Sufism Reoriented

For more than 30 years, members of Sufism Reoriented have dreamed of building a permanent sanctuary that could house all our activities in the neighborhood where we live. Now, with the aid of one of
America's leading architects, that dream is coming true.

The links at the right will take you into the beautiful world of our new sanctuary project. You'll be able to see the building's design and landscaping elements from many angles and perspectives. You'll also find answers to the most frequently asked questions about the project as well as background information on our core beliefs, worship and service activities, including the White Pony and Meher schools. We hope this information will provide insight into how our principles and values have influenced the design of this uniquely beautiful sacred space.

We plan to update information on the building project as it unfolds. We believe that our new sanctuary, with its two acres of greenery and garden-park open to the public for quiet contemplation during the day, will become a source of community-wide enjoyment and pride.

The Story of Our New Sanctuary

When a church or faith community wishes to build a home suitable for its worship, it faces a multi-step process. It must determine how much space it needs for its activities, find suitable land close to where its members live, ensure that it has sufficient funding, and hire an architect who can turn its faith principles into an inspiring building design. In Contra Costa County, where we reside, the congregation must then obtain a Land Use Permit before proceeding. Sufism Reoriented is a faith community that has embarked on this process. Currently located on Boulevard Way in an unincorporated area of Walnut Creek, we have purchased property one block west of our current church and have submitted a Land Use Permit Application to the County.

35 Years in Temporary Space When we purchased our current building in 1974, it had been a restaurant and even a nightclub. Although it was not a religious space and not appropriate as a church, it was all we could afford at the time. Because the building was too small to house all our church activities, we had to make choices about what we could do there. We packed up our extensive library of spiritual literature from the world’s great religious traditions and put it in storage. We moved our bookstore to The Meher Schools campus a mile away. We asked members to host chorus rehearsals and youth and young adult discussion meetings in their homes. And because the building was not designed as a sacred space, we spent years remodeling it to make it as conducive to our worship services as possible. Yet from the start, we knew this was a temporary facility and that one day we would build a sanctuary appropriate for our worship and activities.

A New Beginning After three decades, we are fortunate to have purchased sufficient land just one block to the west of our current location where we can realize our long-held dream of constructing a sacred venue to bring all of our activities together. With 85 percent of our members now living within two miles of our church and the campus of The Meher Schools located nearby, this location, which is adjacent to our parsonage, is ideal for our congregation.

In searching for a firm that would help us harmonize these disparate requirements into a workable and affordable design, we approached the internationally renowned Philip Johnson / Alan Ritchie firm, known not only for designing major projects around the world but also for their skill in designing small sacred spaces.

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