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Workshops
This workshop focused on the
experience and stories of women leaders advocating for interfaith
cooperation, dialogue and learning. We
looked at women’s participation in the Parliament of World Religions in 1893
in Chicago. The workshop will draw mainly on
experiences of the presenter in her work as Founding Director of the Women’s
Interfaith Institute, located in the Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts
and in Seneca Falls, New York. http://www.womensinterfaithberkshires.org/ Texts particularly helpful in this endeavor
will be cited including 1) Mary Pat Fisher’s Women in Religion; 2) Maura O’Neill’s Mending a Torn World,
Women in Interreligious Dialogue, and 3) Allison Stokes’ Shalom,
Salaam, Peace. http://www.amazon.com/Shalom-Salaam-English-Allison-Stokes/dp/1890569984 The latter was commissioned by the
Women’s Division of the United
Methodist Church
for use as a Spiritual Growth Study in their Schools of Mission, and includes
a study guide by Pat Patterson. The
four sessions carefully outlined in this study guide are designed to include
multiple modes of learning, and so provide an excellent model for organizing
interfaith education and experience.
Allison Stokes
University
of Rochester Back to Contents
The centerpiece of the workshop
is a film presenting the universality of the Golden Rule described through an educational initiative
of Scarboro Missions to animate this ethic through art, drama and music.
Scarboro Missions has developed
retreats for students which lead the youth through an exploration of diverse
expressions of the Golden Rule; the
Ethic of Reciprocity. The retreats
draw on communication skills that go beyond the traditional education
paradigms.
Workshops are designed to draw
students into alternative ways of thinking with the first exercise being a
meditation; stillness. From there,
defenses are further breeched by different games which create a deep level of
receptivity for the presentation of how the Golden Rule is expressed by the major
world faiths.
Students explore the words of
the different traditions through art exercises and then embody the learning
through a performance art piece they develop and present as group work. The group work itself is a living exercise
of the spirit of this profound ethic.
Film is a public sharing and in
deference to the deeply personal nature of sudden awareness experienced by
students through their retreat workshop process such disclosures were not
included in the film. In the NAIN
workshop the presenters will elaborate on the development of awareness
experienced by the young people as they worked through their chosen forms of
animation; recounting stories of how youth cracked open to the light in the
Golden Rule.
http://www.thegoldenrulemovie.com/
http://www.scarboromissions.ca/Golden_rule/index.php
Tina Petrova and Renata Simkus
Scarboro Missions Back to Contents
The Campus/Community
Assessment is a tool to assess the current state of religious pluralism and
interfaith efforts on a campus or in a community, and identify assets,
challenges, and positive action steps to increase religious pluralism in that
setting. This tool has been developed through years of research and
interaction with interfaith programming in a variety of settings, and
Interfaith Youth Core trainers will lead interactive exercises to brainstorm
specific action steps to take upon returning to participants’ home
communities.
http://www.ifyc.org/about_core
Hannah McConnaughay
Interfaith Youth Core
http://internationalpeaceandconflict.ning.com/profile/HannahMcConnaughay
Back to Contents
This workshop explored the
intersecting roles of a local interfaith organization, a state sponsored
humanities council, and a private liberal arts college to provide education
to college students about the religious legacy of Abraham, patriarch of
Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baha’i Faith. The presenters shared the experiences of
the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio (IACO) as they initially
collaborated with the Ohio Humanities Council to bring the “Children of
Abraham” exhibit to Central Ohio. In networking with various community
organizations, Capital
University expressed
interest in using the “Children of Abraham” as an educational tool, and one
professor used the exhibit directly in her Introduction to Religion
class. The factors and skills needed
for these opportunities to occur were discussed and analyzed.
http://www.iaco.org/
Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia and Dianne Small
Interfaith Association of Central Ohio
Dianne
Small, Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia and Audra Teague
Back to Contents
Most religious traditions offer
some form of contemplative practice.
One way to approach interfaith education is to focus on this common
element as a pedagogical tool. This
session will explore contemplative pedagogy, and the many ways that teachers
can use this technique to bring their students to greater awareness of the
interconnectedness of modern life. Contemplative pedagogy is a practice that
encourages moment-to-moment awareness for both student and teacher,
regardless of religion or spiritual tradition. This pedagogy also actively engages students
and teachers in mindfulness, and helps develop concentration and engagement
in an ever more fragmented world. Attendees will discuss and experience
contemplative pedagogy techniques, and learn about contemplative components
available for both traditional and online courses. The workshop will rely
heavily on the contemplative system at Naropa University. As such, "a fundamental assumption of
this workshop is that the individual development of the teacher is
inseparable from the contemplative transformation of higher education
learning. Toward that end, the workshop will provide practices for the
personal journey of the participants, with direct and indirect applications
to contemplative teaching and learning” (Naropa CACE website). This workshop will include a short period
of meditation and reflection. The
workshop leader is a member of the 2008 Summer Seminar on Contemplative
Pedagogy at Naropa
University.
Amber R. Clifford-Napoleone
University of Central Missouri
http://www.ucmo.edu/hist-anth/facstaff/clifford.cfm and Dr. Chrys Egan
Salisbury
University Back to Contents
Creating Multifaith Community at Wellesley College is a video documentary of the multifaith
programs at the college, created with funding from the Department of Homeland
Security. The video portrays Wellesley's Student Multifaith Council, the professional
Religious Life Team, the Multifaith Living and Learning Corridor, and such
programs as Religious Holy Day Observances, Dinner and Dialogue, and Multifaith
Community Celebrations, along with a tour of the new Multifaith Center. The documentary was produced and directed
by Peter Laurence, who will be joined in the workshop by Ji Hyang Padma, a
member of the Wellesley College Religious Life Team. After viewing the video, participants in
the workshop will have an opportunity for questions and discussion.
http://www.wellesley.edu/RelLife/transformation/
http://beyondtolerance.org/
Dr. Peter Laurence Education as Transformation Back
to Contents
Review by attendee Sarah
Talcott Blair,, URI Director of Youth Programs
Highlights
to me from the conference included in particular meeting the incredible young
women of Sharon Interfaith Action and the founder of this groundbreaking
program, Janet Penn. I attended a workshop designed and led by the four young
women, all 16 and 17 years old, and their energy and enthusiasm for interfaith
dialogue and interfaith-based action was infectious. I was impressed by the
maturity in which they carried themselves, the wisdom behind the questions
they proposed for our group sharing (“when was a time in your life where your
values came into conflict with someone you care about? How did you respond?”)
and the care with which they facilitated each activity. It was also
eye-opening for all of us “olders” in the room to discover that they had come
up with all of the activities and material on their own, and it wasn’t
written down anywhere; they had brainstormed it together and designed it
purposefully for this conference. I found the freshness and originality of
the activities very inspiring, and also their commitment to being a truly
youth-led program. They told us that in Sharon Interfaith Action, once one of
their youth leaders turns the age of 18, they can no longer have a vote in
the decision-making for the organization. Another powerful moment was when us
“olders” realized, with some sadness, that many of us lacked having a mentor
when we were growing up in contrast to these young women, and, for some of
us, our life work had grown out of that ache in us to be the mentor for
others that we never had. My hat is off to Janet for her brilliant, courageous
work, and to these young pioneers for their inspiring example! They truly are
the future of the interfaith movement…
http://www.ifaction.org/
Aanchal Narang
Interfaith Action, Inc. Back to Contents
This
training was designed for leaders who want to build their skills in dialogue
facilitation and gain a deeper understanding of the role of dialogue in
religious pluralism. This training particularly addressed the special
circumstances of interfaith dialogue in the classroom (with classmates or
students), as well as many other civic spaces. This 1.5-2 hour training
involved a shared values dialogue experience and role playing to help practice
responding to both constructive and tough comments. The training also provided
participants with sample interfaith dialogue outlines and facilitator’s tips
and resources, and a Q&A session with experienced trainer/facilitators
from the Interfaith Youth Core.
http://www.ifyc.org/about_core
Hannah McConnaughay
Interfaith Youth Core Back to Contents
To quote the
educator, Parker Palmer, In today’s understanding, nature is seen as
relational, ecological, interdependent. Reality is constituted of
relationships rather than separate particles...
This bears fruit
in the kind of teaching and learning all of us want to engage in. We can know
a communal cosmos only be being in community with it, ourselves. When we see education as taking place in a
developmental context, we rediscover the original mission of higher
education: to integrate knowledge with ethics and compassion, so that
students develop spiritual and psychological leadership skills. At this point in history, it is most
essential that students develop: a resilient worldview that helps them cope
with stress, and spiritual resources that help them develop meaningful goals
and purposes in life.
At Wellesley College we are taking a multimodal
approach. Working within campus ecosystems to create strong supportive
community; helping educators reconnect with the creative spark which
originally motivated them to teach; and working with students-- through the
arts, through contemplative teaching practices, through celebrations-- we
encourage students towards greater authenticity, empowering them on behalf of
wholeness. We will share our fieldwork
and praxis through an experiential presentation.
http://www.tuftsdaily.com/2.5513/department-of-homeland-security-s-funds-bring-islamist-sympathizers-to-tufts-1.589016
Najiba Akbar
Tufts University Back to
Contents
In this session, Jess Kent, a recent graduate from Brandeis University
and Rev. Walter Cuenin, the chaplain of the Interfaith Chaplaincy at Brandeis
discussed the "hard" issues of interfaith dialogue. How do
we move beyond being "nice" to each other and tackle the
issues that are challenging? In our work together with many colleges in the Boston area we have
conducted retreats and led seminars on interfaith issues. It is always easy
at first because everyone wants to be friendly but as we move into more
sensitive areas there can be a temptation to avoid the hard
realties. For example, at a panel we conducted on interfaith dating many
sensitive issues surfaced that normally never were spoken. We will use
our experience of Brandeis which has a 60% Jewish student body that
interacts successfully with the Muslim and Christian groups as well as other
religious traditions. We have both been active in the interfaith
service movement and will bring that experience to the discussion.
http://www.brandeis.edu/studentlife/Chaplaincy/
Rev. Walter Cuenin and Jessica Kent
Brandeis
University Back to Contents
I also
got a lot out of talking with Ralph Singh about his groundbreaking work in
interfaith education which he has pioneered and is taking into secondary
schools in New York.
I enjoyed his clever and creative responses to the typical questions that
would come up in introducing the subject of religion in public schools. I
loved his approach in clarifying the true meaning of “idol worship” – using
the metaphor of an “icon” on a computer and what it provides you access to –
the program that runs as a result of clicking on the icon. Worship could be
seen as accessing the greater, divine “program” through the initiation of
contact with an initial image. The image or icon is not the program itself,
merely an entry point. He has constructed a curriculum where he focuses in on
one core aspect of each of the world religions, and he approaches teaching
from a dynamic, humorous and modern perspective custom-made for the keen,
probing minds he is interacting with. –Sarah Talcott Blair
Ralph Singh
Gobind Sadan, USA
www.gobindsadan.org
www.exploringspirituality.org
Back to Contents
Arlette Banegas and Yanina Vashchenko
The “Expressions Art Competition” began exactly four years ago under
members of the Thanks-Giving Square Board and Interfaith Council.
“Expressions” started as a small experiment in promoting gratitude throughout
this land, especially through our children. The first annual competition
proved that students around the area were not only willing to share their
views on gratitude through visual arts, literature and dance but demonstrated
an immense maturity towards a term used and practiced by many religions.
When this small experiment concluded, we were astounded by the
results. We had numerous schools from different cultural and religious
backgrounds participate. It was then that we realized that “expressions” was
a must do yearly task, which would not only benefit the students and schools
but also us.
Our mission soon included aspects of religious tolerance and rather
than teach what gratitude meant, we were asking our children what they
thought gratitude was. Since then the competition has been a growing success.
Many students, ages five through eighteen from various faith traditions have
entered, teaching us that there is no age limit to understanding and
accepting the many faiths of the world.
In its fourth year the “Expressions Art Competition” brought in a
wider range of participants. Many entries came from outside the local
district and county. Religiously
speaking we had entries from public schools as well as private Jewish and
Christian and non-sectarian educational institutions. This year our
horizon will broaden out as we start including online entries and an
international category. As “expression” grows so will the interest of many
students toward the multi-faith path.
Archive of contest rules - http://www.thanksgiving.org/archive.html
Yanina Vashchenko and Arlette Banegas
Thanks-Giving Square Back to Contents
[Report by Paul
Chaffee, Director, Interfaith Center at the
Presidio]
Even more
exciting for grassroots activists was the story of Faith to Faith – Face
to Face, an interfaith certification course for lay people, begun last
January in a suburb northwest of Chicago.
Instead of another program ‘preaching to the choir’ – four local
congregations from different faiths and a hospital appealed to their
communities – people of faith interested but new to faiths other than their
own.
They planned
for ten to 12 students, and 30 showed up for the first class. Four semesters
($145 tuition for each) of classes (twice a month) over a two year period,
along with a project, will result in a certificate. The students, ranging
from nurses and airline pilots to professionals and the retired, have one
criticism – they want more sessions than scheduled.
With
volunteers, local grants, and tuition, the program pays presenters from the
different faiths $200 per session and still has money in the bank. The
project, thoroughly interfaith in the planning, is the brainchild of Rev.
Gilbert ‘Budd’ Friend-Jones, pastor of the local First Congregational
Church and a grassroots/global interfaith activist for the past ten years.
Gilbert R. Friend-Jones
First Congregational Church
of Crystal Lake and Faith Bridge Back to
Contents
http://www.children-of-the-earth.org/
USA (Kansas City), June
25-28, 2009 INTERFAITH CONFERENCE North American Interfaith Network
DOWNLOAD Nina Meyerhof’s Presentation: “Children of the Earth and Religious Pluralism”
(7.7 Mb)
Dr. Nina Meyerhof
Children of the Earth Back to Contents
The Parliament of the World's Religions is designed with multiple
streams of interfaith education in mind.
These include the casual personal encounters of participants, specific
programming for teachers, presentations by members of diverse religious
communities, strategic sessions on the state of training for religious
leadership in our multireligious world, and more. Multiple learning modes are
served through variety of forms, including art, film, dance, discussion, and
presentation. This session started with a presentation on the program of the
next Parliament. The interests of participants guided the discussion of
educational strategies. Resource sharing included films, web resources and
more. Distance learning possibilities were considered, as well as other
deliverables useful in classroom and other settings.
http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/
http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/index.cfm?n=8
Grove Harris
Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions Back
to Contents
Interfaith Education in the
Community: Interfaith Holidays and Observances with Jeopardy Game
The MultiFaith Council has provided, as a founding activity, many
examples of community interfaith education.
Most recently we were contacted by a nonprofit residential facility
which provides services to individuals with mental retardation and
developmental disabilities. They
wanted a two-hour in-service for their staff about diverse religious holidays.
I presented a PowerPoint about diverse religious holidays and
observances. In order to maintain
interest and engage the participants, I prepared a Jeopardy game. The participants seemed to really enjoy
playing the game. I presented the
winner with a beautiful Interfaith Calendar.
Because I feel that all participants in increased understanding are
winners, I had made a one-page calendar for each attendee. The event was very successful and
repeatable. I also presented to a
college class with equal success.
For PowerPoint templates for Jeopardy and Double Jeopardy go to http://www.jmu.edu/madison/teacher/jeopardy/jeopardy.htm
Judy Lee Trautman
MultiFaith Council of Northwest Ohio
Back to Contents
[Report
by Paul Chaffee, Director, Interfaith Center at the Presidio]
Rabbi
Or Rose of Hebrew College in Boston began with
the story of a real estate transaction: seven years ago Hebrew
College bought part of Andover Newton Theological
School’s property. A
new Jewish institution (addressing students from high school to graduate
school) found itself cheek by jowl with the oldest Protestant seminary in the
country.
This
geographic partnership evolved into remarkable shared programs and, now. the
formation of CIRCLE – the Center for Inter-Religious Leadership Education.
At the top of their agenda is a national conference April 14-16 next year to
encourage seminaries to embrace interfaith studies.
http://www.hebrewcollege.edu/interfaith
Rabbi Or Rose
Hebrew College Back to
Contents
The internet is connecting people in ways never before imagined, yet
for the all the social networks and interactive software tools, we are still
lacking in the ability to engage in in-depth and constructive multi-faith
dialogues on the web. In fact, the internet itself may be helping to continue
limited perspectives about people from other backgrounds, experiences, and religious
faiths, and even further inflame deep divisions.
Idealogue, Inc. has partnered with Beyond Tolerance at Wellesley College to pilot an experimental
online platform for dialogue and collaboration on multi-faith issues. Join us
to learn more about the Beyond Tolerance program, Idealogue, Inc. and our
lessons learned from the past year. We will be reviewing the Beyond Tolerance
dialogue program, outlining a new approach to online dialogue, sharing best
practices for engaging student leaders in important multi-faith discussions,
and answering questions that you may have on your own online experiences.
Workshop handouts:
www.nain.org/wkshp09/BeyondTolerance1.pdf
www.nain.org/wkshp09/Beyondtolerance2.pdf
Noam Shore
Idealogue, Inc.
http://idealogueinc.com/
http://beyondtolerance.org/ Back to Contents
Multi-Faith work at Dartmouth
College centers around
the student Multi-Faith Council, the Inter-Faith Living and Learning
Community, the Faith in Action alternative spring break, and our Multi-Faith
Summer Retreat. Explore the means and
method of multi-faith life at Dartmouth
College. We've experienced 24 months of new
excitement and growth in quality and quantity of multi-faith programming.
We will talk about our meeting models, especially the frequent use of
the "spiritual autobiography."
We will explore the joys and challenges of robust involvement of
atheist, agnostic and secular students.
We can discuss events and programs that have been particularly
successful. And we reflect especially
on a year of inter-faith living -- what we have learned, how we made it
happen and where we are going from here.
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~tucker/rsl/mfc.html
Kurt Nelson
Dartmouth
College Back to Contents
The Cal Aggie Christian
Association (CA House) is an independent non-profit that has been serving the
campus of the University
of California at Davis
(UCD) since 1916. Working with a very
diverse student population of 30,000, CA House envisioned the construction of
multifaith housing for students. In
this community, students from various religious backgrounds could live with
one another and learn about one another’s beliefs and practices, forming
relationships over dinner, in casual gatherings and through more formal
programs.
The community features a
weekly student-made meal using produce grown and harvested by students at the
university farm. The meal is organic,
local, kosher, halal and vegetarian.
Following the meal, a program utilizing speakers, films, art and
games, and addressing issues of interest to the multifaith community is
offered. Student residents have also
committed to acts of service and a quarterly conversation with a spiritual
advisor (a minister, priest, rabbi, or advisor of their choice.)
Through pictures and stories,
the workshop will explore the experience of students in the Multifaith Living
Community as well as the challenges and learnings for the Christian host
organization.
http://cahouse.org/
Rev. Kristin Stoneking
UC Davis Back to Contents
In today’s fast-paced society, all of us are faced not only with the
challenges of understanding current trends and technologies, but also the
challenges found in simply communicating effectively within our global
society. This workshop is a model of
the work we present to businesses, educational groups and organizations who
have diverse workplaces and/or whose clients and customers are from diverse
cultural and religious backgrounds.
Participants will learn how to:
- Listen to
people who don’t think and behave like you.
- Work with
Eastern and Western communication styles.
- Build
relationships through effective communication in a global marketplace.
www.nain.org/wkshp09/Lindahl1.doc
This is an interactive workshop.
Each segment of the workshop has experiential components and/or case
studies to illustrate the concepts presented.
A brief outline follows:
·
Welcome
·
Introduction
to public listening: cultural awareness, cultural sensitivity and cultural
competence
·
Self
Introductions: Who would you like to
impact with the quality of your listening?
·
Deep
Breath Exercise
·
Background
preparation: listening as an art, choice, gift
·
Impact
of cultural diversity and learning styles
Greeting across cultures
First impressions
Our culture is the best: can we adopt new ones?
·
Ongoing
preparation
Cultivate silence
Slowing down to reflect
Being present
·
Communication
Styles -- distinguish Eastern and
Western modes
·
Top
Ten Powerful Listening Tips www.nain.org/wkshp09/Lindahltopten.doc
Kay Lindahl and Prany Sananikone
Listening & Diversity, Inc. Back to Contents
Learn how high school students
are empowered to plan and facilitate interfaith dialogue, school programs,
national and international conferences, and community interfaith
celebrations. www.nain.org/wkshp09/IFA.ppt
Janet Penn with Teen Leaders
Aanchal
Narang, Henal Motiwala, Sarah Raykhtsaum, Sophie Hearne
Janet Penn
Interfaith Action, Inc
www.ifaction.org
Back to Contents
To quote the educator, Parker Palmer, In today’s
understanding, nature is seen as relational, ecological, interdependent.
Reality is constituted of relationships rather than separate particles...
This bears fruit in the kind of teaching and learning
all of us want to engage in. We can know a communal cosmos only be being in
community with it, ourselves. When we
see education as taking place in a developmental context, we rediscover the
original mission of higher education: to integrate knowledge with ethics and
compassion, so that students develop spiritual and psychological leadership
skills. At this point in history, it
is most essential that students develop: a resilient worldview that helps
them cope with stress, and spiritual resources that help them develop
meaningful goals and purposes in life.
At Wellesley
College we are taking a
multimodal approach. Working within campus ecosystems to create strong
supportive community; helping educators reconnect with the creative spark
which originally motivated them to teach; and working with students-- through
the arts, through contemplative teaching practices, through celebrations-- we
encourage students towards greater authenticity, empowering them on behalf of
wholeness. We will share our fieldwork
and praxis through an experiential presentation.
http://www.wellesley.edu/RelLife/program/spiritualityEducation.html
Ji Hyang Padma and Najiba Akbar
Wellesley
College Back to Contents
It was also a pleasure for me
to be able to share about the Young Leaders Program in URI that we are
building with a team of youth from around the world – including an
intergenerational mentorship program connecting youth and elders one-on-one
in a dynamic conversation and two-way exchange; live online chats on topics
such as social justice, health and healing, interfaith education, faith and
the environment; and youth leadership retreats integrating spirituality and
service and practical workshops in NonViolent Communication, advocacy and
dialogue. It was a wonderful opportunity to step back from the momentous year
and a half of organizing, reflect on the principles behind this work and
identify the key essential elements of our program and what makes it unique.
To see the powerpoint presentation I gave in my workshop, you can go to: www.ga08youth.com/finance.aspx
. Click on URI Young Leaders Program Overview and Methodology to download and
view.
Attendees
Sarah Talcott
United Religions Initiative
http://ga08youth.com/default.aspx
Back to Contents
The Raoul Wallenberg
Institute of Ethics designs and facilitates a variety of service
learning projects for youth and adults. This year the Institute has adopted a
Middle East peace education community
outreach program featuring the documentary film “Encounter Point.” The film
is coupled with an extensively researched well developed adjunct teaching
curriculum both produced by the non-profit organization Just Vision. Since
their introduction in 2007 the Institute has conducted multiple screenings
and facilitated discussions using these materials in formal and informal
classroom settings with community leaders, members religious congregations
and social action institutions comprised of adult and youth learners in an
effort to teach about successful the peace building taking place in the
region. The printed curriculum as well as Just Vision’s interactive
educational website the ‘On-line Network for Peace’ contain age appropriate
discussion questions that address the pressing social and political realities
facing Israeli and Arab youth today, and features educational resources where
students in the Diaspora can learn concrete ways to employ their insights and
energies toward fostering and supporting peaceful coexistence initiatives
taking place in Israel and her surrounding territories. The film and
the curriculum have been endorsed by Israel’s Ministry of Education.
http://raoulwallenberginstitute.org/
Rebecca Tobias
Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Ethics Back to
Contents
The workshop presented the array of educational events and projects
that have been presented in Syracuse
since 2002 to underscore the breadth of both content and form that
"education" encompasses in InterFaith Works CNY. In doing this, one of the big issues to be
addressed is how broad or narrowly "education" is understood to
be. Part of the purpose is to generate
discussion of whether "dialogue" is the only way to imaging
education within an interfaith/multifaith setting.
http://www.interfaithworkscny.org/
Jim Wiggins
InterFaith Works of Central New York
Back to Contents
In 1999 Thomas Thangaraj wrote in Theological Education:
“Dialogue across religious boundaries has become a daily activity in many
people’s lives.” (Vol 35, No 2, pp
143-153) Based on this, he outlined
three reasons that an increased engagement with world religions is critical
for Christian theological education.
Without a meaningful understanding of how one’s faith relates to that
of others:
·
A
minister cannot have an adequate theological grounding for personal
faith.
·
A
minister cannot adequately address the laity’s everyday interfaith
experiences and practices.
·
A
minister cannot relate to an increasingly interfaith public ministry.
Against this background of mounting awareness, necessity, and
involvement in interfaith endeavors, one might think that a subject like
interfaith dialogue would be of great interest in theological education. The evidence, unfortunately, is less
compelling.
There are, however, a few innovative schools that understand the
issues that Thangaraj enumerated a decade ago. These schools are preparing religious
leaders for ministry in a religiously diverse world through programs that
offer students a truer understanding of religious traditions other than their
own and help them forge real relationships with people of diverse
faiths. Such schools are equipping a
new religious leadership that understands interfaith engagement as a form of
peacemaking. For the past two years
Hartford Seminary has hosted a working group of faculty members from
theological schools to share best practices in teaching interfaith
dialogue. The results of this research
are being compiled in a forthcoming book.
This workshop presented the cases highlighted in this study and
shared its findings. Asking questions
such as “What kind of interreligious education is appropriate in a
theological school?” the workshop leader invited participants to comment on
the courses presented and to share their own visions of what theological
schools should consider when designing such programs of study.
http://www.hartsem.edu/
http://www.hartsem.edu/about/Lohr.html
Christy Lohr
Hartford
Seminary Back to Contents
Since 1991, the Pluralism Project at Harvard
University has engaged in the study
and documentation of America's
new religious landscape. Through our Interfaith Initiative, we have explored
the range of organizations, initiatives, and projects that comprise the
interfaith movement in the United
States today. From the grassroots to the
campus green, and from city hall to the ICU, there is an urgent need for
interfaith education and leadership development. Yet given its contextual
nature, this need is not neatly defined nor resourced. In some cases, basic
information about the world’s religions is sufficient. In other more complex
circumstances, resources that foster sensitivity, agility, and critical
thinking skills are needed.
Through our mission of “helping Americans engage with the realities
of religious diversity,” the Pluralism Project has developed a number of
tools and resources that could benefit interfaith education and leadership
development in a range of settings. These include:
·
Documentary
films on women’s leadership and civic engagement
·
Case
studies for religious and theological studies
·
Research
reports, accessible by tradition and state
·
Religious
Diversity News database
·
Teachers’
resources
This workshop sought to spotlight our most recently developed tools,
including our newly released documentary film, Fremont, USA: A City’s
Encounter with Religious Diversity, and a sampling of our case studies.
It also explored the specific challenges and issues at stake as colleges and
universities respond to the increasing needs for multi-faith programming,
leadership development, and space.
http://www.pluralism.org/
Kathryn M. Lohre
The Pluralism Project Back to Contents
In 2005, a three-year government grant was established to create
on-campus interfaith prototypes to enhance inter-religious understanding and
cooperation. In addition to creating
these enhancements, between individuals and campus organizations, the
students involved, it was thought, would be in place, as a coalition, to help
ease tensions if the need arose.
The Addir Fellows at MIT, in their model presented to obtain a grant,
included a number of key ingredients necessary for the success of Interfaith
Dialogue. The resulting program has
proved to be very positive and participants have spoken of significant
effects it has had on their thinking and beliefs.
If you have contemplated creating an Interfaith Dialogue, but have
not known how and where to begin, this session was designed to help you move
forward. We also focused on the ways in which the establishment of an
Interfaith Dialogue group has the potential for more positive outcomes than
might at first be expected. Focusing
on some true and rather dramatic situations within the Boston community, we will also see the ways
in which Interfaith Dialogue can result in the positive resolution of
difficult and divisive situations. If
you are a member of a dialogue group, you are most welcome to share your
successes and/or challenges.
Ora Gladstone
M.I.T. Back to Contents
Unity was founded in 1889 by a
man who described himself as “decidedly eclectic.” Since its inception, the
Unity movement, while embedded in a predominantly Judeo-Christian culture,
was open to and accepting of all paths to God - looking for similarities
rather than differences. This workshop will look briefly at the development
of Unity’s multi-faith position and how it has progressed over the years in
churches, and in young adult and youth education. It will explore the
multi-faceted approach to World Religions taken by some Unity clergy in
special worship, ritual, and educational experiences.
Unity honors the universal truths in all religions and respects each
individual's right to choose a spiritual path. (Unity – A Path for Spiritual Living,
pamphlet)
www.nain.org/wkshp09/Unity.ppt
www.nain.org/wkshp09/Unityvol1.doc
Rev. Claudell Hefner County
Unity Institute Back to Contents
Perhaps one of the
most important needs for children in our community is the teaching of empathy,
acceptance and understanding of ethnic, racial, sexual, gender and religious
differences of members of our community.
The failure to address this need may lead to fear, hate and
stereotyping of those who are different from ourselves. The Walking Together program brings
together Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu and Christian (and from many
other faiths) children and/or adults.
Through positive interaction and directed activities this diverse
group of participants gains an understanding and appreciation of groups
different from themselves, and indeed often perceived as antithetical to
themselves. The participants come to
the understanding that differences should not be feared, but rather form an
essential element within the North American cultural mosaic.
During this session through interactive
participation and discussion the Walking Together curriculum, a program of
the Edmonton Interfaith centre was demonstrated. Participants gained the skills and the
materials to implement religious diversity programs for grade school
children, teens and for adults. Models
for inter-generational programs were also examined.
The Walking
Together program has received a Laurel Award for programming excellence and
has been honoured as a Global TV Everyday Hero.
http://www.edminterfaithcentre.ca/EI-WT.htm
Rabbi David Kunin
Edmonton
Interfaith Centre for Action and Education Back to
Contents
There is a challenge developing in our Interfaith world
around the use of language. People are
using the same words, but meaning very different things. Traditionally the word Interfaith
meant various faiths working together for common understanding and/or working
together on issues of shared values.
However, today we see spiritual communities sprouting up under the
banner of an “Interfaith
Church.” Many
individuals, who call themselves “Interfaith practitioners,” consider their
personal spirituality to be one that includes concepts from many different
faiths. In light of this, the meaning of the word Interfaith is
changing. Some see this as a natural
progression of interfaith work, while others believe that this will cause Interfaith
to lose its power and meaning in the world. As an interfaith community, it is beholden
to us to look seriously at this issue and work toward creating a vocabulary
that can be used and understood by all of us.
This workshop/presentation took a look at the vocabulary
being utilized today. We looked at words such as Interfaith, Inter-religious,
Multi-faith, Spiritual, and Inter-spiritual in order to unpack the multiple
meanings people place on these words, and to discuss ways in which we as a
community can forward a more accurate use of vocabulary in the world through
formal and informal influence.
http://www.ggcsl.org/
Rev. Judith Fleenor and Pastor Susan Strouse
Golden Gate
Center for Spiritual
Living Back to Contents
Is our Soul here
for a Divine Purpose? Do we come into
this life with an unconscious awareness of what will happen and, if we
believe in one faith versus another, will it change the end result? If we believe the ‘right things’ will we
enter heaven with less pain and, if and when we get there, are we complete on
our mission or is there a lot more to come?
Possibly the most emotional times a man or woman can have in life is
when he or she is going through the loss of a loved one. No matter what Faith the person belongs to,
whether it is a revered family member or a close friend who is dying, the
sense of loss, and the acknowledgement that someday this will also be me, can
be very scary and lonely. This
workshop looked at what 12 of the world faiths believe about the Soul and
Death & Dying and will compare those beliefs with each other and what
science has been able to prove and document. We asked: Where are we going from here?
Does the Soul actually exist?
If so, how much does it weigh and what does it look like? Whether your Faith believes in an afterlife
or not, the material and visuals in this workshop had you questioning and
discussing one of the most important and sometimes taboo topics in life. Do we reincarnate and if so, what about Karma? Will I have to put up with ‘THAT PERSON”
again?
www.allfaithcenter.org
Rev. Dr. Stephen L. Albert & Rev. Abigail Albert
Family Spiritual Center
Back to Contents
Workshop
summary
Education is the art of meeting
the unknown. The value of learning is in its power to change us, to make us
aware of what was hidden before. The process engages the mind, feelings,
intentions, and beliefs of each student. How can we reform our schools to
develop that art for each individual? How can classrooms welcome the
spiritual realities of children and young people? How can we redefine
curriculum to place academic pursuits alongside a commitment to personal transformation,
service to others, and sensitivity to nature?
Using the three core principles
of meaning, relationship, and self-awareness, we can explore a different kind
of knowing that embraces a greater sense of identity. Here are three
exercises to demonstrate how that process might occur in an academic
environment. The goal of these exercises is to draw our attention not only
to what we are learning, but to who is learning it and how we
as a community are influenced by it.
web link: http://youngspirit.org/
handout
Theodore Timpson
Young Spirit Foundation Back to Contents
Ralph Singh conducted an Open
Space Forum on Education. He is heading
a NAIN Education Committee. Interested
NAIN Members are encouraged to join this Committee by contacting Ralph.
Goal
- Build a Matrix of Current Interfaith Educational Practices and Target
Audiences:
Major Spheres of Work
Denomination based,
University based, Community based, Interfaith organization, Friend, Local,
National, International, Other (please note) Areas of current educational work (please indicate all):
Dialogue,
Worship/Celebrations, Contemplation, Curriculum and resources, Community
Service
Target audiences:
Schools –private public,
parochial, elementary, middle, secondary levels
Colleges - University
Denomination Based – Local -
“Sunday school”, Adult forums, National programs, Seminaries
Community Based – local –
regional councils or organizations
Chaplains – Hospital,
Military, Campus
Media
Government and Law
enforcement (this is especially critical for minority groups) Back to Contents
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