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Summer 2008 |
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The
Newsletter of the North American Interfaith Network, Inc. Building |
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NAINews Committee °
Judy Trautman, Editor °
Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia, Interfaith Briefs °
Lynn Castle °
Rev. Paul Chaffee °
Sharon Clayton °
Midge Falconer °
Mr. Michael Goggin, M.A. °
Bettina Gray ° Rev. Robert
Hankinson, Book
Reviewer °
Rev. Charles White, D.Min. ° Dr.
Jim Wiggins, Book Reviewer |
Notes
from the Chair on Service Service
Learning Collaboration Nominations
to the Board of Directors A
Call for Articles on Local Interfaith Work Linking
social justice and interfaith The
Interfaith Summer Institute Niwano
foundation awards peace prize |
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Notes from the Chair on Service By Mike Goggin, Chairperson of the NAIN Board of Directors A couple of years ago I was invited to contribute a chapter to a book called Building the Interfaith Youth Movement: Beyond Dialogue to Action. The subtitle is instructive. When working with youth, dialogue is often not enough. There needs to be some action that provides a tangible outcome to a gathering of young people of different faiths. More and more, interfaith groups are turning to shared service projects to provide that action. The aforementioned book grew out of a
conference on interfaith youth work hosted by the Interfaith Youth Core
(IFYC) at the |
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I have had the
opportunity to lead Days of Interfaith Youth Service projects in The curriculum
provided by IFYC for the Days of Interfaith Youth Service ensures a fruitful
interfaith dialogue over lunch. The Interfaith Youth Core believes that
everyone should be regarded as the scholar of his or her own experience, and
so the young people are invited to enter into dialogue with each other by
telling brief stories about their own past experiences of serving people in
need. Then there is the invitation to share some short Scripture passages
that address community service as a value in various different faith
traditions. It is not long before the young people learn that service is a
shared core value in their respective traditions, an important point of
convergence between our faiths. By the end of the day, the young people leave
the project knowing what their own tradition teaches about the value of
service, what a handful or more sacred Scriptures have to say about such
charitable work and the abiding memory of working as part of a team with
their peers who might have very different beliefs but very similar values. It
is a powerful experience, and I urge all NAIN member organizations to
consider hosting a Days of Interfaith Youth Service event in April 2009. For
more details, visit http://www.ifyc.org/events/DIYS.
Shared service among
our different faiths is not the exclusive territory of the young. Just last
night, I attended a planning meeting for the 9/11 Unity Walk that takes place
along Embassy Row in I would like to encourage all NAIN members to think about ways in which they can be sources of both dialogue and action in the world. |
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Service Learning Collaboration
Computer Class
Healthy Snacks |
The University of
Toledo Office of Service Learning & Community Engagement, in collaboration
with MultiFaith Council of Northwest Ohio, International Student Association,
and the UT Student Affairs Office of Multi Cultural Student Services, held a
service learning event called “Exploring Faith Through Community Service” on
Thursday, April 10th 2008, from 2:00 pm to 6:30 pm. The event was registered as a Global Youth
Service Day. Students were transported
to Following the
service, students returned to Corpus Christi Catholic Church, adjacent to the
UT campus, for a session of reflection and interfaith sharing. Students reported that they especially
appreciated sharing with students of other faiths. There were students from Christianity,
Hinduism, Islam, Paganism and non-affiliated traditions. Sudi Pasupuleti, Associate
Professor of Social Work at the |
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By Paul Chaffee, NAIN Board, Program Chair,
Interfaith Center at the Presidio o
NAINConnect 2008 to highlight exemplary interfaith efforts
o
Registration opens Thursday, July 24, at 10:30 am
o
Making Your Workshop Choices
o
Accounting for Our Carbon Footprint at NAINConnect 2008
o
Pre-Connect Book-Signing Features Former NAIN Board Members
o
Prayer & Meditation Sessions
o
Sunday Morning Tour to Interfaith Chapel & Muir Woods
o
Turning the Microscope on Ourselves
o People are talking!
Join the dialogue NAINConnect 2008 to highlight exemplary interfaith effortsNAINConnect 2008,
July 24-28, is a birthday, the 20 -year celebration of a
ground-breaking gathering in In three dozen
additional workshops, many of NAIN’s leaders from the past two decades return
to join Bay Area interfaith pioneers in sharing extraordinary stories about
the possibilities when people from different religions become friends. While celebrating
the past, we wanted to look forward. So we sought out interesting new
approaches to interfaith community that seem particularly vital. The
floodgates opened. We planned to feature half a dozen, ended up with eight,
and could easily have promoted two dozen or more remarkable groups and
projects. The ones selected were … § A group that’s convinced thousands of congregations across the land to go green § A federally funded young adult interfaith project § An Islamic agency generating thousands of educational experiences each year between the Muslim community and the community-at-large, and now venturing into interfaith education § A regional network of clergy/religious leaders from all traditions, races, and ethnicities, liberal and conservative, fostering relationships with community leaders, like mayors and school superintendents §
A program that sprang out of a Jewish-Muslim
friendship that is taking interfaith young adult live-drama across the
country, and now, in an Arabic version, to the § A decade-old program based on a poster that has become the most effective single resource available to the global interfaith movement § A community foundation which had the imagination to get past the ‘no religious organizations please’ rule at most foundations and now provides support to thousands of Bay Area congregations from all faiths § A network of women from a diversity of religious, racial, and ethnic backgrounds who grew from a single friendship into a vital set of interlocking programs Each of these groups
will be profiled briefly at our second plenary and subsequently do a workshop
by themselves. You can find the websites for each of these efforts at the
Connect website, at http://nain.org/2008/workshop.cfm?wks=100031.
Registrants, like
our planners, face an embarrassment of riches in selecting which workshops to
attend (details below). Our hope is that the options give each of us a way to
focus our priorities regarding interfaith dialogue. Registration opens Thursday, July 24, at 10:30 amRegistrants can sign
in at At 2:30 Thursday afternoon, four pre-conference workshops will
be available (see details at www.nain.org/2008).
These are free to the public, so bring your friends and family. At 4:30 we
will gather outdoors near Fromm Hall for an opening ceremony led by Anne Marie
Sayers, an American Indian leader. Making Your Workshop ChoicesEarly in July a
final workshop schedule will be sent to all registrants. You will be asked for
your preferences regarding the six workshop sessions, each with about six
options. We need to know your preferences in order to assign workshop rooms. A Workshop Schedule
can be found at the conference website, www.nain.org/2008,
still in its draft form. It will be finalized by early July. The website
already allows you to explore in some depth each workshop as you consider
your choices. Return to NAINConnect Update Accounting for Our Carbon Footprint at NAINConnect 2008The Host Committee
hopes to provide the opportunity to purchase carbon credits at NAINConnect.
The credit is a certificate representing the elimination or reduction of one
metric ton of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. By reducing or eliminating
this principle greenhouse gas, purchasing credits allows each of us to
minimize our own “footprint” and help stem global warming. We will not know
how much the average carbon footprint is for us until we find out how many are
flying, how many are local, and so on. We have a team on the task. More
details will follow. Contact Corbin at corbin@interfaith-presidio.org is you want to be part of the carbon footprint team. Return to NAINConnect Update Pre-Connect Book-Signing Features Former NAIN Board MembersBud Heckman and
Ralph Singh, former board members of NAIN, have recently published books that
should interest NAINConnect attendees. On the evening before the Connect
begins, Wednesday, July 23, 5:00, a book-signing and reception will be held
at the Presidio’s Interfaith Chapel, a ten minute drive from Bud Heckman,
formerly executive director of Religions for Peace-USA, has written InterActive Faith – The Essential
Interreligious Community-Building Handbook. Spilling over with
information packaged carefully, the book also contains some extended essays
exploring various aspects of interfaith relationship building. (See Media
Briefs, p. 10.) On a more personal note, Ralph Singh’s new book, titled A Path to Follow…A life to lead, tells
the story of the first foreign (American) devotee of His Holiness Baba Virsa
Singh, including the complications of spiritual discipleship to a Sikh master
while raising a family, running a business, and serving the community. (See
Book Review, p. 9.) Return to NAINConnect Update Prayer & Meditation SessionsBefore breakfast and
after evening programs, meditation and prayer opportunities will be available
with leaders from different backgrounds. In the morning, there will be an
outdoor and an indoor option. Evening sessions will be indoors. The
conference calendar, to be posted on the website in early July, will identify
the leaders and specific times. Return to NAINConnect
Update Sunday Morning Tour to Interfaith Chapel & Muir WoodsMost NAIN Connects
include a tour featuring local religious sites, particularly of traditions
that have come to this country in the past hundred years – for instance,
Hindu and Jain temples, Buddhist monasteries and Sikh gurdwaras.
Turning the Microscope on OurselvesCristina Notaro is a
doctoral candidate at City University of New York working on a thesis titled
“The Interfaith Center: The Construction and Consequence of Interfaith
Space.” Her study compares three interfaith centers from across the country,
including NAIN’s host this year, the A portion of
Notaro’s research uses a survey that includes questions replicated from a You’ll find the
survey at www.interfaithcenturysurvey.org. Cris Nataro
will be attending NAINConnect 2008. People are talking! Join the dialogue at www.nain.org/2008Nearly half of
NAINConnect’s 38 workshops have already opened for discussion. That is,
people have started to share their own thoughts and questions on our
interactive website. Return
to NAINConnect Update Back to Contents By Mike Goggin, Chairperson of the NAIN Board of Directors The NAIN Young Adult
Committee is happy to announce that nine young people between the ages of 19
and 29 have been selected to receive US$300 scholarships to attend
NAINConnect 2008 at the Juicio Joshua Brennan
is one of two scholarship recipients representing Project Interfaith in Emily Cohen is a
rising senior at Laura Gilmore is a
Bay Area local who lives in Anne Hillman is the Interim
Director of Operations for Religions for Peace-USA across the street from the
United Nations in Beth Katz is the
founder and director of Project Interfaith in Jessica Kent is a
rising senior at Josiah Maskaleris
hails from Simi Nanuan comes to
NAINConnect 2008 as the first recipient of the Gian Tej Scholarship, endowed
by NAIN Board member Dr. Teja Singh in honor of his parents. Like Teja, Simi
comes from Tamara Slater is
from In the absence of a
Young Adult Chairperson at this time, the selection committee consisted of
Mike Goggin (NAIN Chairperson), Steve Naylor (Board Member) and Jan Saeed
(Secretary). Please join us in welcoming these nine great young adults to our
conference in Nominations to the Board of Directors The membership will elect a number of members of the Board of Directors at the Annual General Meeting on Sunday, July 27. Nominations can be made until 18 hours before the election. We are therefore soliciting nominations for people representing NAIN member organizations to stand for election to a four-year term. If interested, please contact Mike Goggin in person during the Connect or by e-mail at mjg4@georgetown.edu no later than 10:45 p.m. PDT on Saturday, July 26. Nominations must be made in writing. Additionally, five newly appointed members will be ratified by the new Board once it is seated. Please welcome these new members to our NAIN family. Our newest approved and dues-paid members are: o
Covenant of the Goddess, Type: National or International
Interfaith, Representative: Rachael Watcher,
Address:
Additionally, we are awaiting dues from the following organizations recently approved for membership:
This is a friendly reminder to all member organizations and Friends of NAIN that 2008 dues are due. If you have not already paid for this year, the renewal form is found at http://www.nain.org/Renewal.htm. Membership Dues$75 US per year for Local or Regional Interfaith Organizations $125 US per year for National or International Organizations. Full membership in NAIN is by organization only and is voting. Individuals may join NAIN as non-voting "Friends of NAIN." NAIN encourages individuals to participate in their local interfaith organization where possible. A donation to cover costs of NAINOnline use, the subscription to NAINews, and our scholarship fund is requested. $35 per year is suggested. Renewal dues may be paid on-line through PayPal or sent to your regional representative:
Can Giving Buy Happiness? The Rev. Thomas Goodhue, Executive Director of
the Long Island Council of Churches, cites a report by Elizabeth Dunn at the In one study employees at a In another experiment people were given $5 or $20 and then told to either spend it on themselves or to spend it on others. Those who gave the money to others were happier than those who spent it on themselves. Dunn concludes that the research suggests that giving even a small amount of your spending toward charity can make you much happier. You may read the rest of Rev. Goodhue’s
editorial at http://www.ncccusa.org/ecmin/licc/prelude_may08.html. A Call for Articles on Local Interfaith Work The purpose of this
section will be to share some of the work that is going on in our member
organizations. Each quarter, the
editor will suggest a topic related to interfaith work. All of you are invited to submit articles
of how your organization addresses that topic / issue. A selection of articles will be published
in the subsequent NAINews. Hopefully,
this will publicize some of the good work that is being done in our member
organizations, while it inspires the rest of us in our own programming. The current theme was Service. Your contributions help keep this thematic
approach vital and representative. The preceding article
suggested the topic selected for the Fall 2008 issue of NAINews - How does your interfaith organization address the issue
of Charity or giving financial assistance?
Please submit your articles of 300
words or less to ‘news_editorATnain.org’. [The email address substitutes AT for the
usual @ sign, in order to avoid spam.
Please compose the email address in the usual way.] You may include up to two small jpegs
related to the article. The editor
reserves the right to shorten the article for publication, but will make
every effort to communicate with you regarding any content edits. Linking social justice and interfaith Submitted by Paul McKenna, Scarboro Missions Interfaith Desk In 1997 this
extraordinary document linking social justice to interfaith dialogue was
produced and signed by 22 faith communities in
By Jim Wiggins, NAIN
Board, NAINews Book Reviewer, Interreligious Council of Central New York in Ralph Singh. A Path to Follow . . . A Life to Lead:
Reflections of a Student at Gobind Sadan ( Ralph Singh is well known to many involved in
North American Interfaith Network in which he has participated for many years
and currently is an honorary member of its Board of Directors. This book is both a spiritual autobiography
and a loving tribute to Baba Virsa Singh Ji, the venerable founder of Gobind
Sadan, an ashram in In Book I—A Path to Follow--Ralph Rakieten
from a very early age recalls an awareness of being on a journey to an
unknown destination, but in the words of Franz Kafka it was a journey clearly
“away from here.” Born into a loving,
supportive Jewish family in The story is well-written and accessible, filled with remarkable anecdotes and vignettes. From the arranged marriage with Joginder, who had independently found Gobind Sadan, and with whom Ralph was very casually acquainted but whom Baba Ji selected to become married to Ralph, to their honeymoon trip to North America, to Ralph’s becoming an ardent student of the spiritual path conveyed by Baba Ji and his becoming a major spokesperson for Baba ji —all of this is presented with a candor and ease that is very readable and interesting. Book II is entitled “A Life to Lead.” In it Ralph recounts many experiences into
and through which he has been led, always with the confidence that Baba Ji is
guiding and supporting him. Ralph deeply
influenced many people with whom he became acquainted and who studied with
him during his years of return to the In the broadest sense this book is representative of the genre of religious confessions. Each of the eight chapters is labeled as a “path.” It is a collection more than a simple, straightforward narrative. Many readers will be drawn by the fierce spiritual commitment it presents and symbolizes. AddendaExcerpt from a reviewBy Elizabeth Espersen, Exec. Dir. Ret., Especially in the second part of the book, A Life to Lead, this is the story of the choice for forgiveness and its power to bring good out of evil and blessing out of ruin. In this age of greed and disdain for the spiritual, forgiveness is often considered unacceptable in the face of wrongs done to oneself, to one’s community. Here, not only the author, but the Guru and the entire Sikh Community choose forgiveness as the means of blessing for misguided teenagers. It provides a path to community building across continents. As such, it provides lessons in how to work and live together despite our differences. |
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From the book cover:A powerful vision in New York, led the author to India on a classic quest for Truth, where in 1971, at the age of 22, he came face to face with the One who had appeared to him; His Holiness Baba Virsa Singh ji of Gobind Sadan, arguably one of the world’s greatest spiritual figures. In A Path to Follow, A Life to Lead, as Babaji’s first foreign devotee, the author shares the lessons learned at the Master’s feet of how to follow the most difficult path of all – leading a spiritual life while fully engaged in the trials and challenges of everyday life: marriage and raising a family, running a business, and serving in community projects aimed at alleviating the problems of our world. |
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“As a youth, I followed the Voice and its Call and struck off on my own on a pilgrimage to points unknown totally confident that I would be led to where I needed to go. To all who read this story, know that there is a Voice within us all. When it calls, listen. Follow it, and don’t be afraid. It will lead you to your path. And once on your path, you will find your life to lead.”
By Judy Lee Trautman, NAIN Board,
MultiFaith Council of |
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Interactive Faith: The Essential Interreligious Community-Building
Handbook
Edited by Rev. Bud
Heckman with Rori Picker Neiss, Foreword by Rev. Dirk Ficca Practical Guide for
Embracing the Growing Religious Pluralism in from the Introduction “In the process of
[interfaith] engagement, we discover … a world in which our faith is richer,
deeper, and more contextualized, and God’s very Self is seen in more of its
fullness.” This is a practical
guide to the key methods and resources of the interfaith movement that will
help people effectively engage with those of other faith traditions in order
to increase understanding and acceptance in their own community and beyond. Drawing on the experience and knowledge of
interfaith leaders from the world’s many faith traditions—Christianity,
Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Bahá’í Faith, Jainism, Shinto, Sikh
Faith, Taoism, Zoroastrianism—this resource provides practical ideas for
connecting with people of all faiths and backgrounds through common concerns
and activities that promote respect and support. It enables communities rich
with diversity to work together to create paths toward justice and
peace. http://www.skylightpaths.com/ |
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Islam Channel launches interfaith
TV quiz
David Masters
reports that a new TV game show, Faith
Off is to be broadcast weekly on the Islam Channel from mid-June in the |
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The Interfaith Summer Institute Publicity in exchange for publicizing our NAINConnect
to the interfaithjustpeace.org list The Interfaith Summer Institute for Justice
Peace and Social Movements is to be held August 5-15, 2008, at The Interfaith Summer Institute (www.interfaithjustpeace.org) is in its second year of operation. Its purpose is to provide support and skills to faith-based activists and religious leaders who work in the area of justice and peace and to build interreligious solidarity around issues of common concern. We focus on the links between local and global issues and include resource people from the Global South so that we can provide a transnational perspective in a context where local justice issues are connected to globalized movements and struggles. The theme for the 2008 year is Displacement and Migration: Restoring Dignity and Sacred Connection. It examines different ways that displacement and migration are being addressed and challenged within and across faith traditions and social movements. It will present innovative approaches from individuals and groups who draw on faith and religious traditions to address the positive role religion and spirituality can play in peace building, healing and in addressing the structural causes of displacement. The program, detailed below, consists of workshops, public forums and week long courses. Workshops
and Forums
Courses:
For
registration details and more information go to: www.interfaithjustpeace.org. Compiled by Dr. Tarunjit Singh
Butalia, Chair, Interfaith Committee of World
Sikh Council – Seattle, Washington, US: Christian, Jewish, and Muslims women in Seattle have
come together to form “Daughters of Abraham”, a group dedicated to building
relationships and understanding between women of these three faiths. One of
the founders of the organization said, “By naming ourselves Abraham’s
daughters, we are saying that there is more holding us together than
separating us.” The group has travelled to Niwano
foundation awards peace prize John Thavis, of the Catholic News Service,
announces that the Tokyo-based Niwano Peace Foundation has awarded its 2008
prize for religious contributions to peace to Jordanian Prince El Hassan bin
Talal. Prince Hassan will receive the 2008 prize during a May 8 ceremony in Long active in interreligious dialogue and
epitomizing the moderate voice of Islam, Prince Hassan, along with other
religious leaders including the future pope (then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger),
established the Geneva-based Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural
Research and Dialogue. Last year, the pope welcomed the prince to the http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0801128.htm Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Research and Dialogue seeks “to promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among the three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.”[1] |
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