Family Relationships
From The Peopling of Astoria, Queens
Christian Community
The Christian community in Astoria is rather segregated because of the
different sects of Christianity present as well as the ethnic differences.
There are churches of Orthodox, Episcopalian, Presbyterian and other
Christian sects in Astoria. The churches are also divided along ethnic
lines. For example, there are Ukrainian and Greek Orthodox Christian
churches. In our field study, we visited two Greek Orthodox churches, the
St. Demetrios Cathedral and St. Catherine Cathedral, as well as contacted a
Presbyterian Church, The Astoria Community Church, through email. We chose
to focus on the Greek Cathedrals because of their dominance in the
neighborhood. We also tried to visit a Ukrainian church twice to conduct an
interview but we were unable to speak to anyone. We asked all interviewees
general questions about Christianity, marriages, conversions, divorces and
other family issues. Below are the links, which provide an in-depth analysis
of our findings.
Interview with Rev. David Ellis
Marriage in the Orthodox Christian Community
Divorce in the Orthodox Christian Community
Services Provided by the Church
Muslim Community
The Islamic community is not as segregated as the Christian community,
with members of different ethnicities involved in the same Mosque. There are
ethnic Indonesian, Arab, Bengali, and Pakistani mosques in the area. In
addition there is also a degree of interaction between members of the
different mosques.In our field ethnography, we visited the Al-Iman Mosque
on Steinway Street on a Friday. There, we had an informal interview with
seven women from the congregation who were of different ethnic backgrounds
most of which were from Africa. We also visited the Astoria Islamic
Foundation or the Shahjalal Masjid located on 31st Street and the Masjid Dar
Al-Dawah on 23rd Avenue. We interviewed the head imams of these mosques and
also spoke to members of the congregation at the Al-Iman Mosque. We asked
all interviewees general questions about Islam, marriages, conversions,
divorces and other family issues. Below are the links which provide an
in-depth analysis of our findings.
Marriage in the Muslim Community
Divorce and Remarriage in the Muslim Community
Services Provided by the Mosque
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