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<p>KINGSTON &#8212; When he was growing up, local attorney Jan Lokuta felt equally at home in churches topped with gilded domes and churches topped with steeples &#8212; knowing each was a style that represented the heritage of one of his parents.</p><p>As he got older, he noticed additional intricacies of architecture on various houses of worship and tried to learn why they had been included and what they might mean &#8212; from Moorish Revival roofs to a wall of icons to the direction a building might face.</p><p>Over the past 11 years, he&#8217;s shared his knowledge by organizing tours, starting in the Pittston and Wyoming areas. Last year&#8217;s event was in Swoyersville and Forty Fort. This year, it&#8217;s Kingston&#8217;s turn.</p><p>&#8220;There are a lot of churches in Kingston,&#8221; said Judi Nunemacher, president of the Kingston Historical Society, which invited Lokuta to organize a tour in their area this year. &#8220;We thought we could do them all in one day.&#8221;</p><p>After Lokuta explained it was better to concentrate on a few buildings and save the rest for future excursions, they planned a June 25 tour to encompass Temple B&#8217;nai B&#8217;rith on Wyoming Avenue; the nearby St. Mary&#8217;s Byzantine Church on Chestnut Avenue and Church of St. Ignatius Loyola on Maple Avenue; and, a short drive away in Luzerne, Temple Ahavas Achim.</p><p>&#8220;I call it &#8216;a blueprint for the eternal&#8217;&#8221; Lokuta said of the buildings&#8217; designs, explaining all sorts of architectural elements have deep symbolism. Perhaps the holiest elements of a religion are depicted in a stained glass window, he said. Or perhaps a sacred space is set off by a screen or curtain.</p><p>In some buildings, he said worshippers refer to the area with pews as a &#8220;nave&#8221; because &#8220;it&#8217;s naval, like a ship, taking you on a journey to heaven.&#8221;</p><p>Lokuta, who will lead the tour with Larry Newman, executive director of the Diamond City Partnership in Wilkes-Barre, said Northeastern Pennsylvania has been fortunate to have &#8220;an influx of so many ethnic groups&#8221; who added &#8220;a depth and breadth of culture.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;When a community loses its churches or synagogues, it&#8217;s like a thread is being pulled out of a tapestry. The community is still there but it becomes more threadbare, and not as strong.&#8221;</p><p>The tour is free, and interested people of all ages are encouraged to come and learn about architecture and spirituality. Participants should meet at 1 p.m. June 25 in the parking lot of Temple B&#8217;nai B&#8217;rith, 408 Wyoming Avenue. People should wear comfortable shoes and clothing that is appropriate for houses of worship, and expect to spend three hours on the tour, which will end back at Temple B&#8217;nai B&#8217;rith.</p><p>On a recent Friday afternoon, Lokuta walked from the B&#8217;nai B&#8217;rith parking lot to the two nearby churches, admiring the Ten Commandments tablets depicted in stained glass, a tall bell tower and some onion domes.</p><p>Concerning that last element, he said, experts are divided as to why some churches have them. Some experts think the design was appropriated from Islamic architecture; others say it&#8217;s from a classic Byzantine style, he said.</p><p>Some even have suggested the onion domes are slender so snow won&#8217;t pile up on the roof during a cold, northern winter.</p><p>&#8220;I think there&#8217;s validity in all of them,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Cultures get braided together.&#8221;</p><p><ins>For other Life Section stories, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/category/features" target="_blank">click here</a>.</ins></p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Attorney Jan Lokuta stands in front of Temple B&#8217;nai B&#8217;rith in Kingston, which will be the meeting place at 1 p.m. June 25 for people interested in a tour of Kingston houses of worship. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_tour2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Attorney Jan Lokuta stands in front of Temple B&#8217;nai B&#8217;rith in Kingston, which will be the meeting place at 1 p.m. June 25 for people interested in a tour of Kingston houses of worship. </caption0><photoCredit0>Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_tour5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Lokuta said there are several theories regarding the origin of onion domes that are prevalent on various Eastern churches, including St. Mary&#8217;s Byzantine Church, which is on the June 25 tour. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_tour5.jpg</photo1><caption1>Lokuta said there are several theories regarding the origin of onion domes that are prevalent on various Eastern churches, including St. Mary&#8217;s Byzantine Church, which is on the June 25 tour. </caption1><photoCredit1>Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_tour6.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Looking over the interior of the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola on a recent visit, Jan Lokuta said the flat ceiling is common in churches with a connection to Ireland. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_tour6.jpg</photo2><caption2>Looking over the interior of the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola on a recent visit, Jan Lokuta said the flat ceiling is common in churches with a connection to Ireland. </caption2><photoCredit2>Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Families invitedto houses of faithon Kingston tour</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What: </strong>Tour of Kingston houses of worship</p><p><strong>Where: </strong>Temple B&#8217;nai B&#8217;rith, 408 Wyoming Ave., Kingston</p><p><strong>When: </strong>1 p.m. June 25</p><p><strong>Additional information: </strong>The tour is free. All ages are encouraged to attend. For more information, call 570-296-6471 or 570-296-2181.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Kingston area houses of worship to be part of June 25 architecture tour