It was a privilege for a number of us to attend the General Assembly in Louisville last month.  We had a booth with other international organizations and hosted a reception, with some 25 persons gathered.  A highlight for us this year was the presence of our international IARF guests, with two of them, Thomas Mathew from India and Rev. Suzuki from Japan, speaking in general sessions.  I had met with each of them in India and Japan the last two years, while taking students from my university, and on each occasion they honored us and gave gifts to each of our students!  So it was a personal privilege to meet with them again.

Thomas Mathew at IARF reception

In a Board meeting, we encouraged IARF members to attend two events to be held this August and next in England.  The IARF and the World Congress of Faiths is holding a conference on the theme, "Religious Freedom and Responsibility" in Horsham, England, August 20th-23rd this year.  Doris Hunter and I will be making presentations.  And many of us should plan to attend the IARF Congress, to be held in Birmingham the 24th to 27th of 2014. [See more on both events, below. Ed.] The last Congress, which is held every four years, was attended by over 600 people in Kochi, India, in 2010.  

Another action taken in our Board meeting was to support the Fairfield Children's Homes project in Zimbabwe with a donation of $500.  Francie Markham, one of our Board Members, is chair of FOSA, Fairfield Outreach and Sponsors Association, which raises money for Fairfield Children's Homes. This group has sent several container vessels of hospital equipment, school books, food, clothing, and other supplies to the schools, hospitals, and orphanage there.  Thanks, Francie, for alerting us to this opportunity!  It's been a treat (and work!) to be part of a team, including  Rebecca Drennan and husband, and my wife, to join Francie in loading these truck containers  a couple of times!

 To learn more or donate, click here.  

  

From Rebecca Drennan.

   This August 20-23rd the IARF and the

Horsham Unitarian Chapel

World Congress of Faiths are partnering to present a conference in Horsham, England. The WCF is a seventy-five year old organization that encourages the challenges and enrichments that arise from the interaction of diverse traditions of faith and belief. They publish Interreligious Insight, a leading journal on interfaith matters.

   The theme for the conference is: Religious Freedom and Responsibility.  Two members of our board, Council member Doris Hunter and chair Hal French, are among the distinguished speakers. Others are coming from across the globe, including Chris Hudson from Belfast, Dan McKanan from Harvard, Annelies Trelling from the Netherlands, Advocate Rengapashyam from India, Sheikh Amin-Evans from England.  Horsham is twenty-five minutes from Gatwick Airport and one hour from London. If you are interested in attending, check out www.worldfaiths.org.

   The same group who organized this event will also head the team for the IARF Congress to be held in England next summer, 2014.  They consider this summer's a good practice run for next summer's larger conference.

For details, click here.

Eboo Patel gave the prestigious Ware Lecture at the UU General Assembly in June.  Dr. Patel is founder and President of the Interfaith Youth Core, an international nonprofit building the interfaith youth movement. 

He opened with April's story, which highlights the importance of language in interfaith cooperation. "For all of April's love for her faith, and all of her instincts to stand in solidarity with others, she did not have the theological language to articulate her position. So she lost" control of an effort to help after an attack on a mosque to those who would use it as an occasion to proselytize the 'devil worshipers.'

Noting that UUs confess a lack of articulateness about their faith, he suggests that they have much to say.  He put forward that "you believe that difference is holy. Listen to the words of Unitarian Universalist minister Greta Crosby: 'all of us together, all the eyes of all the creatures, are the eye of God. That is why we need each other, our many ways of seeing, that together we may rejoice, and see clearly, and find the many keys to abundant life.' Not only do you believe this, you act on it." Further, "to call up your own stories, practices, quotations in a range of situations, is absolutely core to effective interfaith leadership. So is having an appreciative knowledge of other traditions."

His father taught him a first lesson in interfaith relations:  "Always look for the resonances."  It also calls for recognizing profound differences, and while not giving ground on one's principles, not denying entrance to those who disagree.  "We need exceptional people who are able to hold the tensions here in a way that binds together rather than breaks apart, people who are willing to lead with their chin and take a punch. 

"Nurturing positive relations between people with deep disagreements is holy."  He closed by quoting Martin Luther King, "the end is reconciliation, the end is redemption, the end is the creation of the beloved community."

For full lecture . . . 

Who looks out with my eyes? What is the soul?