Interfaith

Piscataway's Muslim Center of Middlesex County Marks Ramadan with Interfaith Iftar Dinner

April 18, 2022

Ramadan Mubarak! The Muslim greeting meaning “blessed Ramadan” is often heard throughout the month-long religious celebration.

As Muslims around the world break their daily fast during the holiest of holidays for the faithful, members of the Muslim Center of Middlesex County (MCMC) in Piscataway hosted an interfaith Iftar Dinner on April 11, bringing together hundreds in the community in prayer, learning, and understanding of Islam and the meaning of Ramadan.

Observance of Ramadan, which this year runs from Saturday, April 2 through Sunday, May 1 is one of the...

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For many, Easter Sunday marks a return to in-person worship

April 17, 2022

For many U.S. Christians, this weekend marks the first time since 2019 that they will gather in person on Easter Sunday, a welcome chance to celebrate one of the year’s holiest days side by side with fellow congregants.

The pandemic erupted in the country in March 2020, just ahead of Easter, forcing many churches to resort to online or televised worship. Many continued to hold virtual services last spring after a deadly winter wave of the coronavirus and as vaccination campaigns were still ramping up. But this year more churches are opening their doors for Easter services with...

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Interfaith Ramadan Iftar event is a celebration of traditions, Frisco's cultural diversity

April 12, 2022

It was a celebration of Ramadan Iftar traditions and Frisco's cultural diversity at Monday evening's Interfaith Ramadan Iftar program at Frisco Hall.

The Islamic Center of Frisco played host to the event, along with partners whyislam.org and the Frisco Inclusion Committee.

Close to 200 guests attended the program, which included a question and answer session on the Ramadan Iftar traditions and the Islamic faith, and also recognition of various city and civic leaders and organizations who have supported the Islamic Center...

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Virginia Community Iftar Educates Public on Ramadan

April 11, 2022

The Islamic Society of Central Virginia has teamed up with Welcoming Greater Charlottesville for a community iftar gathering to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan.

The event, held on Sunday, April 10, was organized to demonstrate support for the Muslim community as well as educate the public on the holy month of fasting.

“Having it in a public space is really...

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Across US, faith groups mobilize to aid Ukrainian refugees

April 4, 2022

As U.S. refugee resettlement agencies and nonprofits nationwide gear up to help Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion and war that has raged for nearly six weeks, members of faith communities have been leading the charge to welcome the displaced.

In Southern California, pastors and lay individuals are stationing themselves at the Mexico border waving Ukrainian flags and offering food, water and prayer. Around the country, other religious groups are getting ready to provide longer-term support for refugees who will have to find housing, work, health care and schooling....

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As Afghan refugees celebrate Islam's holy month, church gives Ramadan lessons

April 1, 2022

Even before the family of 10 Afghan evacuees arrived in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, earlier this year, volunteers from eight local churches pitched in to prepare a home for them, painting and sanding and ripping out old carpeting. When the family arrived, the volunteers drove them to medical appointments and helped the children sign up for sports and the parents set up utilities.

But as Ramadan, Islam’s holy month of prayer and fasting, approached, the volunteers of Gettysburg’s Refugee Resettlement Partnership weren’t sure what they could do to help their new neighbors, who are...

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Prayers for peace in Ukraine

March 14, 2022

A variety of religious traditions assembled Sunday evening to pray for one thing: peace in Ukraine.

The meeting at North Presbyterian Church was assembled by the Williamsville Interfaith Clergy Association and was led by two Ukrainian clerics, one Catholic and one Orthodox. Joining them were Presbyterians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Baha'i, Sikh and Unitarian Universalists.

North Presbyterian Pastor Bill Hennessy said the array of clergy was deliberate.

Source:...

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Key Organizations

National and International Initiatives

Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions (Founded 1988) – Chicago, IL

The first World’s Congress of Religions convened in 1893 at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago and is often cited as the “birth of formal interreligious dialogue.” In 1988 the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions was founded to organize a centennial celebration of that historic gathering. Subsequent Parliaments of the World’s Religions...

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Ahead of midterm elections, interfaith 'revival' links voting rights, climate

February 1, 2022

With the 2022 midterm elections looming 10 months away, faith leaders in the South are preparing a "revival" effort to reinvigorate voters around what they see as two crucial issues: climate change and voting rights.

The Southeast Faith Leaders Network kicked off its first-ever "climate revival" on Jan. 20. The yearlong campaign is targeted on four states — Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina — that organizers say are on the front lines of the impacts of climate change as well as efforts to suppress voting access.

"Those two issues are just...

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Are today's seminarians tomorrow's corporate leaders?

February 10, 2022

Some corporate culture experts point to Black Lives Matter. Others say it is the soul-wringing work-life decisions forced on CEOs during the pandemic. Still others date large companies’ engagement with social justice issues back to the early days of the #MeToo movement.

Jeff Stoner, an executive coach in Minneapolis, said he has been fielding deeper questions from his corporate clients for years about purpose and priorities. “I was finding in so many of my coaching engagements that we were talking about things that could be defined as spiritual or faith-centered,” said Stoner...

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First rabbi chosen to lead Essex County social justice group

February 3, 2022

For much of the past two decades, Rabbi Margie Klein Ronkin has worked on the front lines of campaigns to secure fairer treatment and greater opportunities for people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Now, the veteran activist has a new opportunity to put those organizing skills to work as the next leader of the Essex County Community Organization.

ECCO, a faith-based grass-roots organization that fights for racial and social justice, named Ronkin its new executive director effective Jan. 15. The Jamaica...

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Biden urges Congress to come together at annual National Prayer Breakfast: 'How do we unite us again?'

February 3, 2022

President Joe Biden on Thursday stressed the importance of unifying the country at a "moment of great division," as he delivered remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast at the US Capitol.

"As I stand in this citadel of democracy that was attacked one year ago, the issue is, for us, is unity. How do we unite us again?" Biden said. "Unity is elusive, but it's really actually necessary."

"Unity doesn't mean we have to agree on everything, but unity is where enough of us, enough of us believe in a core of basic things: The common good, the general welfare, of faith in...

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Muslims in interfaith bonds are proliferating. Imams willing to marry them are not.

January 10, 2022

When Faiqa Cheema and Jeff Beale were planning their September 2021 wedding, it was important to Cheema that it include elements of the traditional ceremony of her Muslim faith, while also being meaningful for her husband, who was raised Baptist.

The couple’s path to their dream interfaith wedding turned out to be more complicated than they expected. While such unions are increasingly common, Muslim clergy have long frowned on marrying outside Islam, and Cheema and Beale struggled to find an imam who would officiate, much less adapt the Islamic ceremony, known as a nikah, to...

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Buddhist leaders share open letter addressing antisemitism following Texas synagogue attack

January 19, 2022

Over 100 Buddhist leaders have signed an open letter addressing antisemitism following the January 15 synagogue attack at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, in which a gunman held four people hostage for 10 hours. Penned by Zen teacher Koshin Paley Ellison of the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, the letter was shared via Google Doc for Buddhist leaders to sign.

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Historic Westside interfaith service celebrates MLK holiday

January 17, 2022

Although Louisiana schools desegregated right before Charles Lee Bilberry’s senior year in 1969, he was not allowed to attend his graduation ceremony, he said, because “the white parents didn’t want their children to graduate with colored children.”

Bilberry collected his diploma from the principal’s office and soon moved to Southern Nevada. He recalled his mother’s hug and kiss on the cheek when she told him, “Son, when you go to Las Vegas, be the best that you can be.”

He spoke of the moment Sunday afternoon during an Interfaith Service at Second Baptist Church in...

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