Newsletter
Our first 19 months
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Greetings!
Faith House launched on September 27, 2008, nineteen months ago. The world has changed since - with a new president, the financial crisis, recession, and now a season of renewed hope. The need for Interfaith initiatives is in the news and public consciousness more every month while Faith House has grown from an idea to a young organization making an impact in New York City and beyond.
This newsletter is an update on what's been happening and the community of leaders at Faith House. The people and events that have shaped Faith House
have increased inter-religious understanding, empathy, and connections, meeting needs in our communities.
Please read on, give us your feedback, and share your ideas with us!
PROGRAMMING
Faith House's primary contribution is planning events to "experience your neighbor's faith." Since our launch in September 2008, we have hosted 40 Living Room events, with five more scheduled this season, plus 10 Field Trips and 10
Serve Together opportunities. Together we have built real bridges of religious literacy, compassion and a network ready for action.
Habitat for Humanity (Serve Together), 2nd Annual Interfaith
Seder (Special Event), Salat (Living Room), Chogyesa Zen Temple (Field
Trip), Queen Esther (Purim Living Room), Holy Family (Immigration
Advocacy Serve Together), Islamic Day of Dignity (Serve Together)
We have also facilitated Interfaith Prayers for Peace at Storahtelling's Yom Kippur
services and two Interfaith Seders hosted by St. Francis Xavier Church and led by Romemu's
Rabbi David Ingber (50 people attended the first year and 150 the
second!).
Visit our website and eNewsletter archive to check out all we've done - or look through the featured "Faith House Gatherings ONLINE" in the right column to listen to podcasts from our Living Rooms, read articles about our events, peruse photos and "tweets".
Email Bowie Snodgrass bowie@faithhousemanhattan.org with what you've liked best and what you would like to see in our next year.
LEADERSHIP
Faith House Manhattan has grown to have a community of leaders including our Board of Directors, "Kitchen Table" team of
volunteers, and many local religious leaders who have served on our Advisory Council and as Living Room guest hosts. Faith House's leadership has been supported by a hard-working staff and visionary donors.
Our mission statement says "We are an experiential inter-religious community that comes together to
deepen our personal and communal journeys, share ritual life and
devotional space, and foster a commitment to social justice and healing
the world." The Faith House Community is all the people mentioned above, everyone who has attended our events, and the 3,000+ of you reading this newsletter.
Community of Leaders
Our Living Rooms events have been led by a diverse range of guest hosts: Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Zoastrian, Lakotan, Buddist, Atheist and leaders in the Interfaith Movement, young adults and wise elders. Check out the long list of Living Room Hosts and Musicians on our Leadership page.
Sundeep Sonny Singh, Amichai Lau-Lavie, Emily Scott, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, Paul Knitter, Rathi Raja, Myong Haeng Sunim & Marcia Kannry
To nurture the community and assist with hospitality at our events, we started the "Kitchen Table" team this fall. Andy Padre, the chair of this team, also raised money for Faith House by creating and selling his original MetroCard Art at the Easter Parade this year!.
Many members of our Advisory Council have been guest hosts at our Living Rooms, invaluable mentors, and friends. We want to grow this community of leaders this year. Do you know local religious leaders who would be excited about getting involved with Faith House?
Perhaps our most momentous step forward as a community this year came in the formation of our founding Board of Directors, who met in November to sign our by-laws for incorporation as a non-profit in New York State, review our budget, and begin work on fundraising. The Board met again in March and will meet twice more this year.
- Learn more about the "Kitchen Table" team of volunteers who nurture community growth and hospitality
- Nominate a religious leader in the New York City area to join our Advisory Council. Please include their contact information and basic biographical information.
- Learn more about becoming a member of our Board of Directors; we will send you the Guidelines and set up a time to discuss this possibility over the phone or in person.
Staff Transitions & a Pregnancy!
Faith House has been blessed with hard-working staff who deeply believe
in the vision of Faith House.
 In March 2009, Bowie Snodgrass became the Executive Director of Faith House and is now 20 weeks pregnant with her first child! Her primary focus for this spring and summer is getting Faith House ready for its third year and her maternity leave.
From June through August 2009, Leah Varsano was in invaluable summer intern, helping us prepare for our second year. Bara Levitt has been our Social Justice Intern during this academic year, organizing our monthly Serve Together events and supporting Faith House in many other ways. Congratulations to Leah and Bara who are both graduating from college this year!
In January 2010, our founding Islamic Co-Leader, Juliet rabia Gentile, ended her tenure with Faith House after blessing us with amazing programs and helping to shape the ethos of Faith House.
Samir Selmanovic also transitioned into a new title this year: "Founder and President of the Board." He is still integrally connected to all aspects of our present work, vision, and operations.
Bara Levitt, Leah Varsano, Juliet rabia Gentile, Samir Selmanovic
Thank You Donors!
None of this would be possible without our Donors! Thank you again to everyone who has supported Faith House since we began, our 2009 Donors, and all who have given generously in 2010!
COMMUNICATIONS
Our website and eNewsletters got a new look this fall thanks to Mairim Pina. We send out Weekly UPDATES with information about our upcoming events to people in the New York City area and periodic NEWSLETTERS to people all over the country and globe.
3,000 people on our email lists and 287 in our Facebook Group. Since January 1, 2010, we have had 6,300 unique visitors to our website from 6 continents and 117 countries/territories.
Samir Selmanovic's book published in September 2009, It's Really All About God: Reflections of a Muslim Atheist Jewish Christian, is helping to spread the larger
idea of interdependence among faiths and the work happening at Faith
House.
Finally, we've been getting some media mentions! Check out our appearances In the Media and keep your eyes out for more to come.
The world can change for the better. It is people like you who believe in the power of ideas, relationships, and acts of service. Let us all dream, serve, persevere, and celebrate what we can do together.
With love from New York City,
Faith House Manhattan community of communities
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LIVING ROOM TOMORROW
Salat: The Beauty of Prayer in Islam
 Tomorrow
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
6 pm Doors, 7 pm Program
Intersections, 274 5th Ave
Btwn 29th and 30th Sts
With Sabeeha Rehman
Five times a day, Muslims around the world turn towards Mecca and
perform Salat - the ritual of prayer to God. Men, women, and children -
they pray in mosques, they pray in public places, and they pray in the
privacy of their homes; they pray in congregations, and they pray in
solitude; they pray at dawn, and they pray at dusk. Throughout the
centuries and across the globe, the ritual of prayer has remained
constant and uniform. What is the genesis of prayer in Islam? What
does the performance of prayer signify? Join us with our host, Sabeeha
Rehman, and through her lens, visualize the beauty of salat, listen to
the voice of recital, and experience the ritual of prayer.
Sabeeha Rehmanis the Director of Interfaith Programs at the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA), and is a member of the Shura Council of
the Women's Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE), a
program of ASMA.
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Living Room
Green Deen:
What Islam Teaches About Protecting the Planet
 Wednesday, May 12, 2010
6 pm Doors, 7 pm Program
Intersections, 274 5th Ave
Btwn 29th
and 30th Sts
With Ibrahim Abdul-Matin
From childhood, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin was taught that "the Earth is a
Mosque," leading him to his belief that the planet is a sacred place
where prayer and worship happen and therefore, we are responsible for
protecting every aspect of it. You are invited to an interactive
evening with the author of "Green Deen: What Islam Teaches About Protecting the Planet", Ibrahim Abdul-Matin. The evening will include
his story of becoming an environmental justice activist and organizer,
discussion of Islamic scriptural passages that describe a faith-based
mandate to protect the planet, role plays and story telling on how faith
relates to waste, water, watts (energy), and food.
Ibrahim
Abdul-Matin is the author of "Green Deen: What Islam Teaches About Protecting the Planet", coming to you in Fall 2010 by Berrett-Koehler publishers.
He is currently a Senior Policy Advisor in the New York City Mayor's
Office on issues of long term planning and sustainability. Most
recently, Ibrahim was a consultant for Green City Force, a green jobs
training program for young people of color living in economically
depressed neighborhoods of Brooklyn. He is also a member of the Interfaith Leaders for Environmental Justiceand frequently represents the
environmental viewpoint on faith-based panels. His interest in
environmental justice began as Director of Youth Programs with the
Prospect Park Alliance where he was instrumental in establishing the
Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment, a charter school by New
Visions. His skill working with youth led him to Outward Bound - an
organization dedicated to developing young people's self esteem and
appreciation for the Earth.
In 2007, Ibrahim was accepted into
the National Urban Fellows program, completing a Masters in Public
Administration from Baruch College and a fellowship with SchoolNet where
he learned vital product marketing skills. He then joined Green For
All to organize the "National Day of Action" resulting in the inclusion
of green jobs and environmental policy in the Obama campaign platform.
In college, Ibrahim was an all-star linebacker, Political Science major,
and finalist for the prestigious NCAA scholar-athlete award in 1998.
Today, he is the sports contributor on WNYC's nationally syndicated news
show, "The Takeaway."He continues to intersect sports,
politics, and the environment on his blog, Brooklyn Bedouin.
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Faith House Gatherings ONLINE
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Board of Directors
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Samir Selmanovic Founder & President of the Board
Rod Colburn Treasurer
John Khabir
McGeehan Secretary
Bill Ashlock
Russell L. Chin
Yolande Miracle Colburn
Jill Minkoff
Bowie Snodgrass, Executive Director
Ex Officio
Photos: TOP John Khabir McGeehan & Samir Selmanovic, ABOVE Jill Minkoff
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Sponsor a Faith House Living Room
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Sponsor one of our Living Room gatherings with a donation of $500 or be a Co-Sponsor by giving $250. Sponsor an upcoming Living Room or suggest a topic you would like to sponsor in the future. For full info, visit our new Donate page online. |
Support Faith House - Shop at
Our Amazon.com
Book Store
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 Support Faith House when you
buy books through our Amazon.com Affiliates Book Store. Find
books and chapters by Samir Selmanovic, plus... Staff Favorites & Sabbath Poems Visit the Book Store |
More Upcoming
Living Rooms
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May 26
Austin Dacey, Author of The Secular Conscience
June 9
Peter Rollins,
Founder of Ikon and author of How (Not) to Speak of God
June 23
Carole Forman on Spiritual Storytelling
More information on Upcoming Living Room Gatherings
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