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Massachusetts Conference Edition
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Local churches are nurturing interfaith relationsby Marlene Gasdia-Cochrane, Editor December 2007 / January 2008
As the Conference staff person responsible for ecumenical and interfaith relations, Minister and President Jim Antal believes that interfaith dialogue is among the most urgent and important activities in which one can engage. He wrote in a recent email to Conference members, “From the beginning of my ministry among you, one of my top priorities has been to establish dialog and strong relationships with representatives of various faith traditions.” This Fall has proven to be a season of interfaith relations. In late October, UCC General Minister and President John Thomas preached at Old South Church as the lead speaker in a series sponsored by Old South, called “Getting Religion Right: Beyond Stereotypes and Statistics.” The series included (among others) the leaders from the Daughters of Abraham project (a group whose mission is to foster mutual respect and understanding among Muslim, Jewish and Christian women) and featured a keynote speech by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. News coverage in the general media focused on how Massachusetts Conference Minister and President Jim Antal and Old South Church Senior Pastor Nancy Taylor expressed support for a secure Israel, a two state solution and opposition to terrorism, even as they defended the decision to rent the Old South building for the Sabeel Conference. (Sabeel is a Palestinian Christian international grassroots peace movement based in Jerusalem. For many years, Sabeel has been a partner of the UCC as well as many other US churches.) “Interfaith discussion on the Middle East is challenging, spiritually demanding, controversial, and risky,” wrote Antal. “In today’s world especially, it is also especially rewarding. That’s why it’s so important for each of us to make time to develop meaningful, enduring relationships with people from other faith traditions.” Such relationships are already thriving in many local UCC churches across the Commonwealth. “The Weston/Wayland area is lush with interfaith activity,” said the Rev. Joe Mayher, pastor of the Congregational Church of Weston, and the adult facilitator for “Camp If” – a program for Jewish, Muslim and Christian teens aimed at community building and one-on-one understanding of each of the religions. “We have over 20 years of history and congregant participation in sponsored dialogues and other interfaith programs,” he said. The Rev. Jeff Johnson, pastor of the First Congregational Church, UCC, in Milton finds there is a great deal of interest in interfaith dialogue among ‘seasoned citizens.’ Monthly, about 45 people meet for a video-based program/discussion group led by Johnson and a local rabbi. Most participants are retired, fairly well off, well educated, and very concerned about what’s happening in the world around interfaith tensions. “I wouldn’t say that my younger members aren’t interested in this, but they are so pressured for time,” said Johnson. “I think those on the more elderly side are dealing with legacy issues. They are concerned about the world they are leaving behind, and are grateful for opportunities to share deeply and openly with folks from different traditions.” The members of the Acton-Boxborough-Stow Clergy Association recently held an interfaith service for remembrance and peace. “We had participation from Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Quakers, Unitarians, Catholics and several Protestant Christian denominations (including South Acton UCC and Boxborough UCC),” reported Ute Molitor, pastor of the UCC Congregational of Boxborough. “We had contributions from all major faith traditions about their understanding of peace and what makes for peace.” Buddhists offered a meditation practice for everyone gathered. Every contribution was followed by a song or responsive reading from the tradition. They ended with a candlelight vigil outside. “It was obvious how much we share about our basic desire for peace and justice.” According to those interviewed, it is thoughts of war, moments of tragedy, and the desire for peace that are the common motives for bringing the different faiths together. The Rev. Karen Nell Smith, pastor of the Congregational Church of Christ in North Leominster, reported that the Leominster Area Interfaith Clergy group includes Protestant, Roman Catholic, Jewish, and Unitarian leaders in the area and grew out of collective responses to September 11. “There is nothing that facilitates nearly as well as being in direct dialogue with people of another faith,” said Nell Smith. The Rev. Cynthia Maybeck, pastor of Trinity Church Northborough shared this story: “After 9/11 we invited a board member of the local Muslim school to preach at our interfaith Thanksgiving service, and since then we have continued to hold community dinners and events together. The congregation has been very supportive of ecumenical and interfaith work, and we have built friendships across Catholic and Protestant, Christian and Jewish and Buddhist, evangelical and liberal lines through community dinners and events.” “I heard over and over again at those dinners, about how wonderful it was to have a setting where we could come together and share faith together,” she said. Rev. Carrie Bail, pastor of First Congregational UCC in Williams-town reported: After 9/11, our Christian Education director made contact with the closest mosque we could find, Al Baq'i, in Springfield – whose members are African-American. In addition, our church school children have visited each other and we have sponsored a three-way program with the Hatikvah Holocaust Center of Springfield, all within months of that date. We have continued to visit or help one another in smaller ways over these intervening years.” As witnessed by the various local churches, it is the continuing relationships that bring a better understanding to the faithful. “Each year we do a series during Lent as an ecumenical program for our town,” said Rev. Don Remick, pastor of First Congregational UCC in Hanover. “This past year our town clergy association chose to bring spiritual leaders from different faiths because we wanted to model an open and tolerant position towards other faiths, particularly in an increasingly suspicious and fearful time. We also wanted to allow folks to hear and experience different faith traditions as a way to enlarge our community’s understanding. This program met with the best attendance of any of our previous Lenten series.” “The only time when we encountered any tension was when the Imam of the Islamic faith was present,” he said. “Even then, it was the gathered community that reminded each other of the importance of respect and courtesy towards our guests. People were tremendously appreciative of this series. The comments I received included how surprised people were by the similarity of spiritual practices and the similarity of our concern for compassion. Our understanding of God may be different, but our respect towards creation and human beings are very similar, particularly when the people are impoverished and oppressed.” Edwards Church in Framingham is developing a very meaningful relationship with the New England Buddhist Vihara – a group of (mostly) Sri Lankan Buddhist monks, who serve the New England Sri Lankan Buddhist community. According to Edwards’ pastor, Rev. Deborah Clark, at her invitation to use the church’s space the group held a Sept. 11 Remembrance and prayers for peace service at Edwards. Some of the UCC members attended the service and stayed for refreshments afterward, “and people actually talked to each other,” said Clark. “There has been a growing relationship between the two groups. The head monk has taught meditation classes for the congregation, and one of the members is tutoring three monks in English. “It’s one of those relationships that is developing organically, and very fruitfully,” she said. “There’s an idea that we should not share religious ideas in public,” said Maybeck. “I was pleased to learn how much of a longing there is to talk with neighbors about faith, no matter what that faith is. I firmly believe it is important to build relations across faith and the best way to deal with prejudice and bias is to build friendships and relationships through grassroots efforts. “God is bigger than any one religion,” said Molitor. “Every person is a child of God and we need to work across the divides we have created on spiritual, social and political levels.” Editor’s Note: Go to the Conference website at www.macucc.org/president/relations.htm to read Minister and President Jim Antal’s email in support of Palestinian Christians and Jewish brothers and sisters; the Rev. Dr. Nancy S. Taylor’s public statement regarding the rental of Old South building space to the Friends of Sabeel – North America; and information regarding the series sponsored by Old South, called “Getting Religion Right: Beyond Stereotypes and Statistics” with the leaders from the Daughters of Abraham project and the Most Reverend Desmond Tutu. For more information about the Daughters of Abraham, go to www.daughtersofabraham.info/.
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