May non-Jews participate in religious services?

A person who is not Jewish may not recite a berakhah as part of the service in which his/her child becomes a Bar/Bat Mitzvah. There must be distinctive roles for Jewish parents. Each synagogue will have to determine those roles, based upon their service, structure, and ritual. Additional readings may be selected or created for the non-Jew outside of the formal liturgy. [CJLS teshuvah by Rabbi Jerome M. Epstein December 1993]

The non-Jewish parent or grand-parent may not assume a role in the prescribed religious framework or liturgy of a ceremony relating to his/her Jewish children or grand-children. Appropriate avenues, however, should be sought for suitable roles. Such roles might include the recitation of a personal prayer, a relevant section from the Tanach [Bible] or some other suitable reading. Such a prayer, selection or reading should neither be part of the formal liturgy, nor imply that the parent or grand-parent is Jewish. There should be no distinction in the role of a non-Jewish parent or grand-parent in a religious ceremony relating to his/her Jewish children or grandchildren on the basis of where the ceremony takes place - be it at the home, the synagogue, or elesewhere. [CJLS teshuvah by Rabbi Jerome M. Epstein June 1995]

A non-Jew may not serve on a synagogue committee. Since it is clear that non-Jews may not belong to synagogues, they may not serve on synagogue committees where membership is obviously required, [2/9/95, correspondance of the CJLS chairperson.]

Consider the case of a non-Jewish woman who no longer considers herself a Christian, but does not wish to convert to Judaism. Though not officially a Jewish by choice, she would like to join the synagogue as a member. Is this permissible? Answer: This woman should be warmly welcomed to synagogue services, and to adult education activities of the congregation. However, she is not Jewish and hence cannot be an official member of the synagogue. [2/2/98, correspondance of the CJLS chairperson.]