STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Mayor Zohran Mamdani traded the podium for a pew and spent his Sunday evening attending a worship service at a Great Kills parish.
The mayor attended a service at Our Lady of Salam, Staten Island’s first and only Arabic-speaking Lutheran parish.
The church celebrated its inaugural Mass on Aug. 15 and hosts a service every Sunday at 6 p.m.
Mamdani posted images from Sunday’s service to his account on X, formerly known as Twitter, Monday afternoon and said the following:
“On Sunday, I was honored to visit Our Lady Salam, the first Arabic-speaking Lutheran parish on Staten Island. Its congregants hail from as close as Hylan Boulevard to as far as Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt — yet have planted roots in our city. Many carry the weight of war and genocide daily. Our Lady Salam is a parish defined by resilience, and New York City is better for it.”
Rev. Charbel Zgheib, the church’s pastor, told the Advance/SILive.com that the mayor’s team reached out to the parish in advance as Mamdani sought to worship with Arab Christians.
Rev. Zgheib explained that Mamdani remained at the Mass from beginning to end and also spoke to the approximately 150 congregants in attendance, most of whom did not know they would be joined by the mayor.
“To be honest, it was a good experience for the people and the community,” Rev. Zgheib said.
“I think it’s a good exposure for us and it’s a support for us as Arab and Middle Easterners here to be part and to recognize us as part of the community and part of the Staten Island community as Christians here,” he added.
Sunday’s service was closed to the press.