Interfaith
Communities and Dialogues |
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(web site will open
in a new browser window)  The
Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) started in 1915 as a Christian organization
and developed through the years into an international movement in over forty countries
with an interreligious membership of Jews, Buddhists, Christians, and Muslims.
In the name of their respective faiths, the people of the Fellowship of
Reconciliation stand for non-violence. They are "testing the power of love
and truth for resolving human conflict." In the pursuit of their aims
they have confronted issues in Iraq, Palestine, Columbia, and Vieques, Puerto
Rico. They have shown solidarity with victims of injustice, worked for more humane
criminal justice systems, advocated practices of ecological conservation, and
opposed participation in warfare.
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 The
Interfaith Encounter Association (IEA) is "dedicated to promoting
peace in the Middle East through interfaith dialogue and cross-cultural
study." The IEA believes religion can and should be a source of
the solution for conflicts that exist in the Middle East and other
areas of the world.
One of the IEA's project is the Women's Interfaith Encounter (WIE)
which brings Muslim, Christian and Jewish women together to study "topics
of relevance to women from the point of view of the different religions.
Interfaith study is used as a vehicle not only for understanding, acceptance
and respect for the other, but as a way to deepen awareness of one's
own religion."
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 Inter-Faith
Ministries is an agency that facilitates inter-religious dialogue and
provides social services in the Wichita, Kansas area.
Members of Interfaith Ministries include congregations of eight world
religions: Baha'i, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism,
Native American Spirituality, and Unitarianism.
Supported financially by member groups, grants from foundations and
donations from the public, Inter-Faith Ministries devotes itself to
a range of programs addressing many of the crying needs of society.
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(web site
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 Interfaith
Voices for Peace and Justice is a communications network for faith-based
activist groups.
The network provides a variety of ways that representatives from different
faith groups can interact with one another in the search for a common
peace and justice agenda.
Interfaith Voices is sponsored by Eden Theological Seminary.
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      A
descriptive report on the conversations of Buddhists, Christians, Hindus,
Jews, Muslims and Native Americans who lived together for two weeks,
and discussed the question, "What does it mean to live as people
of faith in the United States today?"
The consultations were jointly sponsed by The Institute for Ecumenical
and Cultural Research, the Office on Interfaith Relations of the National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and the Secretariat for
Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the National Conference of
Catholic Bishops.
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 A
Policy Statement of the National Council of the Churches of Christ
(NCCC) in the USA. This page contains links to the following documents:
- The full text of the Policy Statement, Interfaith Relations
and the Churches
- A brief theological commentary on the Policy Statement
- A worship service based on the text of the Policy Statement
- A study guide for use in congregations or in other small group
settings, Interfaith Relations and Christian Living
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(web
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The Monastic Interreligious Dialogue is made up of Christian monastics
who engage in interreligious dialogue.
Of
particular note has been a series of Buddhist-Catholic conferences.
The prominent monastic tradition in both faiths, stressing seclusion,
asceticism and celibacy naturally contributed to the desire of both
Buddhist and Catholic monastics to get to know each other better. Two
conferences have taken place, one in 1996 and another in 2002.
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Dr.
Jamal Badawi notes the need for significant Muslim-Christian dialogue
and shares his understanding of major areas he considers imperative
in any Christian-Muslim understanding:
- The meaning of the term "Islam"
- The meaning of the term "Allah"
- The nature of the human
- The relationship between the human and Allah
- The question of accountability
- Some conclusions pertaining to bridge-building between Muslims
and Christians
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Music and Dialogue Build Interfaith Community
Listen
to Phyllis Joffe's report on David Chevan and Warren Byrd at NPR (web
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Read "Dialogue
for Four Hands: David Chevan and Warren Byrd" by music critic
George Robinson (web site will open in a
new browser window) jazz musicians in Connecticut are making
music together, and in the process they are dialoguing as men of
faith.
Dr. David
Chevan, bassist and professor of music at Southern Connecticut
State University, New Haven, is Jewish.
His
partner, Warren Byrd, jazz pianist, is a professor in the Connecticut
area and a Christian from the African-American culture.
They have recorded sacred music from their respective traditions,
and the results have been widely acclaimed. As they blend the spirituals
and Jewish folk religious songs they seek to show the kinship of joy,
passion and suffering in the two cultural strands.
The two musicians insist their collaboration is no gimmick; it is
an interfaith effort. Both artists are passionate about their religion.
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Faith Communities Uniting for Peace holds monthly
Interfaith Prayers for Peace in Columbus, Ohio
  Faith
Communities Uniting for Peace is a gathering of people of faith,
prompted by the war on Iraq, to find common ground, encouragement
and
wisdom for the transformation of the world. The organization
affirms that "all faiths call followers to live and speak with peace,
justice and
compassion," and commits itself to putting their faith values into
action.
They gather together as communities of diverse faiths to:
- pray for peace
- promote peace, harmony, restraint, and interfaith understanding,
and
- foster unity among people in Central Ohio and around the world
Current members of Faith Communities Uniting for Peace include
persons
affiliated with several Christian denominations (American
Baptist, Roman
Catholic, Friends, Lutheran, Mennonite, Presbyterian, United
Church of
Christ, United Methodist) and Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, Jain
and Sikh
faiths as well as other people of conscience.
For more information
about Faith Communities Uniting for Peace contact
Rev. Deanna Stickley-Miner (dstickley@wocumc.org) or Dr.
Tarunjit S. Butalia (butalia.1@osu.edu), Co-conveners.
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A
Mission Study resource from the United Methodist Women