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URI-NAIN Connect 2005

Hospitality, Gratitude & Sharing

This event promises to be a watershed event in interfaith visioning and work. This will be the first joint gathering of the United Religions Initiative (www.uri.org) and the North American Interfaith Network (www.nain.org). This groundbreaking meeting will bring both groups together for resource sharing, networking and bridge building. Each day a different value will be celebrated and embraced. The conference will open on Friday, August 12^th with a Native American Presence and Celebration, honoring the sacred ground upon which the conference will occur, Las Vegas, The Meadow. Saturday, the Islamic Community of Southern Nevada will provide Hospitality, providing an evening meal with Islamic Cuisine from all parts of the world and Islamic entertainment and inspiration. Sunday, the Community of Southern Nevada will come together to celebrate the value of Gratitude, with a renowned speaker (invitation still outstanding). And, Monday evening, the focus will be on taking our Sharing into Interfaith Action in our World. Each day the program will open our eyes to the wonder of real interfaith engagement. As never before our world needs the peace that comes of genuine interfaith dialogue, come join us as we enter more fully into that dialogue!

Each day will feature opportunities for spiritual immersion from different faith traditions in the morning and afternoon, exercise opportunities from Tai Chi and Yoga instructors. Sacred space will be created to celebrate different faith traditions. There will be a computer laboratory to explore with facilitation the interfaith web world.

The event will be hosted at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Located five minutes from McCarran International Airport, UNLV is a very convenient location. The event will take place within the Moyers Student Union and adjacent classrooms. The lodging will be in Tonopah, a newly constructed resident facility, with an exercise room, computer room and small meeting rooms. The daily rate for room and board is exceptionally reasonable. Flights to Las Vegas are also exceptionally reasonable. August tends to be a warm month; but we often experience a monsoon season during August, bringing the temperatures down considerably. Note, should it be hot Las Vegas is very well air-conditioned! Mark your calendar to join us as we CONNECT our vibrant interfaith community in a spirit of hospitality and gratitude.

We have designed this event to be as inexpensive as possible to draw all to its door. Come join us! The registration cost will be $145 per person; and, the cost of room and board (all meals) will be $65 per day for a single room and $45 per day for a double room. These reasonable fees and costs make this adventure to Las Vegas quite affordable. Look for online registration information either at www.uri.org or at www.nain.org.

The Rev. Gard Jameson is Chairperson of the Interfaith Council of Southern Nevada and he is on the NAIN Board of Directors. For additional information contact him at: gard at attglobal.net (email spam guard = replace the typed words and spaces with the correct "at" symbol to get the email address)

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (www.unlv.edu) is located five minutes from McCarran International Airport (www.mccarran.com). Travel to McCarran is one of the cheapest airfares available. Lodging will be in Tonopah Hall, an air-conditioned residence hall, with computer and exercise facilities (http://housing.unlv.edu/residencegallery1/index.htm). Right next to Tonopah Hall is Moyers Student Union with most of the meeting rooms (http://www.unlv.edu/studentlife/facilities/msu.html). To the backside of Tonopah is the eating facility. There will be a computer lab available for receiving email and learning about new online interfaith resources from both URI and NAIN.

UNLV is located five minutes from the infamous Las Vegas Strip. Before or after the conference you may wish to take a tour of the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon or visit Lake Mead with Hoover Dam. Tours are available through services like Pink Jeep Tours (www.pinkjeeplasvegas.com).

It is a joy and a privilege to greet you as your new Chair for NAIN. One of the first items on my agenda is to thank and acknowledge Don Mayne for his wise guidance and leadership as Chair for the past four years. His style and grace were a model in how to do interfaith. In addition I want to acknowledge the service of Will Baker, Hal French, Eboo Patel, Muhaid Ramadan, Michelle Schon and Chris White who left the Board this year. We deeply appreciate their commitment and will miss them. We also greet our new Board Members Tarunjit Butalia, Barry Cooke, Azziz Eddebbarh, Bud Heckman, Jan Saeed, Stacy Smith and Barbara Trites. We look forward to new energy and vision as we move forward.

It was wonderful to see so many of you in New York in July for our annual Connect. We missed those of you who couldn't make it. The program was informative and inspiring and the venue was exciting and energizing. It was truly a Connecting experience as we had the opportunity to meet not only NAIN members but also NAEIS members, in our first joint conference. Many thanks to Christy Lohr and Will Baker of Impact Coalition and all the NY planning team.

We are already in the midst of planning for the 2005 Connect which will be held at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, August 13 16. It is another exciting networking opportunity for us as we will be partnering with the URI groups in North America for their Regional Summit. Ideas are flowing in and we encourage you to let us know what would make the Connect meaningful for you? What topics would you like to see addressed? What format do you like best? Please send them in to the NAINConnect 2005 planning chair, Gard Jameson. His e-mail address is: gardj at attglobal.net. (email spam guard = replace the typed words and spaces with the correct "at" symbol to get the email address) And put the date in your calendar now!

One of the ways to keep the connections going in between our annual gathering is to use our website. Each member has the opportunity to input their own profile. You can add any number of people from your organization to receive any mailings that go out to the general membership. You can share your events, ask for resources, start a discussion and it's really easy to do. You do need your login name and password. If you cannot remember them, contact Bettina Gray at: webmaster "at" nain.org . Our website is a vast resource for all of us. We simply need to start using it!

It seems to me that the interfaith movement is coming of age. We are being noticed. There is much more sensitivity to the many faith traditions that are part of our communities. More people are participating in interfaith activities. Even the media is starting to pay attention to us. As a network, we have a particular role to play as we become connectors in our communities and across the continent. The possibilities of partnerships and collaboration are growing as we learn how to live in this interfaith world, a world that gives me hope for the future.

Twenty years has seen a lot of change since our first hand printed NAIN Directory. That was before the internet. That was before online search functions! That was before instant information at your finger tips from any part of the world!

NAIN's online directory and search functions:
When NAIN members sign in with their NAINOnline password and id they will see our welcome page with a series of links. The link for our Directory search function is either "Members" or Organizations .

The "Organizations" page link is the one I enjoy using the most. Here you will find extensive search options: by word, by type (organization name, representative, email address, mission statement, city), by category, by state, by organizations with web sites.

The "Members" search page allows you to search our membership by last name, first name, email address, user name, city, or intro/bio. As an example if you enter the word "Peace" into the search box and choose to search by Intro/bio you will come up with all the members who have that term in their personal profiles.

The Online Directory
Look for the Complete List in Print Format link on the membership search page. (The print format is just for printing and has no active links.) Voila! Your instant printed NAIN Directory!

As a reminder, the search function is only as good as the individual profiles and information. As a member of NAIN you can sign into your account and change your own mailing address, email address, personal or organizational information at any time and from any place you have computer access. Please keep your information up to date so we can be in touch and make use of this rich opportunity to connect across North America

Bettina Gray, NAIN Communications Chair, for more information or for assistance in using NAIN ONLine contact her at bbgray at creativefilms.com (email spam guard = replace the typed words and spaces with the correct "at" symbol to get the email address)