June 2023
Paul Chaffee
Interfaith News Roundup - June 2023

by Paul Chaffee

Institutional Stories– Between Church & State – For Our Kids’ Sake – Gifts of the Spirit

Interfaith News Roundup - June 2023
May 2023
Paul Chaffee
Interfaith News Roundup - May 2023

by Paul Chaffee

Reaching Out for Goodness Sake – The Ethical Struggles We Share – In Memoriam

Interfaith News Roundup - May 2023
April 2023
Paul Chaffee
Interfaith News Roundup - April 2023

by Paul Chaffee

Interfaith Steps Forward – Religious Troubles – News & Newsmakers

Interfaith News Roundup - April 2023
March 2023
Paul Chaffee
Interfaith News Roundup - March 2023

by Paul Chaffee

Christians, by the Numbers – Muslims in the News – Interfaith Complexities – Paying Attention to Right-wing Christians – Religicide – What’s Possible … What to Consider

Interfaith News Roundup - March 2023
February 2023
Paul Chaffee
Interfaith News Roundup - February 2023

by Paul Chaffee

Women Finally Welcome – Church & State – The Dark Side of Religion – Interfaith Solutions – Heads Up!

Interfaith News Roundup - February 2023

Interfaith News Roundup - November 2023

Interfaith News Roundup - November 2023

by Paul Chaffee

Religion in the US - Religion Around the World – Interfaith Stories

Interfaith News Roundup - October 2023

Interfaith News Roundup - October 2023

by Paul Chaffee

Religion Around the World– Spiritual Practice – Interfaith Relations

Interfaith News Roundup - September 2023

Interfaith News Roundup - September 2023

by Paul Chaffee

Congregational Business – What Made this Parliament Different – Beyond Community, Beyond Death

Interfaith News Roundup - July 2023

Interfaith News Roundup - July 2023

by Paul Chaffee

The Other Parliament – Stepping Forward – Stepping Back – Spiritual Idiosyncrasies – Transitions

Spring 2023 - Seeking the Blessed Community

Exploring Interreligious Relations and Interfaith Culture

Spring 2023
Seeking the Blessed Community


Featured
The Importance of Gratitude
The Importance of Gratitude

by Audrey Kitagawa

Thank you, everyone for joining in this 9th annual interfaith Service of Remembrance and Gratitude. During the annual UN Commission on the Status of Women, this particular…

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The Divine Feminine Emerging, Embodied, and Emboldened
The Divine Feminine Emerging, Embodied, and Emboldened

by Kathe Schaft and Kay Lindahl

We can’t help but notice that the world seems to have suddenly ‘discovered’ the value of women. After thousands of years living in the shadow of the masculine, after being pushed into the margins…

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Niu Now: Reconnecting to the Tree of Life
Niu Now: Reconnecting to the Tree of Life

featuring Manulani Aluli Meyer & Indrajit Gunasekara

This special article has as its focus a video and enriching dialogue rather than ta ext. NIU NOW: Reconnecting to the Tree of Life looks at the efforts by a grassroots group in Hawai’i tackling…

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Guru Ka Langar: The Sikh Ethos of Sharing Hospitality
Guru Ka Langar: The Sikh Ethos of Sharing Hospitality

by Tarunjit Singh Butalia

Many who have had the opportunity to attend a Langar (a Sikh word for “open kitchen) surely have fond memories of the incredible hospitality we experienced.

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Beloved Community: One Church’s Journey
Beloved Community: One Church’s Journey

by Kay Lindahl

What is a beloved community?  How do we become a beloved community? For the past four years our church has been intentional about engaging with these questions. This is the story of our journey so far…

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Creating the Blessed Community
Creating the Blessed Community

by Diana Whitney

I was in India, teaching Appreciative Inquiry and leading a leadership retreat with colleagues Dinesh Chandra and Anil Sachdev, when one of my co-founders of the Taos Institute…

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An Unlikely Turnaround
An Unlikely Turnaround

by Betsy Woodman

The news, 24 hours a day of it, is by turns heart-rending, enraging, and depressing. School shootings. Climate crisis. Senseless war. Divisive politics. “When will they ever learn,” went the…

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Why We Sing
Why We Sing

by Paul Andrews

Art and culture are the treasure houses of our deepest dreams - not the fleeting dreams of power and empire, which can never satisfy what is best in us, but our deep soul-dreams, from which generation…

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Featured Videos

 

Header Photo: Rare Gallery

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Editorial: Seeking the Blessed Community
Editorial: Seeking the Blessed Community

From Sudan to Chicago or Shanghai, defining, enjoying, and sustaining a blessed community is a tough assignment. Since humans became human, we’ve hungered for a thriving, protective community…

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Featured
Interfaith News Roundup - May 2023
Interfaith News Roundup - May 2023

by Paul Chaffee

Reaching Out for Goodness Sake – The Ethical Struggles We Share – In Memoriam

Read More →

Register for Seeking Religious Literacy, an online, self-paced course that seeks religious literacy as an essential good in the world today.

Interfaith News Roundup - June 2023

Interfaith News Roundup - June 2023

by Paul Chaffee

Institutional Stories– Between Church & State – For Our Kids’ Sake – Gifts of the Spirit

Interfaith News Roundup - May 2023

Interfaith News Roundup - May 2023

by Paul Chaffee

Reaching Out for Goodness Sake – The Ethical Struggles We Share – In Memoriam

Interfaith News Roundup - April 2023

Interfaith News Roundup - April 2023

by Paul Chaffee

Interfaith Steps Forward – Religious Troubles – News & Newsmakers

Winter 2022-23 - Religious Literacy Today

Exploring Interreligious Relations and Interfaith Culture

Winter 2022-23
Religious Literacy Today

Featured
Interreligious Literacy and Why It Matters
Interreligious Literacy and Why It Matters

by Brian Carwana

We live in a time when seemingly difficult conversations – including around race, gender, and sexual orientation – have become an important part of the public discourse. However, one arena, central to…

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Religious Literacy & the Flying Spaghetti Monster
Religious Literacy & the Flying Spaghetti Monster

by David Callaway and Hannah Santos

Long-time advocates of religious freedom paused when Eddie Castillo successfully used the First Amendment to wear a pasta strainer on his head for his license photo. Castillo, a Pastafarian, argued the…

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Thou Shalt Not Hate: The Role of Religious Actors in Addressing Hate Speech
Thou Shalt Not Hate: The Role of Religious Actors in Addressing Hate Speech

by Emina Frljak

Many would say hate speech is just words…but words can hurt, and words can and do turn into action. From “harmless” hate speech, come hate crimes. There are sadly many examples of hate speech…

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When Wiccans & Evangelical Christians Become Friends
When Wiccans & Evangelical Christians Become Friends

by Don Frew

A year into my public information work, I saw notice of a conference called “Deception & Discernment: Exposing the Dangers of the Occult.” I thought I should attend and see…

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The Interfaith Rainforest Initiative: A Case Study of Religious Literacy
The Interfaith Rainforest Initiative: A Case Study of Religious Literacy

by Dr. Charles Ian McNeill

As the impacts of climate change intensify in plain sight on every continent, the United Nations Environmental Programme’s “Emissions Gap Report 2022,” released just…

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The Chinese Jews of Kaifeng (and what I’ve learned from them)
The Chinese Jews of Kaifeng (and what I’ve learned from them)

by Rabbi Anson Laytner

For over a thousand years, there has been a Jewish community in Kaifeng, China, making it one of the most long-lived continuous Jewish communities in the world. Never more than…

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15 Facts on African Religions
15 Facts on African Religions

by Jacob K. Olupona

1. African traditional religion refers to the indigenous or autochthonous religions of the African people. It deals with their cosmology, ritual practices, symbols, arts, society, and…

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Reimagining Interfaith: Taking Our Lead from Kids
Reimagining Interfaith: Taking Our Lead from Kids

by Vicki Garlock

The interfaith movement is all about bringing people together. Most of the time we focus on adults, and social justice issues. Don’t get me wrong. I fully support any and all…

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Featured Videos

 

Header Photo: Unsplash

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Editorial: We're Back!
Editorial: We're Back!

In the two years we’ve been gone, the challenge in developing interfaith relations has received a body blow through the accelerating corruption of language and communication…

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Featured
Interfaith News Roundup - December 2022
Interfaith News Roundup - December 2022

by Paul Chaffee

Interfaith News Notes – Climate – The Critical Issue – Religion & Government– The Christian Nationalism Scandal – New Resources – In Memoriam

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Interfaith News Roundup - November 2019
Interfaith News Roundup - November 2019

News from Around the World – Christians in the United States – For the Sake of the Family – Great Good News – In Memoriam

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OPPORTUNITIES & RESOURCES

Join CEIE's virtual Winter Workshop Series on the Art of Spiritual Direction (Jan. 19, Feb. 16, & March 16, 2023)

Interfaith News Roundup - March 2023

Interfaith News Roundup - March 2023

by Paul Chaffee

Christians, by the Numbers – Muslims in the News – Interfaith Complexities – Paying Attention to Right-wing Christians – Religicide – What’s Possible … What to Consider

Interfaith News Roundup - February 2023

Interfaith News Roundup - February 2023

by Paul Chaffee

Women Finally Welcome – Church & State – The Dark Side of Religion – Interfaith Solutions – Heads Up!

Interfaith News Roundup - January 2023

Interfaith News Roundup - January 2023

by Paul Chaffee

Calling Out the Media – Troubled Waters – Hopeful Signs– Again, of course, Climate – Whose Human Rights? – By the Numbers – Finally …

Interfaith News Roundup - December 2022

Interfaith News Roundup - December 2022

by Paul Chaffee

Interfaith News Notes – Climate – The Critical Issue – Religion & Government– The Christian Nationalism Scandal – New Resources – In Memoriam

Interfaith News Roundup - November 2022

Interfaith News Roundup - November 2022

by Paul Chaffee

Unexpected Stories – The Big Issue, as Usual – Indigenous Spirituality, Indigenous Land – “Why Do the Nations Rage?”– Getting to Know Each Other – Resources

Interfaith News Roundup - October 2022

Interfaith News Roundup - October 2022

by Paul Chaffee

Religion & Governance – Empowering a Climate Agenda – Education – What Works, and What Doesn’t – Inside Religious Communities – Around the The Globe – Happy Endings

November 2019 - Tools for Interfaith

Exploring Interreligious Relations and Interfaith Culture

November 15, 2019

Featured
The Gifts of Interfaith
The Gifts of Interfaith

by Tarunjit Singh Butalia

On August 20-23, 2019 I was on a weeklong, exciting and inspirational visit to Lindau, Germany to participate in the 10th World Assembly of Religions for Peace. I was one of a five-member delegation from…

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Rejuvenating the North American Interfaith Network
Rejuvenating the North American Interfaith Network

A TIO Report

Last month 28 interfaith leaders from across North America gathered in Boulder City, Nevada to talk about rejuvenating the 31-year-old network. Newcomers who thrive on grassroots…

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Tools for Interfaith

Featured
Look Well to the Growing Edge
Look Well to the Growing Edge

by Parker Palmer and Carrie Newcomer

All around us worlds are dying and new worlds are being born; all around us life is dying and life is being born. The fruit ripens on the tree, the roots are silently…

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Starting with Kids
Starting with Kids

by Vicki Garlock

Our children are growing up in the most globalized world humans have ever known. While a globalized society might feel new to many of us, it’s important to…

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“Play” as a Tool for Community Formation
“Play” as a Tool for Community Formation

by jem Jebbia

I catch the hissing cat and quickly toss it to the person next to me. “Hiss!” Someone gently underhands the cranky baby across the room. “Wahhh!” “Woosh!” The sound of a…

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Religious Literacy at Work
Religious Literacy at Work

by Anneke Kat

When I interviewed for my current position with Interfaith Philadelphia, the search committee was curious to know how interfaith works fit into my professional path. Until that point…

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A Goldmine of Possibilities
A Goldmine of Possibilities

A TIO Interview

Dr. Wilson is director of St Philip’s Centre in Leicester, UK, providing training and consultancy on interfaith issues for a wide range of local and national bodies.

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The Lean Interfaith Nonprofit
The Lean Interfaith Nonprofit

by Frank Fredericks

It’s pay day. The bills are due. The fundraiser flopped, the ask unanswered. Donations are diminishing and expected grants taken for granted. Program associates are…

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Skillsets to Overcome Religious Bigotry
Skillsets to Overcome Religious Bigotry

by Ariella Amit

As I was scrolling through my Facebook feed a few years ago, I came across a post encouraging Los Angeles youth to apply for membership on an Interfaith Council.

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Being Christian in Interfaith Relationships
Being Christian in Interfaith Relationships

by Chris Alexander

I am a Christian pastor participating in an interfaith conversation with Muslims and Jews; I  represent a Christian partner congregation within the Tri-Faith Initiative, located in Omaha, Nebraska.

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Spontaneous Interfaith Support: Using Social Media
Spontaneous Interfaith Support: Using Social Media

by Sherry Fohr

One of the most powerful demonstrations of interfaith solidarity through social media in recent years came during the Standing Rock protests in 2016. This protest was part of the interfaith indigenous…

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Being Able to Empower Each Other
Being Able to Empower Each Other

by Paul Chaffee

The digital tools that began raining down back in the eighties have been an enormous boon to religion and multifaith organizations and how we communicate.

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Featured Videos

 

Header Photo: Unsplash

Featured
Skillsets for Interfaith Relationships
Skillsets for Interfaith Relationships

What does it take to create and nurture healthy interfaith culture? Good intentions and an open heart are surely necessary.

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Featured
Interfaith News Roundup - November 2019
Interfaith News Roundup - November 2019

News from Around the World – Christians in the United States – For the Sake of the Family – Great Good News – In Memoriam

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OPPORTUNITIES & RESOURCES

February 1-7, 2020: A Grand Adventure of Spirit and Harmony in the Holy Land

Faiths Together for the Future by Marcus Braybrooke

Interfaith News Roundup - December 2019

Interfaith News Roundup - December 2019

The Vargaries of Religious Violence – Hard to Believe! – Back Home

October 2019 - Rediscovering Spirituality

Exploring Interreligious Relations and Interfaith Culture

October 15, 2019

Rediscovering Spirituality

Featured
Love in a Time of War
Love in a Time of War

by Mirabai Starr

Here in the mountains of northern New Mexico where I have spent most of life, the winter solstice season is marked by fire. During Advent, families and businesses fill small paper bags with…

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Stumbling into a Spiritual Strategy to Combat Nuclear Weapons
Stumbling into a Spiritual Strategy to Combat Nuclear Weapons

by William E. Swing

Starting in 1983, I have done what I could to respond to the existence and threat of nuclear weapons. Read books and relevant news, watched movies and TV documentaries, written articles…

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Bhakti – The Path of Devotion in India and the West
Bhakti – The Path of Devotion in India and the West

by Philip Goldberg

As growing numbers of Americans know, the Hindu tradition delineates four basic pathways to spiritual liberation, expressed as four types of yoga: jnana yoga, the path of mental discernment; karma yoga, the…

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Doctrine, Ritual, and Spiritual Development
Doctrine, Ritual, and Spiritual Development

by Rachael Watcher

Doctrine – the codification of beliefs, teachings, and practices – is an important element for established institutional religions. It clarifies what a religion expects of its followers, how to behave…

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When Your Path Finds You
When Your Path Finds You

by Adeola Fearon

Spirituality, a sense of something more, its magnetic. You’re drawn to every sensation before there is consciousness of what it is, what to call it, or how to explain it.

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Introducing InterSpiritual Meditation
Introducing InterSpiritual Meditation

by Ed Bastian

For fifteen years I have worked closely with more than 50 meditation teachers from Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Native American traditions. This began for me by participating…

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Mastering the Delicate Art of Rebuke
Mastering the Delicate Art of Rebuke

by Ruth Broyde Sharone

I am writing these words during the Ten Days of Awe, the period between Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. As Jews, we are called upon to undertake a most…

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Spiritual Practice in Apocalyptic Times
Spiritual Practice in Apocalyptic Times

by Theodore Richards

Amid the rising seas, burning forests, and superstorms, with inequality and fascism threatening just and democratic societies, ours is an age of denial, fear, and, above all else, loneliness. In a word, it is an age that…

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Spirituality Is Resistance
Spirituality Is Resistance

by Mimi Tohill

In times of fear and violence such as these and those we fear ahead, some use “thoughts and prayers” as a scapegoat, others as an escape from worldly obligations. Yet spirituality, grounded in…

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Dwelling Within the Sacred
Dwelling Within the Sacred

by Sam Allen

There are some things that are sacred in every person’s life. Agnostic or Apostolic, we all maintain and create containers in which each of us dives deep or soars beyond reach. No matter what our beliefs, as human beings…

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Featured Videos

 

Header Photo: Unsplash

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Paying Attention to Spirit
Paying Attention to Spirit

by Paul Chaffee, Editor

Hundreds of thousands of pages have been written detailing the history and doctrines of our particular religious traditions, most of them demonstrating how different we are from each other.

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Featured
Interfaith News Roundup - October 2019
Interfaith News Roundup - October 2019

Of the Earth – Evolution of the Roman Catholic Church – As the World Turns – Great Good News – In Memoriam

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OPPORTUNITIES & RESOURCES

Interfaith Bridges Research Project: Invitation to Participate

Religica Delves Deep into the Climate Crisis

Golden Rule Day 2020: Call for Video Submissions

Interfaith News Roundup - November 2019

Interfaith News Roundup - November 2019

News from Around the World – Christians in the United States – For the Sake of the Family – Great Good News – In Memoriam

September 2019 - Redefining Interfaith Hospitality

Exploring Interreligious Relations and Interfaith Culture

September 15, 2019

Redefining interfaith hospitality

Featured
Religions for Peace Looks to its Future
Religions for Peace Looks to its Future

by Katherine Marshall

The 10th World Assembly of Religions for Peace was held last month at in Lindau, Germany on Lake Constance. This was a large and diverse gathering, 900 participants from 125 countries…

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A New Day for Interfaith Relations
A New Day for Interfaith Relations

by Paul Chaffee

August 2019 should go down in interfaith annals as a milestone, a month when a quiet, mostly unnoticed development emerged that could exponentially magnify…

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An Excerpt from "The Hundred-Year Walk – An Armenian Odyssey"
An Excerpt from "The Hundred-Year Walk – An Armenian Odyssey"

by Dawn Anahid MacKeen

The following is a chapter from MacKeen’s book recounting how she finally meets the descendants of Sheikh Hammud al-Aekleh, whose family welcomed in her grandfather, saving his life. Some members of the family that greeted her in 2007 today are Syrian refugees themselves.

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The Fine Art of Interfaith Dialogue for World Peace
The Fine Art of Interfaith Dialogue for World Peace

by Thomas Bonacci

Several years ago I joined a small group of concerned people responding to a growing interest in appreciating and respecting the faith traditions of humankind.

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Embracing the Space Between Stories
Embracing the Space Between Stories

by Paul Andrews

Why did I go? Well, to begin with, I didn’t go to Temple Emmanuel to change religions. I went there to pray to You, to talk to You. Not my image or even my religion’s image of You, but You.

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On Atheists and Theists Together at the Interfaith Table
On Atheists and Theists Together at the Interfaith Table

by Chris Stedman

As an interfaith activist, I’ve worked to bring an end to religious division. In recent years, this has increasingly meant speaking out against the rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric and violence sweeping America.

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When Wiccans & Evangelical Christians Become Friends
When Wiccans & Evangelical Christians Become Friends

by Don Frew

A year into my public information work, I saw notice of a conference called “Deception & Discernment: Exposing the Dangers of the Occult.” I thought I should attend and see what ‘the other side’ was up to.

Read More →
For Evangelicals and Muslims, the Best is Yet to Come
For Evangelicals and Muslims, the Best is Yet to Come

by Catherine Orsborn & Kevin Singer

We sat at a picnic table in a backyard in Raleigh, North Carolina last month and listened to Teddy, a young evangelical Christian, share his story of how…

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Guru Ka Langar: The Sikh Ethos of Sharing Hospitality
Guru Ka Langar: The Sikh Ethos of Sharing Hospitality

by Tarunjit Singh Butalia

Many who have had the opportunity to attend a Langar (a Sikh word for “open kitchen) surely have fond memories of the incredible hospitality we experienced.

Read More →
You Don't Like Pasta?
You Don't Like Pasta?

by Ruth Broyde Sharone

Many years ago, when I was a young journalist in my 20s, traveling solo in Latin America, I spent eighteen months in nineteen countries and visited 54 cities.

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"Who Isn't at the Table?"
"Who Isn't at the Table?"

by Bettina Gray and Paul Andrews

Periodically TIO profiles seasoned leaders who have made critical contributions to a developing interfaith culture but are unknown to most people. Rev. P. Gerard O’Rourke is one such pioneer.

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Featured Videos

 

Header Photo: Unsplash

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Past Gifts for Tough Times
Past Gifts for Tough Times

by Paul Chaffee, Editor

Eight years ago, on September 15, 2011, TIO was launched. That makes this the 89th monthly issue. (We skip August.) Since then this publication has featured more than 1,000 interfaith stories along with…

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Featured
Interfaith News Roundup - September 2019
Interfaith News Roundup - September 2019

The Big Picture – Religion, Politics, and the Law – Interfaith Digs Deeper – New Role for an Interfaith Veteran

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OPPORTUNITIES & RESOURCES

October 6, 2019: Film Explores the Spiritual Journeys of American Millennials

March 17-21, 2020: Religion Communication Congress on Communicating Faith in the Public Square

Tools for Supporting Asylum Seekers and Refugees