by Frank DiGirolamo
“Wow! … You just listened to my whole anthem.” It was late at night, years ago, on North Broadway in Capitol Hill. “Miguel” had just recited his life story to me for a good 20 minutes…
Authoring our Shared Story
Community Building for Times of Crisis
by Sebrina Somers
Be prepared. That has been my motto ever since I was a young scout in the Girl Guides. I even went on to teach it through my work in public health, and later as
Reimagining the Interfaith Movement
by Tahil Sharma and Megan Anderson
2017 has shaped the interfaith movement and clearly shown us the growing need for religious and secular pluralism and understanding. From clergy at the front lines of demonstrations against white supremacy and the drastic changes being made to the healthcare system, to community members standing against hatred
The Dark Side of the Golden Rule and Other ‘Universals’
The following reflection is excerpted from a longer presentation Donald Frew delivered at the August 2011 annual gathering of the North American Interfaith Network in Phoenix, Arizona, dedicated to exploring the Golden Rule
New Rooms in the Interfaith Movement
IN THE OPENING SESSION of an Interfaith Youth Core conference a few years ago, a Chicago pastor took the microphone and introduced himself. He spoke about how much he had gained from his Buddhist meditation practice, expressed disdain for Republicans in power, and proclaimed how excited he was to be in a friendly space with people of other faiths. Finally, he noted his frustration that a particular type of Christian was always absent from such gatherings, saying:
The New Identity Politics of Religion
As an undergraduate in the early 1990s, the heyday of identity politics, I was a full-throated participant in the protests for cultural centers and academic study programs that focused on racial and ethnic minorities.
Dharmic Religion Finally Finding a Place in European Interfaith
The Global Divide on Homosexuality
Hate Comes to Manchester, Tennessee
The Genesis of International Interfaith Organizing
Light in the Night Sky
The community I serve, West Hill United Church in the east end of Toronto, is always evolving. The most recent physical change entailed reclaiming the space previously dedicated to my office to turn it into a multipurpose meeting room. I work mostly from home, and the office had become a repository of old files and artifacts collected over my years in ministry. Making the change was clearly a wise choice.
Mainstreaming Hindu and Dharmic Americans and Values
“Interfaith 3.0” from the Outside
In the December 2011 issue of The Interfaith Observer, Bettina Gray wrote about the recent changes in the interfaith movement. Her piece is impressive and inspiring, an optimistic view of our interfaith future. She wrote as one with significant experience and a long history in interfaith work; but she also wrote from the perspective of someone embedded in the “mainstream” religions that have dominated interfaith work since its beginnings. Once restricted to Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam), the administrative core of interfaith work gradually expanded to include the other two members – Buddhism and Hinduism – of what have been called “the big five” religions.