Where to find a Friday fish fry without leaving Uptown

It’s Lent, the season of the Friday fish fry. Below are some fish fry opportunities in the Uptown area. See here for the archdiocese’s complete list of church fish fries in the metro area. If you know of a fish fry in the Uptown area that’s not on this list, we invite you to leave the information in the comments section. Good Shepherd Parish at Basilica of St.

Temple Sinai opens its sanctuary for Trinity Episcopal’s Christmas Eve service

For Trinity Episcopal Church on Jackson Avenue, Christmas Eve is one of the biggest nights of the year. This year, however, Trinity had a problem: The sanctuary is undergoing extensive repairs following damage from Hurricane Ida in 2021. With about 2,000 members, Trinity’s leaders had to find a way to hold services so that no one would be left out in the cold. 

Enter Temple Sinai, which offered its sanctuary to Trinity on Christmas Eve. “The relationship [between the two houses of faith] goes way back,” said Rabbi Daniel Sherman of Temple Sinai, as he and the Rev. Andrew Thayer, Trinity’s rector, met with Uptown Messenger at Temple Sinai. Each year for several decades, both the church and synagogue have participated in a rotating interfaith pre-Thanksgiving service with local houses of worship.

Hobby Lobby buys historic church on Magazine with plans to lease it to local congregation

Hobby Lobby Stores, a national craft-supply retail chain, has purchased the former Valence Street Baptist Church, a historic property on Magazine Street, records show. The NOLA Baptist Church, a fledgling Uptown congregation, plans to lease it from Hobby Lobby, the church’s pastor, the Rev. Kyle Jagers, confirmed on Monday (Dec. 5). “We have entered into a lease with them as the tenant,” Jagers said. “As the tenant, we will begin work to restore the property to its historic value and appearance.

City seizes the blighted Buddy Bolden house, NOLA.com reports

The city seized the blighted Central City shotgun where legendary jazz pioneer Buddy Bolden once lived, stating the owner, Greater St. Stephen Ministries, let fines for minimum property maintenance pile up unpaid, Doug MacCash reports on NOLA.com. Grammy winning musician PJ Morton, the son of the St. Stephen pastors, announced plans in 2019 to renovate the Bolden house at 2309-11 First St. and a twin shotgun double next door into a museum and community recording studio, but has allowed it to deteriorate for years.

Viewpoint: Reflections on taming the demons within

With the ongoing war between Russia and the Ukraine and with New Orleans’ never-ending crusade against crime and corruption, there is much for Christians, Jews and Muslims to reflect upon during Holy Week, Passover and Ramadan. Everyone has demons that haunt them. New Orleanians, it seems, have more than their fair share. The ability to fight off temptation often determines the quality of a person’s character and the kind of life they lead. Yet the longer I observe people — including politicians at all levels of government — the more I wonder what makes integrity fade away.

A guide to the St. Joseph’s Day altars

Saturday, March 19, is the Feast Day of St. Joseph, and the lavish altars celebrating the day are truly a feast for the eyes. The altars offered as thanks for relieving hunger are overflowing with food: fish, pasta, pastries, breads in symbolic shapes. (You won’t find any meat; St. Joseph’s Day always falls during Lent.)

The altars are also laden with symbolism, from the palm frond over the door as you enter to the swag bag handed out as you leave.

Uptown synagogues and other Jewish institutions on guard against potential attacks

The attack Saturday (Jan. 15) on a synagogue near Fort Worth, Texas, where four people were taken hostage, reverberated across the American Jewish community and heightened concerns about safety and security. Those concerns are particularly acute in Uptown New Orleans, the home not only of two synagogues, Temple Sinai and Touro Synagogue, but also of Tulane University’s Hillel and Chabad houses and the Jewish Community Center. 

“What we know, and have known for generations, is that it takes courage to walk through the world as a Jew, and it takes strength to deny those who would harm us the power over our humanity that they seek,” Touro Synagogue posted on its Facebook page after the hostage incident in Texas. “We will continue to be proud of who we are, and we will continue to love others for who they are.”

“We pray for peace for all of those families of all of those who were affected. We pray for the day when we’ll beat our swords into plowshares, our spears into pruning hooks, when none will make us afraid,” said Rabbi Daniel Sherman in a video message to his congregation, referencing words from the Jewish prophet Isaiah.

Holiday markets and events make the yuletide bright across Uptown neighborhoods

A wide variety of markets in Uptown neighborhoods give you the chance to find the perfect Christmas gift for family and friends while supporting local artists and businesses. Plus, browsing a market is more fun than shopping online or in the big-box stores. If you want to forget about the shopping and just sit back and enjoy the festive spirit, you can take in a concert inside one of Uptown’s resplendent churches. A list of markets and other holiday events is below. Christmas markets

Nov.