This year, Christians begin to observe the forty days of Lent on Ash Wednesday,
February 22.
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During Lent, Christians take time to focus on special concerns.
One congregation gathered theirs into the meditation shown above.
For each person, Lent becomes a journey from Ash Wednesday
through Holy Week, to Easter.
Prayer and reflection anchor the heart in this liturgical season.
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CELEBRATE
Islam Awareness Month
February 15 - March 15
Organized by
UMass Muslim Student Association
Campus Center, rooms 162-175 At 7pm
Open to the public - All are welcome
Click here for programs and dates
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Amherst Survival Center ramps up
fundraising for a spacious new building
This model of the proposed new Survival Center building, which will be
constructed on Sunderland Road, was made by Jan Eidelson, president
of the center's board of directors. Fundraisers have already come up
with $2 million and are seeking another $500,000 over the next few months. The Amherst Survival Center's basement space on North Pleasant Street
is so cramped that staff often have to decline donations of food because there's
no place to store it.
The center provides about 4,000 people a yer with hot lunches and
groceries to take home, plus housewares, clothes and medical care, all for free.
But the dining area is so crowded that some guests have to eat standing up or
go outside. . . .
But early next year, the Survival Center expects to move into a new
building with almost twice the space at 138 Sunderland Road, the site of
the former Roosters restaurant.
The center, working with Amherst fundraising consultant Ellen Leuchs,
has quietly raised $2 million for the project over the last 15 months, and hopes
to take in another $500,000 in the public phase of the campaign over the next
few months. A groundbreaking could take place in the spring.
ION congregations support the Amherst Survival Center.
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Statement of Support for Muslims
in the Amherst area
As the tenth anniversary of 9/11 approached, Muslims in the Amherst area
received an unprecedented expression of support. Thirteen local religious
congregations, including both Christians and Jews, and two campus religious
organizations, have formally and publicly endorsed a statement opposing any
mistreatment of Muslims and calling for solidarity and friendship.
The statement reads:
As people of faith, we voice our support for Muslims in our community and
beyond. We deplore anti-Islamic harassment, prejudice, hate-speech, and
hate-based actions. We stand with our Muslim sisters and brothers and oppose
any mistreatment or exclusion based on religion. We welcome opportunities to
grow in our understanding of each others' faiths, and to build relationships of
mutual respect, trust, and friendship.
The Interfaith Opportunities Network developed the statement, and ION also
gathered the formal endorsements.
Groups endorsing this statement include: United Church of Christ churches First Congregational, South
Congregational, and North Congregational, Amherst, and North Hadley Congregational and First Congregational,
Hadley; Grace Episcopal, Amherst; Immanuel Lutheran, Amherst; Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst;
Jewish Community of Amherst; Wesley United Methodist, Hadley; First Baptist Church, Amherst; Hope
Community Church, Amherst; Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is, Amherst; the Office of Religious Life at Amherst
College; Reverend Dr. Paul Sorrentino, Director of Religious Life, Amherst College; Chris Clark, DHM, Catholic
Religious Advisor, Amherst College; and United Christian Foundation at UMass Amherst. In addition, the
Mount Toby Friends Meeting published a similar statement of support in December 2010.
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Pioneer Valley Quakers express support
for Islamic Community
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 others' faiths."
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Memory, Healing and Hope:
Interfaith Gathering on the Tenth Anniversary of 9/11
Amherst area interfaith clergy led a special commemorative event -
Memory, Healing and Hope: An Interfaith Gathering on the Tenth Anniversary
of 9/11. Area newspapers' extensive 9/11 anniversary coverage included
Springfield Republican interviews with two ION members, Naz Mohamed
and Dilyara Celik.
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Dr. Ali Hazratji's lecture on Shari'a Law, sponsored by the Hampshire Mosque,
at South Congregational Church in Amherst on October 19, was the focus of Diane Lederman's Springfield Republican article.
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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). Check the website for details.
Sunday Night Worship Services
5 to 7 p.m.
OUTSIDE
in front of First Churches,
129 Main Street,
in downtown Northampton
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Difference is a blessing, not a challenge.
We define ourselves by knowing other people.
We know our world by learning about difference.
What is the word we often use? Tolerance.
Is that a positive option? Not really.
"For the time being, I will tolerate you"?
I'm against that concept. It means difference is a threat.
Difference is a blessing and you don't tolerate a blessing.
You embrace it.
Mohammad Mahallatl
of Oberlin College
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