become,” she said.
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