Ecumenical & Interfaith
News Network - PCUSA

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News of Interfaith Organizations

Go also to news of interfaith activity of the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions

Parliament organization builds ongoing infrastructure

Representatives of four cities met in Chicago on May 16-20 to learn more about what it would mean to host the sixth Parliament in 2014. The Chicago-based Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions (CPWR) hosted a Parliament in 1983 and has partnered with others to develop a series of Parliaments since. CPWR's history began in 1988 when an interfaith group in Chicago first considered the possibility of an international centenary event in their city for the Parliament that had been convened at Chicago's 1893 Columbian Exposition. The 1893 event is often said to be the beginning point for the western interfaith movement.

CPWR has initiated a Partner Cities Network and organized a Women of Faith and Spirit series of exploratory conversations for summer 2010. A Listening Project Group sponsors a monthly international conference call. PeaceNext is a new social network web site created by CPWR to "bring together the global interreligious community in dynamic and far-reaching ways." CPWR invites, "Share a reflection. Post a photograph. Pass along a link. Celebrate your community’s accomplishments. Share your city’s interreligious concerns. Find a friend you met at the Parliament on the other side of the globe. Meet a new friend who lives on the other side of town. It’s not the Parliament, but it’s the digital extension of the event." See an introductory video. This new social networking web site now has over 2,200 members from five continents and over eighty faith traditions.

CPWR early adopted an approach with several intentions:

• cultivating harmony for the sake of the common good, not unity
• fostering the engagement of religious communities with society
  
• enabling religious communities to discovery their shared commitments
• providing a framework for expressing visions of a just, peaceful, sustainable future

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The CPWR executive director is Dirk Ficca (pictured left), a Presbyterian minister. The deputy executive director is Zabrina Santiago (pictured right), a recent Presbyterian McCormick Seminary graduate. In November, CPWR announced the election of Abdul Malik Mujahid as chair of its trustees. He is the president of Sound Vision Foundation and former chair of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. Listen to an interview with Ficca. See highlights from the 2009 Parliament in Melbourne, Australia.

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World Conference of Religions for Peace

Religions for Peace adopts goals

The World Conference of Religions for Peace considers itself the world's largest and most representative multi-religious coalition. Its global network comprises a council of senior religious leaders from all regions of the world, six regional interreligious bodies and more than seventy national ones, the Global Women of Faith Network, and the Global Youth Network. William Vendley is the general secretary. See the 2008 report

At its Eighth Assembly in Kyoto in 2006, Religions for Peace set goals:

• Confront violence within our communities when religion is misused as a justification or excuse for violence
• Advance shared security in which all sectors of society assume collective responsibility
• Work to transform conflict  through multireligious collaboration in Iraq, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Israel/Palestine, the Korean peninsula
• Strengthen and equip a global network
• Address poverty through work for the UN Millennium Development Goals
• Mobilize women of faith and launch a global youth network
• Advocate for children and confront violence against them

Available resources in support of the goals include:

• A toolkit for helping religious communities act together on behalf of the issues addressed in the UN Millennium Declaration -- eradicating extreme poverty; reducing child mortality and hunger; combating disease, including HIV/AIDS; achieving gender equality and universal primary education
• A toolkit for fighting violence against women and a manual for women of faith to transform conflict
• A guide for faith leaders on cluster munitions

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has participated in the international organization and its related U.S. council from the first world conference in 1970. Current world council members include Setri Nyomi of WARC and Samuel Kobia of the World Council of Churches. Leonid Kishkovsky (pictured left) of the Orthodox Church of America is moderator. Other Americans are Judith Hertz (pictured right), interfaith co-chair for Reform Jews in the U.S.; Hamza Yusuf Hanson of the Zaytuna Institute, a Muslim; Karen Hurley, president of the World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations; and Roman Catholic cardinal William Keeler.

Key features of interreligious dialogue outlined in European declaration

The European Council of Religious Leaders - Religions for Peace, meeting in Berlin on March 3-5, 2008 adopted a declaration  that outlines key features of interreligious dialogue. The declaration can be useful in situations even outside Europe.

Religions for Peace works on issues of "shared security"

Speaking on behalf of Religions for Peace at the World Summit of Religious Leaders held in Baku, Azerbaijan, in April 2010, Leonid Kishkovsky said that globalization is misunderstood when it is seen as blending faiths--a process that deprives each tradition of its integrity and spiritual power. He spoke on behalf of calling each community "to affirm the fullness of its faith." Each religious community can collaborate to accomplish more together than any one group can accomplish alone.

In this context Kishkovsky spoke about "shared security," an issue on which Religions for Peace has committed itself to work. "Religious faith and religious communities can translate the moral imperative of love of the neighbor into a political vision of 'shared security,'" he said. "Today, my security depends on your security. If you are vulnerable and insecure, I am also vulnerable and insecure. This is not only an insight into the personal dimension of the human condition. It is also applicable to states and nations and societies."

North American Women of Faith Network launched

The Religions for Peace North American Women of Faith Coordinating Committee has selected as its co-chairs Parker Diggory (pictured), a PC(USA) ministerial candidate, and Ms. Salima Ebrahim of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women. The network was launched on March 1-2 in New York, concurrent with the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women: Beijing +15. Diggery is the North American representative of the Religions for Peace youth network. See a Restoring Dignity toolkit for women and a women's interfaith calendar.

Youth network leads campaign on disarmament

The youth (i.e., younger adults) of Religions for Peace have launched a year-long "Arms Down! Campaign for Shared Security." Their goal is 50 million signatures to hand over to the UN Secretary General, of which two million had already been collected by the end of April 2010. Continuing cooperation begun earlier, organizations such as Focolare and the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF) are participating in the signatures campaign. Arms Down! focuses on three efforts: abolishing nuclear weapons, stopping proliferation and misuse of conventional weapons, and redirecting at least 10% of military expenditure toward the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. In the U.S. the promotion will include contacting churches, temples, charities and other organizations as well as writing to local newspapers, radio stations and TV news channels. See the campaign's web pages for resources and information. See also the YouTube presentation.

U.S. chapter hosts D.C. consultation

The executive council of Religions for Peace-U.S.A. (RFP-USA) held a consultation meeting with Joshua DuBois (pictured left), the executive director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, on April 7 at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, DC. More than 20 member organizations of RFP-USA attended. Tarunjit Butalia (pictured middle) moderates the U.S. chapter. Judith Hertz (pictured right) is the co-chair of Reform Judaism's commission on interreligious affairs.
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United Religions Initiative

URI practices are explored in available resources

URI was founded in 2000 after an exploratory period of development. It now claims members from over a hundred religions in 65 countries. Each of its local Circles has at least seven members representing at least three religions. All these operate within a charter built around the purpose of promoting cooperation, ending religiously-motivated violence, and creating a culture of peace, justice, and healing.

See a video that briefly introduces URI and a downloadable resource, Partners in Leadership: Best Practices that Exemplify URI Values and Enliven Leadership, that not only provides a good look at URI but offers guidance useful in other settings. URI’s Interfaith Peacebuilding Guide is a general resource to purchase and download.

Birth of a Global Community: Appreciative Inquiry in Action by Charles Gibbs and Sally Mahe (pictured) [Crown, 2003, ISBN #1893435423], tells the story of URI’s birth and of the process that was “the engine of the new organization and its development.” This Appreciative Inquiry Process helped the organization form in a way that is inclusive, decentralized, and self-organizing. The appendices of the book are recommended for others engaged in planning processes. See a list of other books on Appreciative Inquiry.

URI Kids addresses children via internet

URI maintains a children’s web site with information on various religions, stories, activities, and visuals.

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North American Interfaith Network

NAIN facilitates networking

The North American Interfaith Network (NAIN) traces its origins to 1988 in Wichita, Kansas. Hosted locally by Inter-Faith Ministries of Wichita, 250 religious leaders from 12 religions gathered in what was then understood to be the largest public interfaith event in the U.S. since the 1893 Parliament of the World’s Religions. A somewhat equal number gathered for the NAINConnect meeting on its 20th anniversary in 2008. NAIN facilitates networking and cooperative interaction among its U.S., Canadian, and Mexican members -- bringing together large and small organizations, from local to international in scope, both interfaith organizations and single-religion organizations that engage in interfaith relations. Its programs seek to build communication and mutual understanding. A list of member organizations and their e-mail addresses is posted on the NAIN web site. Individual associate members have a non-voting status with the organization. NAIN operates without staff, with the efforts of a volunteer board of directors elected by the membership.

A yearly NAINConnect conference offers opportunities for interchanges, new experiences, and inspiration. A record of the 2009 NAINConnect is on their web site, including brief summaries of its numerous workshops. The 2010 NAINConnect will be on July 24-28 in Salt Lake City at the Plaza Hotel across from Temple Square. Planners expect opportunities to intersect with the city's faith communities and to visit the world center of the Latter-day Saints. Preconference activities will include a service component and a visit to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

The current NAIN president is Bettina Gray (pictured left). Presbyterian minister Charles White (pictured far left) as a founding member of NAIN is an honorary member of the board.

The current NAINews is available online.

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Interfaith Youth Core

IFYC founder Eboo Patel wins Grawmeyer Award

Eboo Patel, the founder and executive director of Interfaith Youth Core, has become the first Muslim to receive the prestigious Grawmeyer Award in Religion, a distinction announced at the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in December. The prize is for his book, Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation (ISBN # 978-080707727-6). Read the description of Patel and his motivations for working among youth on the Grawmeyer web site.

A new era in an interfaith youth movement has been launched, says IFYC

Interfaith Youth Core calculates that in seven years 300 organizations and academic institutions hosted IFYC training and workshops and that 75,000 interfaith leaders have become part of its movement. At the conclusion of its 2009 conference on "Leadership in a Religiously Diverse World," IFYC felt that a new era had been launched. Over 650 people, including 50 international delegates, came from 90 colleges/ universities and 15 seminaries. The conference had been able to draw, among others, the head of the White House Office for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Stanford's dean of religious life, and the head of Reform Judaism public policy work. See videos from the conference.

Resources are based on IFYC methodology

The Interfaith Leader’s Toolkit written by IFYC staff is based on IFYC methodology. It provides a step-by-step guide to the skills of interfaith leadership, including developing your own story, facilitating relationships, and organizing common action projects. Order online.

IFYC has pioneered an interfaith service model, Days of Interfaith Youth Service (DIYS), that incorporates dialogue. See a listing of some of the projects undertaken in 2008. The DIYS web site offers descriptions of a few events, toolkits and a poster, and registration forms in order to report activity.

IFYC also has a web-based Bridge-builder's Network for individual leaders who are committed to organizing interfaith action in their local communities. Its goals are to catalyze, resource, and connect interfaith leaders. The web site features tools, discussion forums, interfaith events, actions alerts, and spotlights on individual youth leaders. Persons using the web site must sign in. This web site is in addition to the web site, "A Place to Have a Different Kind of Conversation about Religion."

Faith Acts Fellows are ambassadors for Millennium Goals

On October 1, 2009, thirty youth from the U.S., U.K., and Canada began a period of service as interreligious advocate/ambassadors for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These first Tony Blair Foundation FaithActs Fellows will have a particular focus on the fight to end malaria deaths. They began their service in August with a two-month intensive immersion program that included training in London and Chicago and fieldwork in Mali, Malawi and Tanzania with primary health care partners. Their next phase of work is in their home countries, where they will work to mobilize young people of faith and raise awareness and resources in the global fight against malaria.

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