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The National
Association of Ecumenical and Interreligious Staff (NAEIS) and the
North American Interfaith Network (NAIN) are working together to hold a
conference with the theme of “Connecting Partners; Enlarging the
Circle” that will be held in New York City on July 24-27, 2004.
The conference will be held at the Soka Gokkai
International (SGI)-USA, Northeastern Zone Cultural Center, located at
7 East 15th Street. Soka Gakkai
International (SGI)-USA is an American Buddhist association that
promotes world peace and individual happiness based on the teachings of
the Nichiren school of Mahayana Buddhism. www.sgi-ny.org
The conference hotel will be the Union Square Inn
located on 14th Street between 2nd and 3rd
Avenues, only a few blocks from the SGI center. www.unionsquareinn.com
A joint committee of representatives from NAEIS and NAIN
is planning the conference program. The committee has members from
Allen AME Church, Harvard University, the National Council of the
Churches
of Christ in the U.S.A., Faith and Values Media, American Jewish World
Service, World Conference on Religion and Peace, Religions for Peace
– USA, Committee of Religious NGO’s at the UN, the IMPACT Coalition,
Bahai’s of the U.S., Fund for the City of New York, International
Association
for Religious Freedom, Soka Gokkai International, the NY Buddhist
Council
USA and other organizations. In the Spring-Summer 2004 Issue of NAINews
there will be more about the program.
Will Baker, CEO of the IMPACT Coalition in NYC, and
Christy Lohr who is the Grants Manager of the IMPACT Coalition and
Coordinator of the Multifaith Ministries Education Consortium, both
members of the NAIN Board of Directors, are instrumental in bringing
about this joint conference of NAEIS and NAIN.
Two new and exciting elements being introduced at this
conference are the NAIN Networking and Advocacy Award and the NAIN
Interfaith
Film Festival (NIFF).
While planning for the conference is still underway, it
is anticipated that the registration fee for the conference will be
less than $300. Information about the conference is available at
www.nain.org. And, the e-mail address of the conference is
Interfaith
Film Festival
The North
American Interfaith Network Interfaith Film Festival (NIFF) will be
held July 24-27, 2004 in New York City. This is the first
international, interfaith film festival to be held in New York City.
Submissions of any length works that include faith, ethics, belief, or
values-based themes are welcomed.
NIFF is
dedicated to promoting the work of filmmakers that focuses on the
realities of the inter-religious world we live in and the challenges
those differences present. NIFF encourages producers of any age to
share their messages about
faith, belief, values and conflict.
The North
American Interfaith Network (NAIN) and the National Association of
Ecumenical and Interreligious Staff (NAEIS) will hold their first ever
joint conference, “Connecting Partners;
Enlarging the Circle” in Manhattan from July 24-27, 2004. The
conference will run concurrently with the film festival. This
groundbreaking festival is both long overdue and sorely needed. NIFF
serves as a platform and an opportunity to showcase the best sampling
of voices of faith-inspired and innovative filmmakers from across North
America and around the world. The time has come to explore on a larger
level the collective works of those who explore issues of faith,
belief, ethics and values.
This
year's festival presenters in New York City will be selected from a mix
of features, shorts, documentaries, animated projects and experimental
videos submitted by acclaimed filmmakers, cutting-edge artists, and
emerging talents
in the field.
Submissions
of completed works are currently being accepted for the NIFF. A
submission fee of $40 per entry is required to offset festival costs.
Application forms are available at http://www.impactcoalition.org/interfaith.htm.
More information is available from NAIN2004@cs.com.
Networking and Advocacy Award
The NAIN Networking and
Advocacy Award exemplifies the best that the North American interfaith
community has to offer. This award will honor an individual or
group whose contributions to the networking and advocacy have advanced
the work of the larger community on either a local, national or
continental scale. Nominees should provide concrete examples of
their work, new coalitions which have formed as the result of their
participation and a delineated faith-based approach that they employ in
Canada, Mexico or the United States to form intentional connections,
strengthen dialogue, build awareness or establish relationships that
will serve the betterment of humankind. The recipient will be an
individual who has had significant impact on his/her community
through advocacy efforts and the ability to build effective coalitions
around issues that advance interfaith work. Nominators have
the opportunity to honor the work of particular individuals or groups
who
have implemented programming.
The award, which
comes with a cash prize, will be proudly presented at a banquet during
the combined NAIN and NAEIS conference, which is being held on July
24-27 in New York City.
Submissions of the
unsung heroes of interfaith work for consideration for the NAIN
Networking and Advocacy Award are urged. Nominators have the
opportunity to bring recognition to someone deserving and to share
these programs with other cities, towns and nations who may be
interested.
Nominations are due
by May 20, 2004, and nomination forms are available online at
www.nain.org.
NAIN Board News
Columbus 2003! What memories those words bring to NAIN
members who attended our conference last August. Over
150 people attended the gathering with more at the Sunday dinner and a
large attendance at the interfaith choir concert. We
enjoyed holding our event at Ohio State University and appreciated the
leadership Rev. Les Stansbury and the large number of Columbus people
who work diligently to guide our conference. One
of the new features in Columbus was holding work camps at a mosque and
the Native American Centre. Not only did
NAIN people help these groups with work that needed to be done, but a
greater understanding of the impact of racial discrimination against
both groups was gained by the workers. Thanks
to everyone who made NAIN 2003 a success.
NAIN has been served well
by three retiring Directors, Dr. Lila Fahlman, Rev. Bruce Gregersen and
Rev. Gloria Weber. We appreciate the
leadership they have given over the years and express our gratitude to
each of them for their support of NAIN. Six
members were nominated and after the election we welcomed Paul Chaffee,
Dr. K. L. Seshagiri Rao and Dr. Tansukh (T.J.) Salgia
to the Board and thank them for their willingness to
give this leadership.
Under the leadership of
Will Baker and Elizabeth Espersen we launched NAIN Partners this summer. This will be a fund which will help to support
the work of NAIN over the years, so is not part of the operating funds
of the Network. We have asked persons or
organizations that can contribute over $1000 per year for five years to
become Gold Partners and those who can contribute up to $1000 per year
to become Silver Partners. By the time of
the NAINConnect, Board members had contributed $2000 and we are seeking
other Partners to increase the fund. Vice-Chair
Kay Lindahl reported that the Board of Directors had also contributed
time and their own expenses valued at about $17,000.
The Board encourages any member to suggest names of
those who might become NAIN Partners. We
will follow up on any ideas that are sent to me at dmayne@compusmart.ab.ca.
In 2004 we will move to
New York City for a new and different conference. Not
only will we hold some programs jointly with the National Association
of Ecumenical and Inter-religious Staff (NAEIS), which is a first, but
also we will relate to the programs of the United Nations and we will
hold the first NAIN Interfaith Film Festival. We
will
also be presenting a networking and advocacy award. See the front-page
article in this issue with more details of the 2004 NAINConnect.
NAIN’s cooperation with
NAEIS saw three of our NAIN Board members participating in the annual
NAEIS Conference in Daytona Beach, Florida last July.
Hal French, our Program Chair, and Christy Lohr, our
Membership Chair, were part of their program leadership, and our Chair
of Administration and Finance, Sam Muyskens, is also a member of their
executive. Several other NAIN members
belong to both organizations and it was apparent that common interests
are shared by the two organizations. We benefit from our close
connections with them and look forward with great anticipation to the
overlapping conferences NAIN and NAEIS will
hold in New York next July. Parts of the
programs will be joint sessions, and each group will have some sessions
on their own. It should be a fine
experience.
I recently had the
opportunity to join with the Religious Education Association, one of
our NAIN members, in celebrating their 100th anniversary in
Chicago, where the Association began. I
brought greetings on
behalf of NAIN, and it was a pleasure to associate with people who were
deeply involved with religious education in many denominations and
faiths. While NAIN is only 15 years old,
it felt good to be part of a member celebrating their 100th
anniversary.
My sincere good wishes to
all the readers of NAINews.
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Two New
Features in NAINews
Two continuing features of NAINews
have begun in this issue. These are books in review and interfaith
briefs. Both are efforts to illustrate how interfaith understanding and
cooperation is developing in the increasingly pluralistic society in
which we live. This work will be dependent upon the volunteer efforts
of two well qualified persons. The books in review feature will be led
by Dr. Hal W. French, and the interfaith briefs feature will be
prepared by Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia.
Books in review
Books in review, to be
included in each issue of NAINews, will provide a
brief introduction to books that may be of interest to persons working
in NAIN member organizations or “Friends of NAIN.” The reviews will be
either prepared by Dr. French or by someone else. Readers are
encouraged to contact Dr. French if you are interested in preparing a
review of a book that you have found helpful in relationship to
interfaith understanding and cooperation. Two books are reviewed in
this issue of NAINews.
To help establish the
dialogue around this feature, here is a brief introduction of
Dr.French. He is a native of Kansas who has taught on the Religious
Studies faculty of the University of South Carolina since 1972. He retired as Dept. Chair in 1995, but
continues to teach at USC and in different settings.
His Ph.D. was from
McMaster University in Canada, with Masters degrees from Boston
University and United Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.
He has authored or edited eight
books, mostly on Asian religion. His
newest book, Zen and the Art of Anything, was
published in November of 1999, and again in a paperback edition in
June, 2001, by Broadway Books, a division of Random House.
It was selected by the journal, Spirituality
and Health, as one of the fifty “Best Spiritual Books of 2001.”
French has lectured widely
internationally, and in 1995 he taught the religion courses on the
University of Pittsburgh's Semester at Sea program, visiting eleven
countries in the course of the term. He
has recently taught seminars at the Esalen Institute and the Chautauqua
Institution, and taught another on
“Gandhi, King and the Legacy of Non-Violence” in the summer of 2003 at
the Ammerdown Retreat Centre in England.
French has received the AMOCO
teaching award from the University of South Carolina, along with seven
other teaching awards from Mortar Board and the Honors College. In 2002 he received the Faculty Outstanding
Volunteer
Service award and his second Outstanding Faculty Associate award from
Preston Residential College, where he presently has his office.
He is active in interfaith work, serving
on the
Board and as Program Chair of the North American Interfaith Network and
as
an International Consultant to the Interfaith Centre in Oxford, England. He is also on the Editorial Board of the 18
volume Encyclopedia of Hinduism project with central
offices at the University of South Carolina.
He looks forward to serving the readers of
NAINews through “Books in Review.”
Interfaith Briefs
The growth of interfaith
understanding and cooperation in North America is reported in
newspapers across the continent. Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia will in
each issue of NAINews be providing a digest of these
stories.
Dr. Butalia was a member of the
local planning
committee for the 2003 NAIN Connect in Columbus, Ohio; and, the Sikh
organization
he is part of, the World Sikh Council – America Region, is a new member
of
NAIN. In this Sikh organization he is the Chairman of National
Interfaith
Committee.
He is the Secretary and Trustee of the
Sikh Educational and Religious Foundation in Dublin, Ohio. Tarunjit is
also
a member of the Religious Experience Advisory Council of the Ohio
Bicentennial Commission and is co-editing a book titled Religion
in Ohio: Profiles of Faith Communities, to be released in Spring of
2004 to celebrate the 200th birthday of Ohio.
He is a Council member of the
Interfaith Association of Central Ohio and is a member of the Executive
Committee of The Ohio State University Interfaith Association. He
serves as the faculty adviser to The Ohio State University Campus
Interfaith Council. He is also a member of the Religious Advisory
Council of the Mayor of
Columbus, Ohio.
Tarunjit also serves as a Board
member of the Columbus based Interfaith Center for Peace and is a
co-convener of Faith Communities Uniting for Peace, a newly formed
interfaith peace organization in the Central Ohio region.
He
has a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from The Ohio State University and is
a Research Scientist at the university
He
looks forward to preparing the “Interfaith Briefs” to be published in
each issue of NAINews.
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Benefits of NAIN Membership, by
Christy Lohr
NAINConnect2003 in Columbus, OH was a
great opportunity for representatives from member organizations to
re-connect and share ideas, and NAIN Connect 2004 in New York City
proves to be an exciting event. 2004 will
mark the first year that NAIN and NAEIS, the National Association of
Ecumenical and Interreligious Staff, will hold a combined conference.. NAIN Connect 2004 will also feature the
inaugural NAIN Networking & Advocacy Award and a groundbreaking
Interfaith Film Festival. In addition it will feature a Management
Series to help member organizations with fundraising and marketing.
Membership in NAIN certainly has
many benefits:
o
access to the only comprehensive network which connects
international, regional and local interfaith groups;
o
subscriptions to the NAINewsletter;
o
access to NAIN Online;
The network is currently bursting at
the seams with opportunities for growth especially in the area of
member development. NAIN Online is a
service provided exclusively to the online community featuring
membership directories, interfaith resources, membership bulletin
boards and regional interfaith “chats”. As
our on-line community continues to grow, it offers an added benefit of
keeping members connected in between the summer Connects.
Log onto NAIN Online to post information about your
organization’s recent successes or to consult the NAIN community about
interfaith issues of interest. We are also
excited about the possibility of adding a convenience feature for
members to pay dues with a credit card on-line.
2004 Membership Fees are $75 for
local or regional interfaith organizations and $125 for national or
international organizations. Membership
renewal forms are available on-line at www.nain.org and beginning in
2004 after a three-month grace period non-renewing members will loose
access to NAIN Online.
We know that members of active
interfaith organizations will not want to miss out on any of these
opportunities. With the state of the world
today, it becomes more important than ever to have a network that
shares ideas and strengthens our work. Help
NAIN make your organization better. Encourage
your organization to renew its membership in a timely manner and stay
on top of all that NAIN has to offer!
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Hunger
No More
Representatives
from major religious groups have collaborated to produce a new edition
of Hunger No More, a packet of educational materials
designed for
congregations. The new resource follows the group’s successful
collaboration on Hunger No More: Decisions 2002.
The new edition is designed to help parishes discuss
long-term issues related to hunger, poverty, and powerlessness in the
U.S. and developing world. The theme comes from Revelation 7:16: “They
shall hunger no more.”
The kit includes a six-session leader’s guide for adults
and youth, handouts for each unit, and a poster. The materials are
supported by a web site: www.hungernomore.org. The site provides
additional children’s activities, links to helpful stories and
resources, and updates on poverty news. The complete packet is
available for $5 from www.bread.org or www.hungernomore.org. For
information, contact Bread for the World: 50 F Street NW Suite 500,
Washington, DC 2001; 202/639-9400.
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From Fall 2003/Baptist Peacemaker
"Renewing Earth's Sacred Balance" Theme of 2004
Multifaith Calendar
Now in its 18th
year, The Multifaith Calendar
prepared each year by The Multifaith Calendar Committee of the
Multifaith Action Society in Vancouver, British Columbia, is widely
used throughout Canada and the USA.
The
Multifaith Calendar, Canada’s original diversity calendar, provides
information and insight of cultural days, national celebrations, and
religious holidays, festivals and feast days. Thirty-two pages describe
and explain their significance and are enhanced with six-color works of
art.
The theme of The Multifaith Calendar 2004
is “Renewing Earth’s Sacred Balance.” The high quality art works
illustrating this theme are inspired by the David Suzuki Foundation.
Included among the 17 different artists whose work was chosen to
illustrate the calendar there are works by E. J. Hughes, Susan A.
Point, Ellie Jeon, and Chrysan Chen.
According to
The Rev. Dr. David Spence, Managing Editor of The
Multifaith Calendar, the 2004 theme of the calendar can be
understood this way: “the Earth’s “Sacred Balance” is reached when four
physical elements Earth, Air, Fire, and Water along with mystical
energies Transcendence, Wonder, Beauty, and Compassion combine to form
beneficial and harmonious relationships. When this Balance looses its
focus, boundaries, and passion, life soon becomes less creative and
meaningful, and more disorganized, chaotic, disarrayed, confused, and
disruptive.” The works of art in The Multifaith
Calendar2004 illustrate the significance and importance of
“Renewing Earth’s Sacred Balance”
The Multifaith Calendar lists the holidays,
festivals, and feast times of 13 different religions and spiritual
traditions: Aboriginal Spirituality, Baha’I, Buddhism, Christianity,
Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Shintoism, Sikhism, Unitarian,
Wicca, and Zoroastrianism. Each day celebrated by a religious or
spiritual community is briefly described in a sidebar on every monthly
page.
In addition, The Multifaith Calendar includes a short explanation of
how each religion understands time, a list of other international
cultural and national days celebrated, and the 10 Nature Challenges
suggestion by the David Suzuki Foundation that encourage healthier
ecological choices.
For more
information about The Multifaith Calendar contact The
Rev. Dr. David Spence, the Managing Editor, 2722 Henry Street, Port
Moody, BC V3H 2J9, Phone: 604-469-1164; e-mail:
mfcalendar@pacificcoast.net
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Golden Rule Poster Now Published in the U.S.A.
The Scarboro Missions Golden Rule
poster - featuring the golden rule in 13 religions - is proving to be a
big success across North America and beyond.
The
Golden Rule poster is now being published in the United States by
Pflaum
Publishing Group in Dayton, Ohio --- tel. 1-800-543-4383 e-mail service@pflaum.com
Conexus
Multifaith Media in Solon, Ohio is also distributing the poster ---tel.
1-877-784-7779 e-mail info@conexuspress.com
This
striking and beautiful four-color poster reminds us that the golden
rule is not just a moral ideal for relationships between people, but
also for relationships among nations, cultures and religions. This
powerful teaching tool is now on permanent display at the United
Nations as well as in classrooms, congregations, universities,
hospitals, workplaces and numerous other environments.
The
Scarboro Missions Interfaith Desk has also produced "A
do-it-yourself
golden rule workshop outline". This outline contains "guidelines for
creating and facilitating a workshop or group discussion on the
golden rule across the world's religions". This workshop outline
provides people with the necessary tools and direction to do a
group reflection on the golden rule. These guidelines can be
downloaded free-of-charge from Scarboro Missions' website www.scarboromissions.ca --
on homepage, look for box entitled "guidelines for golden rule
workshop.”
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North of 49: Arson, Forgiveness and Healing
The video North of 49: A Film
about Arson, Forgiveness & Healing in a Post Sept. 11th World is being warmly received by diverse audiences in
schools, colleges,
civic and religious groups.
North
of 49, an hour-long documentary based on events surrounding the
November 2001 arson attack on Gobind Sadan, USA, the Sikh Center in
upstate
New York, tells a story that could have happened in any community in
America in the wake of 9/11. Four teenagers from the Parish/Mexico area
of Oswego County destroyed the sacred place of neighbors who wear
beards
and turbans, neighbors who practice an unfamiliar religion rooted in
an unfamiliar culture.
Huston Smith
calls the film " the most remarkable process of forgiveness I have come
across since 9-11 put that virtue on hold." Instead of hatred, the act
released a force of love and forgiveness. Immediately after the teens
were arrested, the Sikhs forgave them - while acknowledging they had to
be punished for their crime. This began the healing process.
Richard
Breyer, coproducer is a Professor at the Newhouse School of Public
Communications at Syracuse University. He has produced a number of
documentaries including: Kasthuri - about an Indian
movie star; Esta
Esperanza - post civil war in El Salvador and A Toast
to
Sweet Old Age - longevity in the Republic of Georgia.
Professor
David Coryell, coproducer is a screenwriter and adjunct professor at
the Newhouse School, Department of Television, Radio and Film. His
works include Random Acts of Divinity, optioned by MGM
and Square Grouper, a thriller set on the Outer Banks
of North Carolina that is under option with Mockingbird Pictures.
The film
sparks lively discussions around the critical issues of diversity,
acceptance of the
other, and forgiveness, and asks “What kind of community – what kind of
world do we want to live in?” For more information visit
www.northof49.net
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Books In Review
1000 WORLD PRAYERS, compiled
by Marcus Braybrooke. O Books: Alresford,
United Kingdom, 2003.
ISBN 1 903816
17 3
The language of prayer is
personal, expressing one’s deepest ideals in a spiritual framework. Despite, however, the implicitly individual
quality of our prayers, many strike universal notes.
So it is with many of the prayers in this anthology. The five organizing themes, God, Times and
Seasons, Through All the Changing Scenes of Life, The World and
Society, and The Natural World, reflect the commonalities of our
experience, and the selections are wide-ranging, drawn from
representative sources of different traditions and viewpoints. Marcus Braybrooke, out of
his own vast experience in interfaith work, knows the sources, and
these
selections mirror his awareness.
I found many of them unusually vivid,
such as this excerpt from a modern prayer for peace from Sarajevo:
“From the hearts of peaceful souls
may a flag of peace
unfurl
to fall from the sky
like a vast parachute
onto a
region of war.”
Flags and parachutes as peace images- yes. Still another prayer, by Teilhard de Chardin,
addresses the recognition of the aging process, and another by a
sensitive woman shares her very real fears as she faces a mastectomy. Still another by the Celtic Saint Bridget,
reflects a warm, even whimsical, intimacy with animals:
“Driving the Cows,” asks, among other things, “The
fellowship of Michael victorious be yours, in nibbling, in chewing, in
munching.”
Many
of these prayers, then, are homespun and colorful, others timeless and
traditional, as drawn from the scriptures of many faiths.
Together, they comprise a rich treasury of resources
which may inspire the voicing of our own prayers, and be useful, also,
for inclusion in interfaith services of worship.
Hal French
An Anthology of Nonviolence: Historical and
Contemporary Voices. Edited by Krishna Mallick and Doris Hunter. Greenwood Press: Westport. Connecticut, 2002. ISBN: 0-313-31879-4
“When will they ever learn?”
Reading this anthology calls up the lyrics from the 60s,
which seem so strangely contemporary. Again,
in an age and time marked by violent responses to real and threatened
violence, one looks for voices reminding us that there is another path,
which holds the promise of “a still more
excellent way.” This volume contains some
of the classic articulations of that path, in passages from the
Bhagavad Gita, the Sermon on the Mount, and a prayer from the Jain
tradition, echoing in different ways the
insight of Plato’s Dialogue with Crito, ‘We ought not to retaliate or
render evil for evil to anyone, whatever evil we may have suffered from
him.” Are these merely the counsels of
cherished but impractical idealists?
More
recent voices which have attained almost classic stature in the
literature of non-violence are found here, such as those of Thoreau,
Gandhi, Martin Luther King, the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Nelson
Mandela. Their stories and words are
vivid reminders that others have sought to apply the truths of
non-violence, and they have made a difference. You
are invited to share King’s jail cell in Birmingham, to delve into
Gandhi’s reflections on the
Indian ideal of ahimsa, forging it into the strategy
of satyagraha, or soul force, which he
employed first in South Africa, then in India. Back
in South Africa, you may join Nelson Mandela’s “Long Walk
to Freedom,” which led him to extensive time in jail cells, as with
Gandhi
and King. One is newly impressed at the
incredible
personal cost which their positions
exacted of them.
Contemporary
selections include case references in “The Global Spread of Active
Nonviolence,” by Richard Deats, and an analysis by Gene Sharp, offering
detailed steps in planning strategies of non-violence.
Still others describe how particular groups such as
women,
racial minorities, and homosexuals, have been subject to violence, and
how non-violence must be employed in dealing with their concerns, and
with
other issues, such as pervasive ones related to the environment.
This is an
incredibly valuable anthology. Interfaith
readers will appreciate that the ideals of non-violence rise out of the
soil of many traditions, and those who may be reluctant to see how they can be employed in our time will be impressed
with the pragmatic approach of many of the writers.
Impractical idealists? These
voices were and are agents of effective change, and counter-agents to
our overworked reliance on violent solutions to social and political
problems.
Hal French
Author
Looking for Faiths' Baby Stories
Carolyn Pogue is a Canadian
author with a strong interest in multifaith connections.
She is looking for help in finding baby stories for a children's
picture book. The book would contain a retelling of several
illustrated stories. Through the reading of these faith stories one
after the other, adults would hopefully be reminded of our common
beginnings as vulnerable, beautiful people of faith. Children would
receive a collection of good, ever-lasting stories to grow on!
If you would share your
faith's baby story, or send her a source for a baby story
(examples
are Peace Child, Moses/Moosa, Jesus) she would be grateful. Send
to cpogue@shaw.ca or
Carolyn
Pogue
132
Scarboro Avenue SW
Calgary,
Alberta, T3C 2H1
Canada
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Interfaith Briefs,
Compiled
by Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia
Ottawa,
Canada: The National Capital Interfaith Committee and faith leaders of
Ottawa
joined the Canadian Blood Services in September 2003 to make “blood
donations
part of the region’s spiritual life.” The group will be working with
leaders
of 300 area congregations. (Ottawa Citizen, 9/23/03)
St. Catherines, Canada: A unique interfaith
ceremony of pets and pet owners was held in St. Catherines near Niagara
Falls
on 9/14/03. The service included pets of many diverse species and pet
owners of several diverse faiths and denominations. (The Standard,
9/15/03)
Vancouver,
Canada: The Vancouver Sun has reported that Vancouver is the only major
city in Canada that is “bucking the national trend toward fewer people
attending a place of worship.” A recent statistical study indicated
that 16 percent more Vancouver residents attend a place of worship than
did in the early 1990s. (The Vancouver Sun, 5/13/03)
Rio
De Janeiro, Brazil: About 400 persons gathered on the streets of the
city on 8/29/03 for an interfaith memorial service to hold a vigil and
demand justice for a ten year old police rampage in one of Rio De
Janeiro’s most notorious slum which had killed 21 people. The attendees
at the service included human rights activists, clergy, community
leaders, and the families of the victims. (Associated Press, 8/29/03)
Des
Moines, Iowa, US: The National Council of Church’s recent campaign
of “What Should the Governor Drive?” has
hit
streets of Des Moines. The Iowa Interfaith Climate and Energy Campaign
issued a report that shows that Iowa could reduce gasoline consumption
by 65,040 gallons in 2004 if it replaced its gas-guzzler vehicles with
fuel-efficient cars and trucks. The coordinator of the campaign
remarked,
“Fuel-efficient vehicles will conserve energy, protect God’s creation,
and save the state millions of dollars.” (Associated Press, 11/12/03)
Chicago,
Illinois, US: On May 15, 2003, an interfaith memorial service was held
to recognize police officers of Chicago and to mark the National Police
Week. Law enforcement officers in uniform and area clergy and faith
leaders joined in the service at Glen Ellyn Covenant Church. (Chicago
Daily Herald, 5/13/03)
New
York, US: Rev. David Benke, who had earlier been suspended for sharing
the stage with non-Christians at a 9/11 memorial service in New York,
has been reinstated by the Missouri-Synod Lutheran Church. Benke has
now
been reinstated as president of the conservative Lutheran synod’s
Atlantic
District, which covers the eastern New York state. (Omaha World Herald,
5/13/03)
Hartford,
Connecticut, US: About 36 congregations ranging from Catholics to
Muslims have joined forces to form the Greater Hartford Interfaith
Coalition for Equity and Justice. This coalition aims to turn preaching
to public policy, with the hope of persuading the government to focus
on the poor and working families. (Associated Press, 10/27/03)
Washington,
DC, US: The second annual conference of the National Interfaith
Committee for Worker Justice (NICWJ) was held in city in May of 2003.
The conference focused on closer collaborations between labor and
religious groups. The NICWJ was formed in 1996 in Chicago and currently
has 64 affiliated groups across the US. In February 2003, the NICWJ was
successful in securing union recognition for food service workers at
Xavier University, a Catholic school in Cincinnati, Ohio. (The Times
Union, 5/24/03)
Charleston,
West Virginia, US: The West Virginia Climate Change Campaign held an
interfaith discussion on climate change at a local synagogue on
10/13/03. The meeting focused on the role of faith-based organizations
in stopping the rise of global temperatures caused by greenhouse gases.
Panelists
said that “reducing fossil fuel use fulfils another aspect of their
faith,
treating other living creatures with respect.” (Charleston Gazette,
10/14/03)
Lakeland,
Florida, US: Faith in Action, a local interfaith volunteer caregiving
group, has taken on the responsibility of working with local county
officials to provide help and advice to the elderly. The interfaith
volunteers will pick up groceries or run errands, provide
transportation to and from
doctor appointments, visit individuals, and do light housekeeping for
senior citizens. The program receives support from the local churches
and
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (The Ledger, 10/20/03)
Ventura
County, California, US: FOOD Share, an interfaith project that began 25
years ago at a senior center, is today one of the largest regional
food bank in the county serving about 100,000 people each year. The
program
networks with 240 faith-based organizations and serves about 34,000
people
each month. It also provides meals for 13 after-school sites and
delivers
groceries to senior citizens through other charities. (Venture County
Star,
11/2/03)
Austin,
Texas, US: Professor James Kraft of Huston-Tillotson College is
reported to have remarked that while dealing with the hard questions of
interfaith relations, the participants in interfaith dialogue must not
“water down” their beliefs. Dr. Kraft encouraged inter-religious forums
where people can speak critically about each other’s beliefs in a
civilized and fair manner. He said, “Oftentimes, I see with
interreligious dialogue people want to have a love fest, get together
and share experiences. That’s great. There’s a place for it … Any unity
or commonality that we find will be hard-won … There are lots of
roadblocks, and I think it does no one any service to detour around
them and to act like they’re not there.” (Austin American Statesman,
10/19/03)
Spokane,
Washington, US: The Spokane Council of Ecumenical Ministries, after
more than half a century of progress in the Christian ecumenical
community, has decided to go interfaith. On 9/21/03 that Council
officially became the Interfaith Council and was to be joined by
representatives of Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, and Baha’i faiths.
The Council Director, Kateri Caron remarked, “Spokane tends to think of
itself as a bit isolated from the rest of the world. We are a part of
the globe. We’re not just Christians here. There’s Baha’i, Sikh. I went
to a Hindu wedding this summer; there are many traditions. We need to
recognize that and say Spokane will grow. This is in the best interest
of the community. On every level.” (Spokesman Review, 9/20/03)
San
Antonio, Texas, US: Interfaith volunteers from 28 faiths and
denominations joined hands on 9/20/03 to build a Habitat for Humanity
home in the
city. With muddy shoes and tools in their hands, the volunteers worked
together to build a home for Letica Laurano’s family. A Christian
volunteer
remarked, “This morning gave me the chills. A Muslim lead our morning
prayer while Jews, Catholics, and Christians held hands … We may not
all
agree on who God is, but we all believe that we are here doing God’s
work.”
(San Antonio Express-News, 9/21/03)
Los
Angeles, California, US: Dr. Benjamin J. Hubbard, Chair of the
Department of Comparative Religion at Cal State Fullerton, stated in
recent editorial published in the Los Angeles Times that “the
interfaith movement is key to world harmony.” He wrote, “So is
religious coexistence an impossible dream? Those viewing interreligious
harmony as a quixotic quest argue that history is replete with
religious wars, that religions are inherently competitive and
conversionary, that they are sometimes co-opted by national or
territorial ambitions (as in the dispute between India and Pakistan
over Kashmir), and that the human tendency toward conflict makes peace
among religions as daunting as peace between national or ethnic groups.
Pluralists respond that the golden rule -- brotherly and sisterly love
-- is the centerpiece of all religions, and that there have been
remarkable periods in history of religious tolerance, including the
coexistence of Jews, Christians
and Muslims in medieval Spain. Pluralists add that the 1st Amendment's
guarantee of religious freedom and prohibition against Congress
endorsing
a religion make America a beacon of religious tolerance. But perhaps
the
strongest reason to hope a more pluralist philosophy will characterize
this century is the growing worldwide interfaith movement.” (Los
Angeles
Times, 8/17/03)
2003 NAIN Connect Remembered
Rev. Dr.
Leslie E. Stansbery
Chair of
2003 NAIN Conference Planning Committee
The 2003 annual
meeting and conference of NAIN, NAINConnect 2003, convened August 9 –
12, 2003 at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. This year for
the first time, a few persons came a day and a half early, starting on
the morning of August 8, for two hands-on landscape work projects at
the Native American Indian Center and the Islamic Center of Central
Ohio. Dr. Hal French, Chair of Program for
the NAIN Board, had suggested such an activity. NAIN Board members met
on Friday evening through Saturday afternoon. The Interfaith
Association of Central Ohio planned
the conference and the work projects to coincide with the Bicentennial
of
Ohio. Over two hundred persons attended
some part of the conference, and approximately half of that number
attended most of the conference.
Some 30 individuals
across several faith traditions did the work projects on Friday and
Saturday at the Native American Indian and Islamic centers. A landscape
designer, owner of Urban Wild, provided blueprints for each site and
drafted a prayer unique to each to dedicate it. The
workers planted a tree at each location. At
the Indian Center they used stones to divide the garden spaces and put
down gravel for a walkway between them. At the Islamic Center they
planted flowers and shrubs around the building. Mr. Daniel Ingwersen
(Christian), who coordinated the work at both sites, thought that one
woman’s remark had shown the value of both projects:
“It seems as though we are building community, as well
as working on a project.”
Participants were
welcomed to the conference with an interfaith concert, followed by
refreshments, at the Catholic Newman Center at The Ohio State
University campus on Saturday, August 9, at 8:00 p.m.
The Paul Laurence
Dunbar African-American choir, the Columbus area Jewish choir, a Sikh
children’s group, and the Baha’i led One Human Family performed. Since Muslims do not sing in their prayers, a
representative chanted from the Koran. A
Jain performed a dance. All choirs joined
in a rousing combined presentation at the end of the concert.
Interfaith prayers
began the day on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Three
faiths were represented each day. A Muslim
organized them on Sunday morning, involving Christian, Jain, Muslim,
and Native American adherents. On Monday,
a Rabbi involved himself and a Baha’i and a Buddhist.
On Tuesday, a Sikh involved himself, a Christian, and a
Baha’i.
On Sunday morning,
following the interfaith prayers, many of the participants visited the
Hindu Temple, the Islamic mosque, the Sikh Gurdwara, a Buddhist center,
the Baha’i fellowship center, or Christian services.
Local leaders welcomed the visitors and provided
transportation from the worship site to restaurant for the Main Event
luncheon.
More than 200 persons
attended the luncheon. Dr. Rita Gross, a
retired professor in Religious Studies, a Buddhist author of several
books and articles gave the opening address, following lunch. She urged people to study other faiths. In particular, she proposed that persons of
other faiths should be engaged in teaching at institutions where
persons are being educated
to provide leadership in their respective faith tradition.
Following her presentation, five persons presented a
panel discussion on “State of Interfaith Relations in North America.” Dr. Paul Knitter moderated the panel. Others on the panel included:
Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed, Secretary General of the Islamic
Society
of North America, Ms. Kay Lindahl, Vice-President of NAIN, the Rev. Rob
Hankinson, a United Church pastor and Vice-President of the Canadian
Council
of Churches, and the Rev. Richard A. Kellaway, the North American
coordinator
for The International Association for Religious Freedom.
On Monday morning,
interfaith prayers, led by Rabbi Howard Apothaker (Jewish), Lama Kathy
Wesley (Buddhist), and Mr. Joe Keehner (Baha’i) started the day. Then, Dr. Knitter gave the opening address,
“Bringing Interfaith Work to Bear on World Conflicts.” He argued that
although religious faiths may not be the initiator of wars, their
tendency to identify the opponent as evil and their side as good makes
the conflict much worse. He further advocated that those involved in
interfaith work be peacemakers. Workshops followed in the two hours
before lunch. Dr.Gross led one of those on
the role of women in faith traditions. A
workshop on “Unity in Diversity” included Dr. Racelle Weiman, Director
of the Center for Holocaust Education at Hebrew Union College in
Cincinnati, Dr. Ahmad Al-Akhras, President of the Council of American
Islamic Relations – Ohio Chapter, Mr. Kenneth Irwin, a leader in the
Native American Indian community, and Dr. J. S. Jindal, a Hindu. At
lunch, regional groups met to discuss interfaith activities and
organizations in their respective geographic areas.
Some seven groups met around topics of interest during
the Open Space Technology after lunch. The
annual membership meeting of NAIN was held
later that afternoon. The evening session
began with a Latino music concert presented by the Rev. Baldemar
Velasquez
and his associate on an accordion. A panel on the topic of “Religious
Liberties”
involving three lawyers: Mr. James R. Beattie, Jr., a Christian who
teaches
law in the Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio; Mr. Rajesh
Bagga,
a Hindu who practices law in Akron, Ohio; and Mr. Benson A. Wolman, a
Jew,
who is past Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of
Ohio;
discussed ways in which faiths are affected by recent legislation which
created the Department of Homeland Security and the Patriot Acts
On Tuesday morning,
interfaith prayers were led by Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia (Sikh), Rev.
Gwen Stetler (Christian), and Ms. Colette Harrison (Baha’i). During the
morning, two new workshops were held. Dr.
Houshang Ma’ani (Baha’i) led one on the ways in which the Religious
Experience Advisory Council of the Ohio Bicentennial Commission
observed the state’s Bicentennial with historical markers and a book
titled “Religion in Ohio: Profiles of Faith Communities” to be released
in April of 2004 by Ohio University Press. Ms. Madeleine Trichel,
Executive Director of the Interfaith Center for
Peace, described a major interfaith project in an Ohio prison. Then, a closing panel, on the subject, “Visions of Peace: Contributions
from Faith Communities,” moderated by the NAIN Program Chair, Dr. Hal
W. French, Professor Emeritus from the Department of Religion at the
University of South Carolina, was presented. Panelists
included: Rabbi Harold Berman (Jewish),
Dr. Alam Payind, Director of the Middle East Studies Center at The Ohio
State University and a trained Muslim Scholar, Rev. Deana
Stickley-Miner, a United Methodist minister and co-convener of Faith
Communities Uniting for Peace, and Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia, Chair of
the National
Interfaith Committee of World Sikh Council – America Region, and the
other
co-convener of Faith Communities Uniting for Peace.
The conference ended
with Rev. Dr. Donald Mayne, the Chair of NAIN, gathering people on the
stage in front of an interfaith quilt which commemorates the first NAIN
conference in Wichita, Kansas, for reflections and a moving send off
until the next year’s gathering in New York City. People
left with a sense of fulfillment and challenge.
The conference was
well covered in the local media through three articles in the Columbus
Dispatch (one publicity article before the conference, another covering
Dr. Paul Knitter’s plenary speech, and one on the work projects) and a
radio news item broadcast on the local National Public Radio station.
Four grants were
received toward the cost of the conference. The grants came from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) regional
(Michigan/Ohio) Synod of the Covenant, the United States Department of
State’s International Visitors Council - Columbus, Ohio Humanities
Council, and the World Sikh Council - America Region.
Urban Wild, a landscape design business in central Ohio,
provided blueprints for both work projects, and other landscape
businesses provided material at cost. The
Interfaith Association of Central Ohio provided phone, and other office
support. After balancing the conference
accounts, $500 was sent to
NAIN.
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