Photo Credits: Asmaa Waguih/Reuters

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

6 pm Doors, 7 pm Program

Intersections
274 5th Ave

Btwn 29th and 30th Sts

With Frankie Fredericks
of World Faith and
Religious Freedom USA   

You've seen the news. At this moment in history, it's all about Egypt. So come learn and converse with our panelists Karen El-Badry, Nader Galal, and Janan Delgado who will share their own experiences, insights and stories from their family and friends in Egypt. The evening will be wrapped in Egyptian sweets, sounds, and prayers of hope. Our facilitator will be Frankie Fredericks who, inspired by his independent research on Christian-Muslim relations in Egypt, built a global interfaith movement called World Faith. He ultimately returned to start a World Faith chapter in Egypt. 

A born-again Christian from Oregon, Frank Fredericks is the co-director of Religious Freedom USA and Executive Director of World Faith, an interfaith community service network with chapters in six countries.  An alumnus of New York University, he previously worked in the music industry, managing artists such as Lady Gaga, and founding Çöñàr Records. Fredericks works as an Online Marketing Consultant and has consulted businesses, artists, and non-profits, including the Cordoba Initiative.  As an active blogger, Frank contributes to a number of blogs, including the Huffington Post.  He is an Interfaith Youth Core Fellows alumnus, UN Alliance of Civilizations presenter, and has been interviewed by Good Morning America, NPR, New York Magazine, and various international media outlets.

Karen Rockwell El-Badry is recently retired after working as the United Nations Recruitment and Administrative Officer in NY for 35 years. Karen lived in the Middle East and now resides in Westchester County, New York State. She is a Board member of the United Nations Association for the USA, Westchester Chapter, and also a coordinator of for a Yonkers public school program, (third grades) entitled, "Peace Makes the World a Better Place.". The goal of this project is to introduce students to the United Nations and the concept of peace-making. Karen serves on the board of Center for Jewish- Christian-Muslim Understanding and is a Westchester Dialogue Circle participant.

Nader Galal spent the first half of his life in Alexandria, Egypt, and was a victim of police brutality there as a teenager. He was among the first to sign a petition for change by The Egyptian Association for Change. His brother, nephew, and cousin were on the ground in both Alexandria and Cairo during the revolution, and he was in contact with them multiple times a day. Nader is a psychiatrist.

Janan Delgado is an Ecuadorian Muslim woman with a BA in International Relations from the American University in Cairo, and an MA in Near Eastern Studies from New York University. Janan moved from Ecuador to Egypt at the age of eighteen to pursue training in Arabic and Islamic studies for a year. She ended up staying for nearly six years. Her academic research has focused on Islamic legal theories and family law in medieval Granada, and in her spare time she has published on gender and Muslim issues in the West. Janan Delgado lives in NYC and is Program Coordinator at Park51, the planned community center in Lower Manhattan. 

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

6 pm Doors, 7 pm Program

Intersections
274 5th Ave

Btwn 29th and 30th Sts

With Transmission

Every year around this time, there comes a Wednesday when you've probably noticed a marked difference among the people you pass on the street.  Women, men, and children are marked with a cross made of ash on their forehead, including perhaps people you've never before seen showing signs of their religiosity.  For many Christians, getting ashes on "Ash Wednesday" is one of the most important rites of the year.  Ash Wednesday also marks the beginning of the Christian season of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and deep prayer that ends with the remembrance of Jesus' death and the celebration of his resurrection on Easter Sunday.  

In this Living Room, led by the emergent church group Transmission, we will dip our toes into the mysteries of mortality, sacrifice, and cleansing that are integral to Ash Wednesday and Lent.  Through a series of activities including soap-making, yoga poses, Taize chanting, scriptural reading, and conversations, we'll look at what Lent can offer both Christians and non-Christians alike on their spiritual journey.

Transmission is an emergent house church made up mostly of New Yorkers in their twenties and thirties. It attracts both the "churched," some of whom have gone to seminary and now work for churches, as well as those who are attracted to Christian spirituality but do not feel fed (or comfortable) in traditional churches. Transmission is very interested in the relationship between worship and community, as well as the relationship between innovation and tradition, seeking to craft new ritual and liturgical exploration while remaining in continuity with the larger Christian tradition. Transmission was founded in 2006 by Isaac Everett and Bowie Snodgrass, who met at on Ash Wednesday 2004.

Why do women have a natural affinity to congregate? What is it that draws us together? We know it is happening... in our communities of faith, over our stoves and microwaves, in our emails and blogs! We know it is happening...at board meetings and neighborhood demonstrations, over skype and chai lattes!

In the name of that which connects us

and that which makes us diverse,

Ashley and Jill