Local representatives join the17th Annual Queens Interfaith Unity Walk

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More than 30 people marched with the 17th annual Queens Interfaith Unity Walk headed by Flushing Interfaith Council on Sunday, March 23, 2025. The annual community walk is organized by the Flushing Interfaith Council to create understanding and common ground among all faiths in the Flushing community.

Participants of the Walk learn the history and traditions of different centers of faith they visit, enjoying food sponsored by the Singh Sabha Gurudwara of New York. They also exchange ideas and thoughts, broadening their knowledge.

Flushing has several different faith centers almost next to each other and most of them joined in, along with regular community members and leaders of local religious institutions which included the Hindu Temple Society of North America, the Singh Sabha Gurudwara of New York, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Queens, BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir, the Sai Baba Temple, the Flushing Mosque, and members from the local Muslim, Buddhist, and Baha’i communities.

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Walkers gathered at 1:00 pm in the afternoon at the Sikh Center of New York located at 38-17, Parsons Boulevard in Flushing where they were treated to a Unity Lunch or a vegetarian ‘langar’, after which they learned about the basic principles of Sikh religion, of one god and of the indestructible soul, and the importance of a teacher or guru.

When they stopped at the Bowne House on Bowne Street in Flushing, participants learned of the origins of the walk when 350 years ago, the Flushing Remonstrance was created to uphold the right of an individual to practice any faith. Then New York governor Peter Stuyvesant had banned all religions except the Dutch Reformed Church and John Bowne, who held Quaker prayer services at his home, the Bowne House, was arrested and exiled to Holland.

In memory of that, the Flushing Interfaith Council organizes this Walk every year and strives to build in Flushing a community that ‘fulfills and surpasses the dream of toleration’ expressed in the Remonstrance.

On the way, when they visited the First Baptist Church at Sanford Avenue and Union Street in Flushing, participants learned of the belief in God and importance of interfaith dialogue and unity. The Church Quire sang for unity.

The last stop of the Walk was to the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir located at 43-38 Bowne Street in Flushing where walkers had refreshments and tea before watching a video presentation on the Robbinsville center and a talk on Hinduism by their teacher, Pramukh Swami. The Administrator of the Outreach Committee, Dr. Vipul Patel, talked about the principles of the Swaminarayan religion which upholds human dignity and promotes unity through an all rounded humanitarian approach.

The Flushing Interfaith Council has also helped to organize two Unity Walks in Richmond Hill, Queens. The Council also participates in the annual Flushing Ganesha Parade hosted by the Hindu Temple Society of North America. The Flushing Interfaith Annual Picnic also brings together large crowds of different faiths in a local park.

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