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Acknowledgments When members from a handful of Mill Valley congregations found themselves interested in learning more about the world’s religions, all sorts of people became involved. Professor Philip Novak of Domincan University of California taught the first course and left people wanting more. Elizabeth Moody from Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church ran with the idea, gathered a team, and kept the project on an even keel for a year and a half. Dr. Nahid Angha from the International Association of Sufism joined the group, as did Dr. Harlan Stelmach, a professor at Domincan and an officer of the Marin Interfaith Council board. Rev. Paul Chaffee, executive director of the Interfaith Center at the Presidio, was invited for his connections to the interfaith community and asked to teach the course being created. Rev. Carol Hovis of the Canal Ministry and Marin Organizing Committee attended for several months before being invited and accepting the role of executive director for Marin Interfaith Council, making her strong support even more important. Participants on the team included Rabbi Michael A. Barenbaum of Congregation Rodef Sholom (Tiburon), Betsy Wanner Bikle, of Mill Valley Community Church, Roshi Lee de Barros of Green Gulch Zen Center, Bernard della Santina of the Tibetan Center for Wisdom and Compassion. The team included Robert Jaffe of Kol Shofar (San Anselmo), Joanne Mied of Buddhist Temple of Marin (Novato), Ebrahim Nana of the Islamic Center of Mill Valley, Bob Reynolds of Community Congregational Church of Belvedere-Tiburon, Rev. Carol Saysette of First Congregational Church (San Rafael), Larry and Zil Snyder of Episcopal Church of our Savior, Erika Teahan of Mt. Tamalpais United Methodist Church, and Swami Vedananda of the Vedanta Society. “Waking Up in a New Religious America – Building Interfaith Bridges of Understanding” is the fruit of their work, a course offered to the public in the fall and winter of 2004-05. Shared Wisdom was written as a resource for the project, both designed to lead people from learning about the religious other to actually beginning new interreligious friendships. Professor Patrice Brodeur on the faculty of Connecticut College, friend and colleague, generously said yes when asked if we could include his one-page study guide for enhancing the quality of your dialogue (see Chapter 4). An editorial group drawn from the larger team worked with Paul Chaffee in creating the text. Bob Reynolds convened the group, which included Carol Saysette, Swami Vedananda, and Joanne Mied. Special thanks goes to Joanne for the study questions she wrote for the end of each chapter. The project’s sponsors – Dominican University of California, International Association of Sufism, and the Marin Interfaith Council, join in thanking the Marin Community Foundation and its staff for their support of this work. |