Mexican cafe shrine

So far, we’ve had excellent luck with the weather.  The sunny days make driving and data-taking a breeze; church representatives are more inclined to be in the office and ready for interviews.  We project to finish Staten Island Community District 1 by mid-June.

60 completed questionnaires from SI CD1 have been received either via phone, mail, or web survey.  This is a great turn out; we should be getting more questionnaires in the next few weeks as we wrap up the island.  Major streets and boulevards have been driven through at this point; what’s left are the patches of residential neighborhoods, which are often minimally scattered with commercial businesses and restaurants.

One of these restaurants was a Mexican eatery off Castleton Boulevard.  The restaurant had simple inside seating and modest art deco decor.  The women who tended the restaurant were primarily from Pueblo, Mexico.  We wondered what kinds of impact religion was making in the women’s lives and if it played a role in strengthening their ties with other Pueblos in America.

This leads to a larger question: What percentage of churches in Staten Island are multicultural? In the questionnaires, we inquire about the percentage of ethnicities in the congregation so we will soon be able to get the answer to that question.  What do churches do to cater to the ethnic mix of the congregation?