Headline articles from past issues:
| December
| December- Darkness and Light
If each of us held a candle there,
As the days get shorter and the nights grow longer in the Northern Hemisphere, this season reminds us of how precious the gift of light is. Many of our religious traditions— Advent, Hanukkah, Yule, Sadeh, Tohji-taisai— call upon candlelight and fire to warm our bodies and comfort our souls. It is a time of resting for the earth, a time of preparation, as we begin to look toward the new year ahead. Sometimes the dark seems overwheming in our world, but again and again the light breaks forth in new and often surprising ways. INTERFAITH SPEAKERS BUREAU. ING (Islamic Networks Group) has been educating people in schools, businesses, and community organizations about Islam since 1993. The international
MORE COMMON GROUND. Last month we mentioned "A Common Word Between Us and You" the open letter sent by Muslim scholars to Christian leaders around the world. On November 18, 2007, over 300 Christian scholars responded in an open letter, asking forgiveness for the ways that Christians have dealt unfairly with Muslims in the past and present and inviting further dialogue between the two faiths grounded in their common commitment to loving God and loving the neighbor. The full statement is at the Yale Center for Faith and Culture (you can add your name as a supporter, if you wish). The original Muslim letter and other responses are at the Common Word website. Andrew Kille
AT THE INTERFAITH CENTER Coming your way at the Interfaith Center:
BAIC ARCHIVES
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At the Presidio Interfaith Chapel
Every Sunday morning quiet meditation is from 9:30-10:00 am. The Chapel continues open for visitors until 1:00 pm. Sunday-morning interfaith services have been deferred this year for lack of adequate staff time.
Check out the website based on the Interfaith Center’s 2004 International Sacred Space Design Competition And explore an interfaith calendar that lists the sacred events and seasons of spiritual, indigenous, and religious traditions around the world. For other tools about local-global interfaith community, go to Interfaith Resources. |
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Bay Area Interfaith Connect is sponsored by the Interfaith Center at the Presidio. The Center is a regional interfaith umbrella organization of 22 interfaith groups that serve as Sponsoring Organizations. Incorporated in September 1995 "to welcome, serve, and celebrate the diverse spiritual wisdom and faith traditions of the Bay Area," the Center has become networked with hundreds of interfaith communities around the world who share a common commitment: ...to promote daily, enduring interfaith cooperation, to end religiously motivated violence, and to create cultures of peace, justice, and healing for the Earth and all living beings.
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With those words, the poet Rumi ends his retelling of the familiar Hindu tale of the men who encounter an elephant they cannot see in the dark. Each describes the part of the elephant they can touch; all disagree, and yet each speaks the truth. Yet if each were to bring the light they have, in sharing that light together they could see more fully.. 
oganization, based in San Jose, has provided highly-trained speakers to present the fundamentals of Islam, while countering stereotypes and misconceptions. ING has now undertaken to expand their workby developing a pool of interfaith speakers who can do the same for Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Judaism, as well as Islam. They are looking for interested individuals who are members of congregations or religious communities and who would be willing to be trained and to be available to speak at various times and places around the Bay Area. Interested people are required to attend one of three orientation sessions to be held around the Bay in January, 2008. For more information, or to sign up, see the 
INTERFAITH SUMMER CAMP. Camp Anytown is a camp with a difference. High school young people who attend the four day event gain skills for leadership in our multicultural society, through carefully developed exercises that reduce stereotypes and prejudice and increase understanding of diversity. This summer, from June 15-19, 2007, the Silicon Valley Conference for Community and Justice (SVCCJ) will be offering an intentionally Interfaith Camp Anytown. They are looking for high school students attending religious or public schools and/or who are involved in their religious community’s education or youth group programming. For more information, see the 
ABOUT THE INTERFAITH CENTER AT THE PRESIDIONovember- Here and There FINDING COMMON GROUND. On Eid al-Fitr, the end of the Muslim fast of Ramadan this year (October 13, 2007), 138 Muslim scholars wrote an open letter to leaders across the Christian world: Roman Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, Reformed, and the World Council of Churches. Their letter, titled "A Common Word Between Us and You" highlighted the tremendous need for dialogue between Muslims and Christians in the light of contemporary events, and suggested that these two traditions can find common ground in their shared commandments to love God and love neighbor. While there are many other religious traditions that need to be included in the conversation, this invitation to dialogue from serious and respected Muslim teachers has opened a way to a significant encounter between Islam and Christianity. You can find more at the Common Word website. GATHERING OF BLESSINGS. At last month’s Gathering of Blessings at the Interfaith Chapel, Dr. Sandra Hernandez, chief executive at The San Francisco Foundation, graciously accepted a Bay Area Multifaith Treasure award on behalf of the Foundation’s FAITHS Program. FAITHS has supported more than 6,000 congregations and faith-based nonprofits through grants, leadership training, and workshops in youth adult cultivation, disaster response, and civic involvement. The Interfaith Center’s annual blessings celebration brings together leaders from dozens of different traditions in appreciation and thanksgiving. WELCOME TO NEW ICP BOARD MEMBERS: Two new members have joined the ICP board. Gurnam S.B. Brard will represent Ik Onkar Foundation of Danville, replacing John Hazen, who will continue with us as a foundation researcher and friend. Kathleen Ryan-Blaufuss of Napa, will represent the Sophia Center, of Holy Names University, our newest sponsoring organization. Andrew Kille
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October 2007
A Gathering
of Blessings
On
Sunday, October 7, the Interfaith Center at the Presidio will once
again hold its annual Gathering of Blessings, a
Fall harvest of the blessings we continue to enjoy as people involved
in interreligious relationships throughout the Bay Area. It will
begin with a reception at 4:00 pm, followed by the program at 5:00
pm. This year, in addition to the customary stories, prayers, blessings,
and music honoring partnerships that serve to build bridges of peace
and service among religions, here at home and around the world, the
celebration will honor the FAITHS Program of the San FranciscoFoundation
as a Bay Area Interfaith Treasure. The FAITHS Program began as a
pioneering effort of The San Francisco Foundation in 1993. Since
then, FAITHS has built strong relationships between philanthropic
bodies and Bay Area religious communities representing dozens of
different religious and spiritual traditions. Hundreds of congregations & community
organizations have been beneficiaries. [More
information about FAITHS]
A gathering of blessings can be a time for gathering the blessings we have received, but a gathering of blessing can also be a time when the gathering itself becomes a blessing, born out of the richness of those who have gathered and out of the shared intention that has brought them together. That has been our experience with the Tuesday Night Potluck and Programs, and October will usher in the new season. On Tuesday, October 9, 6:00- 9:00 pm, Charles Gibbs, founding executive director of United Religions Initiative, will introduce the Initiative and update us on what is happening in 360 Cooperation Circles in more than 70 countries. On November 13, Bill Lesher, president of the Council for a Parliament of the Worlds Religions, will bring us news of the plans being made for the next Parliament, to be held in 2009 in Australia. Plan to join us!
Another blessing in gathering took place early last month on September 6th, as over 60 people from the diverse interfaith associations and projects of the Bay Area met at St. Mary's Cathedral for a daylong conversation on "The Changing Face of Religion in Northern California." Dr. Jerome Baggett of the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley gave an insightful analysis of changing patterns in religious communities, but it was really the opportunity for religious leaders in the area to engage in conversation with each other about the challenges that face us all. This was the first effort to hold such a gathering, and plans are already in process to gather again on September 3rd next year.
WELCOME CORBIN DAVIS
Corbin Davis, a student at Pacific School
of Religion in Berkeley, will be working with the ICP to develop
Friends in Faith, an interfaith young adult leadership training program.
Growing up in First Plymouth Congregational Church in Denver, CO,
Corbin was shaped by opportunities to develop critical thinking about
his faith, commitment to peace and justice, and engagement in interfaith
cooperation. At age 13, he and his confirmation class visited Hindu
prayer, Buddhist meditations, and Jewish Shabbat services to deepen
their understanding of their own faith in dialogue with others.
A philosophy/history/religious study triple major in college allowed for further reflection on issues of interfaith dialogue and understanding.
And, he writes, "I also have developed a passion for hip-hop over the years, finding myself particularly drawn to conscious hip-hop, some of which connects with particular religious communities. I found that hip-hop created a space in which people with diverse experiences and diverse backgrounds could gather together and celebrate life while acknowledging difference."
We look forward to working with Corbin in the year ahead.
Andrew Kille
| About the Editor: D. Andrew Kille is director of Interfaith Space in San Jose, working to develop and strengthen interfaith relations throughout the Bay Area. Send your calendar items, comments and suggestions to calendar@interfaithspace.org. We try to keep the ICP Update and Calendar as current as we can, but if you want your item included in the monthly newsletter, it needs to be in our hands a week before the end of the month. |
September 2007
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September
may take its name from being the seventh month of the ancient
Roman calendar, but for many of us September is, in fact,
the "first" month- the beginning of a new school
year and a new season of activities following the (comparatively)
slower days of Summer. For our Jewish friends it truly does
bring the New Year; the year 5768 begins at sundown on 1
Tishri (September 13) with Rosh Hashanah and the beginning
of the High Holy Days. That same evening marks the beginning
of the fasting month of Ramadan for Muslims around the world. | About the Editor: D. Andrew Kille is director of Interfaith Space in San Jose, working to develop and strengthen interfaith relations throughout the Bay Area. Send your calendar items, comments and suggestions to calendar@interfaithspace.org. |
August 2007
Let's Eat!
Food
is essential to all human life. All human beings share the need for
nourishment of the body, and it is not surprising that eating has also
become a time for nourishing our souls and our relationships with each
other. At weddings, at funerals, at gatherings of all kinds, food plays
a vital role. Nearly every religious tradition has rules and rituals
that mark the boundaries of eating and set it apart as special or sacred.
Religious traditions also have customs and teachings about the importance of hospitality. As Brice Balmer writes, "Hospitality is the recognition of our common humanity and involves both the host and the guest."* It is not surprising, then that many of our most profound and delightful interfaith conversations happen over meals, where food and hospitality combine to make us aware of our shared humanity and to learn about the things that make us distinctive.
Though it is currently on Summer vacation, the Second Tuesday Potluck at the Interfaith Center at the Presidio provides one opportunity to gather, eat together, and learn. In the South Bay, "Fasting and Feasting" in 2005 and "Breaking Bread Together" in 2006 brought the varied religious communities together around bread, fruit and delicacies from around the world. One member of the ICP has often suggested that we need an "interfaith cooking show" on KQED.
We
know that we always enjoy getting together, but how can we make connections
with those outside our usual circles of acquaintance? How do we find
that Buddhist, those Hindus, the Jain couple or the Muslim co-worker
who might also be interested in sitting down with us? A new organization, Common
Tables, is drawing on the capabilities of the internet to
make it possible to connect with others in your area who are likewise
interested in bridging the divides. To become a part of Common Tables,
one simply goes to their website (www.commontables.org),
and signs on (there is a $25 annual administration fee). Common Tables
sends the names of three other diverse faith couples and a guide to
help get the group going. The group meets four times in six months,
not so much for heavy religious discussion, but for simple getting-to-know-you
conversation. ICP Director Paul Chaffee says, "I
love Common Tables because it delivers with so little baggage, so little
institutional structure to encumber the safety and mutual respect required
for initiating engaged interfaith dialogue and relationship."
Bon appetit!
Andrew Kille
*Meeting Our Mulitfaith Neighbors (Herald Press, 2006)
| About the Editor: D. Andrew Kille is director of Interfaith Space in San Jose, working to develop and strengthen interfaith relations throughout the Bay Area. Send your calendar items, comments and suggestions to calendar@interfaithspace.org. |
We
who live in the Bay Area are graced with an incredible array of opportunities
and challenges to stretch our imaginations and our hearts. Just over the
last week or so in the South Bay we have shared in the Carry the Vision Conference,
an interfaith gathering devoted to building peace in our families, community,
and world. Religious leaders from dozens of groups opened the conference,
and the local Sikh community provided langar- the traditional food
for all. A week ago Sunday an interfaith group sponsored a film and discussion
about the Sudanese Lost Boys to raise funds for relief in the refugee camps
of Darfur. On Tuesday at the annual Santa Clara County Holocaust commemoration,
students from local schools joined with Holocaust survivors and the Board
of Supervisors for a candle lighting ceremony and exploration of how prevent
prejudice and bias from laying the seeds for genocide. Thursday, representatives
of Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim groups on the Peninsula gathered
excitedly to plan for future dialogues among their communities. Last Sunday,
the Chung Tai Zen Center of Sunnyvale consecrated their new Center and invited
leaders from other religious communities to take part.