Interfaith Opportunities
Network

 

ION

Zoya Hasan

Professor of Political Science

Jawaharlal Nehru University,

New Delhi

 

The Injustice Within:  Muslims in Emerging India

 

Feb. 18th, 4:30 p.m.

 

Porter Lounge, Converse Hall, Amherst College




              Egypt:
     A Nation’s Rebirth

 

Sponsored by:

Unitarian Universalist

Society of Amherst

121 North Pleasant Street

Amherst, MA

 

Sunday, February 27, 2011

3:00 PM – 5:00 PM

 

Free and open to the public

 

          Hear Mohammed Abdelaal speak about being an Egyptian for the past 30 years, being an Egyptian during the past weeks, and being an Egyptian for the next 30 years.

          Mohammed Abdelaal is Director of Religious Affairs and Chaplain of Hampshire Mosque, and Advisor to Muslim Student Association at Amherst College

 

For more information, contact Bob Berwick (536-2676 or bsberwick@gmail.com) or Ted Alcaide (230-3377 or tedalcaide@comcast.net).
Quakers express support
for Islamic Community

A letter written by Margaret Cooley, clerk of a Quaker group based in Leverett, begins:   
      
          The Mount Toby Monthly Meeting of Friends, wanting to express support for our Muslim neighbors, came to unity on the following statement:

          "Increasingly aware of fears about Islam within the United States, we of
Mt. Toby Friends Meeting (Quakers) voice our support for Muslims within our community and beyond.  We stand with those who live in fear because of their religion.  We deplore anti-Islamic harassment and welcome the opportunity to grow in the understanding of each other's faiths." 

           . . . . We seek opportunities to educate ourselves and to become better acquainted with our Muslim neighbors so that we grow in our understanding of the Muslim faith.  Individuals from our meeting have already begun this work in various ways, such as attending recent interfaith events hosted by local Muslim communities, becoming involved with the Interfaith Opportunities Network and helping to raise funds for Pakistani flood relief.
           
            We look forward to learning more about and further supporting Muslims in our area.
                                                          Read the entire Mt. Toby letter



           "On Islamic Nonviolence" by Rabia Terri Harris, founder and director of the Muslim Peace Fellowship, explores Islamic peacemaking.

_____________________________

If God had so wished He would have made you all one community,
but He wishes to try you in that which He has given you,
so compete with each other in good works.
                                                                   (Qur'an 5:48)
______________________        
          
See faith-based peace fellowships listed at Fellowship of Reconciliation.


A New Ministry for Young Adults
in downtown Northampton

        Cathedral in the Night is a new ministry in downtown Northampton, MA which seeks to create an unapologetically Christian community as a safe place for young people to explore, question, and live out their spiritual beliefs - and to empower that community to engage in issues of social justice by working with persons who are homeless and helping to fight the causes of homelessness.

        Worship and Justice, Fellowship and Food will be featured.  Founding ministers of Cathedral in the Night are the Rev. Chris Carlisle (Episcopal), the Rev. Eric Kistler (UCC), and the Rev. Stephanie Smith (ELCA).  Thursday night discussions have begun; check the website for further details.

Sunday Night Worship Services
5 to 7 p.m.
OUTSIDE
St. John's Episcopal Church
48 Elm Street, Northampton

Thursday Night Discussions
7 to 9 p.m.
Green Bean
241 Main St., Northampton
MA Council of Churches offers an event open to everyone

"Immigration, the Church, and the Bible"
A Workshop for Clergy and Lay Leaders

Friday, March 11, 2011
9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Wesley United Methodist Church
114 Main St., Worcester, MA  01608

Presenter:  M. Daniel Carroll R.
Author of Christians at the Border:
Immigration, the Church, and the Bible

Cost of Registration: $20, with lunch and a copy of Strangers in the Land, a 6-week devotional guide on immigration from the editors of Souournets.  $30 for a Pastor and Lay Leader.  Scholarships available.
When Gainesville, FL minister Terry Jones planned to burn the Qu'ran on 9/11, Massachusetts Bible Society intended to take a stand against hate
by giving away two copies of the Qur'an
for every one that Rev. Jones and his congregation burned.

          MassBible said:  "As people of the Book, we are joined to Islam and Judaism in a
special way and as an organization that has sought to put that Book into people's hands for 201
years, we cannot stand idly by while the sacred text of a sister religion is burned as our beloved
Bibles once were.  The Qur'ans will go to prisons, hospitals, shelters, or to any place where there are Muslims without access to their sacred text. . . .
          "This in no way diminishes our belief in the Bible as the Word of God. On the contrary, it is
acting on the command within its pages to love our neighbors as ourselves (Lev. 19:18) and to
do unto others as we would have done unto us (Matt. 7:12)."
 
          In Haydenville MA, The Rev. Andrea Ayvazian asked "What would Jesus do on 9/11?" 
To read her column, click here.

          Meanwhile, Rev. Jones' neighbor - Imam Muhammad Musri - engaged the minister in conversation.   In his quiet approach to an irate man, the Muslim imam reminded the Christian
pastor what Jesus taught.  See Imam Musri in this video clip.
 

Buddhist Peace Pagoda
celebrates 25th anniversary
Leverett historian Georgana Foster writes:

          On the first Saturday [of October], I sat under an azure sky on Cave Hill, beneath a gleaming white dome of a Buddhist shrine as Wampanoug Indians prayed and a Roman Catholic bishop and a Muslim brought messages,  Cambodian children danced a blessing, and Gandhi's favorite hymn was sung, after traditional Buddhist prayers and ceremonies.

              Later, representatives of Baptists, Quakers, Jews, as well as the chair of the Leverett Selectboard brought greetings.  Together, we took time October 2 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Buddhist Peace Pagoda in Leverett.

         Twenty-five years ago, I had sat in the crowd celebrating the inauguration, until a rainstorm lashed the hill before the closing feast, scattering the crowd and leaving my church with their contribution of huge pots of baked beans and corn bread uneaten.

          But it was the storms of events which proceeded the building of the pagoda that I remembered then - and now. . . .
Pioneer Valley News
features two of ION's recent concerns.  See articles and photos:

          1.  Healing Service, planned by Pastor Ellen Petersen (UCC) at North Congregational Church, Hadley  (scroll to page 6)

           2.  West Springfield Mosque efforts to reach out to the community (scroll to page 10)

"Praying in the Spirit for God's people everywhere . . ."

From The Rev. Rob Hirshfeld's letter in Grace Notes, May 2010:


Praying in the Spirit for God's people everywhere is what Christians do.  . . .  

 

I am . . . praying for the Hampshire Mosque these days.  It was wonderful to welcome their imam, Brother Mohammed, for several services at Grace Church when we mourned the plunge taken by our global society in the wake of the tragic events of September 11, 2001.  It was also an honor for many of us at Grace Church to celebrate the opening of their first house of worship in the Carriage Shops.

 

Brother Mohammed has been ready to answer my phone calls whenever we've sought to

collaborate in prayer and witness to God's peace. They are people of devout and faithful prayer,

peace, holiness, and holy friendship. You can learn about their mission to work for understanding and harmony among all people at their website: www.hampshiremosque.org.

 

The Spirit sometimes urges my prayers through pain, and it pains me to hear what I hope against hope is not true: that the possibility of the Hampshire Mosque's moving to a site on the Amherst side of Harkness Road is being met with some anti-Muslim fear and hostility, thinly veiled as concerns about traffic and sanitation. It has been a relief to see the members of Grace Church who live on Harkness speaking in support of our neighbors in faith. The members of Hampshire Mosque are children of Abraham, as we are. Please join me in  my prayers for an amicable and loving resolution to this conflict.

 

I also hold the Jewish Community of Amherst in my prayers as they prepare to welcome a new

young rabbi to lead them into their next chapter of life.  Grace Church shares some common

values with the JCA, and it occurs to me that we could easily plagiarize their mission statement, replacing "Grace Church" and "Christian/Episcopal" in the mission statement that I found on their website, www.j-c-a.org:

 

The Jewish Community of Amherst is dedicated

to creating and maintaining an open, dynamic,

spiritual and participatory membership. We

believe a strong commitment to Jewish values

and embracing the spiritual richness of our

traditions enables our diverse community to

meet the challenges of our contemporary world.

We value openness and welcome all - gays and

lesbians, singles, interfaith couples, people of

color, differently-abled people, and those of

limited economic means.

 

When Israel attacked Gaza a year and a half ago, I was invited by the current (now outgoing) rabbi, David Dunn Bauer to attend a special meeting at the JCA. I learned what might be obvious to many but bears repeating: the members of our neighboring synagogue feel a range of emotions regarding the current situation in the Middle East: shame, pride, anger, hope, fear, exasperation, depression, and hope.

 

Again, the Spirit sometimes works through us in pain and confusion, leading us to bend the knees of our heart. When Ben Weiner, their new rabbi, arrives with his family this summer, I will be eager to welcome him on behalf of Grace Church.

 

The Spirit also works through moments of encouragement and hope, leading us to prayers of

thanksgiving. The Interfaith Opportunities Network (ION) is one of several groups that are striving to encourage conversation among the "Children of Abraham." I am grateful for the work of many in our Church, including Zina Tillona, DeAnne Riddle, Mary Matthews, and others in the Episcopal Peace Fellowship, in whom God's Dream of Peace is so evident. This interfaith ecumenical work is not easy. There is sacrifice. Relationships once thought to be secure and safe can be tested.  Peacemakers rely on the love of God that is wider than we can imagine.

 

As the Holy Spirit moves you, I hope that you also  will pray with me: that all people may find

themselves embraced and healed, and that the image of God among us be restored. May God

work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish God's purposes on earth as in heaven.