Dear Friends of Faith House,

In times past, strong cities were walled. Our religions developed in similar contexts of defensiveness, isolation and conflict.  The times have changed.  Today, bridges, airports, roads, cell phones and the internet help cities survive and thrive on a connected planet. Religion, one of the most potent forces to mobilize human hearts and communities, has yet to catch up in our newly interdependent world.
 
The world is hurt not only by the actions of religious extremist minorities but by the religious ignorance and indifference of the majority. Tolerance and appreciation between religions is simply not enough. We all must dig further into our texts, traditions, and practices to  help us experience, understand and actually learn to need one another.
 
Nothing happens alone.  The promises our religions make - to  love our neighbor, empower the poor, pursue justice, and care for the planet - cannot be fulfilled when our groups act alone. To fulfill the promises of our own religions, we need each other.

That's why we have Faith House. This is a unique organization.  Hearts and minds change through experience, community, and sustained action. While most interfaith work happens as dialogue, Faith House provides a space where people can experience "the other" and form long-lasting relationships in a sustained "community of communities."  

Faith House is an experiential urban laboratory.  Instead of believing in the self-sufficiency of our religions, we serve the city and the world with fresh ideas and expressions of interdependence, exploring possibilities for passionate belief in a pluralist world, insisting that new practices can be discovered, discussed, developed, and spread.
 
In 2009, our 21 Living Room Gatherings explored topics such as:

Faith House has quickly become a place for learning how to live into our interdependent future. Our attendance has been growing steadily and has averaged 50% growth from our first year.  We have created a solid leadership team of staff, a Board of Directors and lay leaders.  We have embarked upon our second year of this journey with hope and determination.

We need you to join us and be the wind at our back.  We offer you a stake in Faith House, where we deal with what really matters: the development of practical ideas on the grassroots level -- ideas that change the world from the ground up, through perseverance and practice, driven by a community behind them. That's Faith House!
 
Your one-time tax-deductible gift of $100, $500, $1,000, more, or any amount you can contribute, will make Faith House grow and thrive.  Also, your estimated gift for 2010 will go a long way in helping us plan our operations in the next year.
    
HELP NOW: Please make a tax deductible donation, directly through our fiscal sponsor, on our Facebook Cause page, or send a check made out to "Faith House Manhattan" to P.O. Box 552, New York, NY 10028. 

We need to raise $58,000 to close our 2009 budget and continue our operations in 2010.  Check our website often to watch the ticker mark our progress.  Please share this letter with your friends and networks.  
ESTIMATE YOUR HELP FOR 2010: You can send your intention to give to Faith House in 2010 to support@faithhousemanhattan.org along with the form below.

Our Jewish intern Leah Varsano expressed the sentiment of many of us in her article, "I gained important, deeply moving lessons, spiritual and otherwise, from every tradition. I also learned where my spiritual home is."