Articles

Atlanta Community of the Cross of Nails Co-Sponsors Interfaith Forum

By Thee Smith
Faith And The City E-Letter
Volume 2 Issue 14
December 2, 2003

"Warning. This article contains no news of religious schisms, scandals or violence. Still interested?"

That attention-grabbing comment opened the headline article in the "Faith & Values" section of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It appeared just two days before the Interfaith Forum co-sponsored by Atlanta's Community of the Cross of Nails (CCN) chapter on October 27, 2003. (See "Coming Together: More seeking to resolve conflicts under the growing umbrella of religious reconciliation," by John Blake, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 25, 2003, F1.)

The article continued: "The organizers of two events coming to Atlanta next week are hoping people will be [still interested in reading the article despite 'no news of religious schisms, scandals or violence']. While recent religion headlines seem dominated by conflict, another trend is quietly gathering momentum."

The Forum
The daylong forum, held at the Cathedral of St. Philip, brought Christians together with Jews and Muslims, and included representatives of the Hindu, Buddhist, Baha'i, and African traditional religions among others. Under the umbrella theme of "Bridges of Faith in a Broken World," presentations by keynote speakers and panelists were followed by participant dialogue groups that addressed topics such as:

"Must faith divide us? Can we learn and practice with each other? Can we build beyond our common ground? What can we do together? How can our faith impact Atlanta and beyond?"

About 175 people participated in the multi-faith gathering, which featured local speakers in dialogue with national and international speakers. For instance local African American imam, Plemon El-Amin (of the Atlanta Masjid of Al-Islam), was paired with Rabbi David Rosen of Israel, an interreligious affairs officer of the American Jewish Committee who also heads the World Conference on Religion and Peace--the all-encompassing world interfaith body.

Opening the day was Emory University scholar of Hindu traditions, Laurie Patton, followed by the Rev. John McGuire, O.P., director of the Catholic campus ministry at New York University. Theirs was the first of several dialogue sessions moderated by Dr. Harvey Thomas, former press and public relations director for Margaret Thatcher throughout her years as Prime Minister of the UK.

Dr. Thomas also closed the day, leading a scholars round table that included two additional speakers from the mid-morning session moderated by Dr. Patton on Eastern traditions: Dr. Uma Majmudar, Emory Ph.D. graduate and author of a forthcoming book on "Gandhi's Pilgrimage of Faith," and Geshe Lobsang Negi, also an Emory scholar and the Dalai Lama's representative for fostering Tibetan Buddhism in Atlanta.

The forum concluded in the Cathedral sanctuary with a delightful performance by an interfaith chorus of young people followed by a powerful interfaith religious observance. Harmony: Atlanta's International Youth Chorus, is directed by Joyce Ketchie Carr McDonald and uses musical training to foster mutual respect and solidarity among children of diverse religious and cultural backgrounds.

The interfaith observance featured a unity candle lighting ceremony that accompanied the chanting, praying, or singing of benedictions from diverse traditions: the Hindu benediction by Dr. P.V. Rao of Emory University, Jewish by Rabbi Noach Shapiro of Ahavath Achim Synagogue, Christian by the Rev. Caroline Kelly of Central Presbyterian Church, Muslim by Imam Plemon El-Amin of the Atlanta Masjid of Al-Islam, Baha' by Ms. Hermione Pickens of the Atlanta Baha'i community, and Priestess Omolewa Eniolorunopa of Atlanta's Yoruba community.

Background
The first impulse toward such a forum emerged from the Atlanta Regional Assembly on Faith and Public Life meeting at nearby Callaway Gardens on February 24-26, 2002. In its final report the Assembly called for Religious institutions [to] create forums in which people of different faiths can engage in exploration of their common and uncommon ground. (p.21)

The Atlanta Regional Assembly represented our local participation in The American Assembly, founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1950 "to illuminate issues of public policy." The related goals on "faith and public life" highlighted by the Atlanta Assembly included:

• The creation of a common agenda to enhance mutual understanding of diverse faiths.
• The building of relationships among people of different faiths.
• Creat[ing] safe space where strongly held convictions can be placed into discussion without fear of recrimination or dismissal.
• Build[ing] trust and respect among religious and lay leaders so that over time they will be able to hold one another accountable.
• [Making] efforts to enhance multi-faith engagement and mutual respect... [including] concrete strategies to improve conditions of life in our city.

Subsequently the Atlanta Community of the Cross of Nails (CCN), based at the Cathedral of St. Philip, was asked to partner with Reconciliation Networks of Our World (RNOW), to develop an interfaith forum as a pre-conference to RNOW's international reconciliation conference held at Hopewell Baptist Church in Norcross later that week.

Joining together RNOW's interest with the goals of the Atlanta Regional Assembly, CCN began to network with the Faith Alliance of Metropolitan Atlanta (FAMA) and the American Jewish Committee. As participants attested, this network of partnering and co-sponsoring organizations created an effective umbrella for one of Atlanta's first interfaith forums of its kind.

Keynotes
Many participants remarked that this was their first direct engagement with members of other faith traditions, and expressed gratitude that the occasion afforded them both scholarly and practical resources for building "Bridges of Faith in a Broken World."

In that connection Dr. Laurie Patton challenged participants to 'adopt' one other faith tradition in addition to their own, and to learn its practices and beliefs as an interfaith 'bridge.' An additional bridge, Dr. Patton recommended, was the practice of mourning with each other when another community experiences death or tragedy, whether in the U.S. or the Middle East, Africa or elsewhere.

Following her other remarks, Dr. Harvey Thomas pressed the keynote speakers during the Scholars Round Table with the query: 'Do you really need the other traditions in order to practice more profoundly your own?' To that question the speakers responded in the affirmative but in different ways that qualified and reframed the question itself.

Plans are already developing for a future forum under the aegis of the Faith Alliance of Metropolitan Atlanta (FAMA). For further information, contact FAMA via its host organization in Atlanta, Faith And The City (www.faithandthecity.org). Call Ken Brant at 404-523-5554 or email him at kbrant@faithandthecity.org.

Theophus "Thee" Smith, Ph.D., is a priest associate at the Cathedral of St. Philip and associate professor of religion at Emory University.