Call for Proposals: NAINConnect “Establishing Interfaith Friendly Cities” Atlanta, GA July 15-18, 2012.

2012 NAIN CONNECT IN ATLANTA
Call for Proposals

The 2012 NAIN Connect will be held July 15th-18th in Atlanta, Georgia. It will be hosted by the Interfaith Community Institute (ICI) of Atlanta with the theme:
“Establishing Interfaith Friendly Cities.”

As the Local Planning Committee, we are inviting NAIN members and affiliates to offer proposals for topics, panelists, and presenters congruent with the theme and any of the
following categories:

Faith and Government
Faith and Education
Interfaith Culture and Art
Youth and Interfaith
Interfaith Collaborations
Faith and the Workplace
Faith and Ecology
Interfaith and Health
Interfaith and Media

Please email or mail your proposals to us as soon as possible, but no later than April 15th, and provide significant detail, i.e. bios, credentials, presentation methods, and any other useful information.

Our address is:
InterfaithCI
669 Eastside Ave.
Atlanta, Georgia 30316
or plemon [AT] interfaithci.org (please remember to replace [AT] with @ when you send the email)

Thank you,
Imam Plemon T. El-Amin
Local Chairperson

Also, please share this link and information to let your networks know about this opportunity!

NAIN

NAIN Conference 2012 Young Adult Scholarship Application!

The North American Interfaith Network Scholarship Application for the NAINConnect 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia is available online at http://nain.org/YAScholApp12.pdf

The North American Interfaith Network (NAIN) offers a unique opportunity to include younger representatives (ages 16-35) in a valuable interfaith encounter during the 2012 NAINConnect in Atlanta, Georgia.  This scholarship recognizes young adults across the continent who are actively engaged in important work at the high school, college, graduate, and professional level.

If you are passionate about interfaith work, we welcome your energy and enthusiasm and encourage you to apply!  You do not need to be part of a NAIN member organization to apply.  Recipients are selected by the NAIN Young Adult Committee, according to the directives of the NAIN Board of Directors.  See below for complete information about the application process and requirements.

Scholarship recipients will receive:

-          A $500 stipend to help cover the cost of registration, housing, travel, and meals.

-          A reduced registration fee of $125 for attendance at the summer Connect.

-          The option of sharing a hotel room with another scholarship recipient.  We encourage scholarship recipients to take advantage of this opportunity, which will enhance the Connect experience and save money.

Scholarship recipients are required to:

-          Be actively engaged at the NAINConnect, attending the majority of the programming.

-          Speak on a panel or participate in a workshop at some point during the Connect.  More information will be provided to selected scholarship recipients.

-          Write a brief reflective article on their experiences for NAINews.

-          Applicants under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult chaperone, or indicate upon applying that they would be attending the Connect unaccompanied so that a chaperone can be assigned accordingly.  Applicants under the age of 18 will also need to complete a health and consent form prior to arrival at the conference.

Please send completed application forms, along with the essay, as a Word or PDF attachment to Karen Boyett at pluralism@interfaithsn.org.  Hard copies of the application will not be accepted.

All applications are due by Sunday, April 15, 2012 at 11:59 PM PST.

University of Nevada-Reno in USA to have an Interfaith Prayer Room

Prestigious University of Nevada-Reno (UNR) today agreed in principle to have an interfaith prayer-room.

In a meeting with a group of campus student religious leaders and area clergy, UNR President Marc A. Johnson said that interfaith prayer-room was a good idea and they would like to have it.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed has commended UNR for accepting the longstanding need of students of interfaith prayer-room and thus recognizing the intersection of spirituality and education. It was a step in the right direction, Zed added.

Many universities in USA and Canada already have prayer/meditation room/chapel for quiet reflection and spiritual exercise.

Johnson asked the group to let him know their needs and they would look for the space.  He pointed out that they wanted to move forward on it, take action and explore the idea further. Besides short-term solution to it, old Getchell Library building could be a long term possibility and he would talk to the designers to include prayer-room into its future design, Johnson added.

UNR President further said that university would try to find space for it and work out specifications and parameters; make sure that it was a safe place; and figure out space needs, size, scheduling and other rules. He appointed Director Diversity Initiatives Reginald Chhen Stewart to explore the idea further in collaboration with the group.

Johnson remarked that following a single faith was good but cross-religion knowledge would create ambassadors of peace coming out of the university. Besides other learning, people came to universities for spiritual development also.

Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism and Director Interfaith Relations of Nevada Clergy Association, stressed during the meeting: “With the presence of Prayer Room, UNR students would have a spiritually meaningful life in addition to material success after they graduate from here.” Prayer Room would be another feather in UNR’s cap in making it a world class educational institution, Zed added.

The group presented a letter to Johnson, asking for centrally located “UNR Interfaith Prayer Room”, which, it said, “will be a ‘house of prayer for all peoples’ and open to people of all religions and denominations and no religion, for prayer, reflection, meditation & dialogue”. “Friends of UNR Interfaith Prayer Room” comprising of area religious leaders and campus student leaders of diverse traditions will augment and support the maintenance and operation of the UNR Interfaith Prayer Room, it added.  In an earlier signed letter to Johnson, area religious leaders and campus student leaders belonging to Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Baha’i, Pagan, etc., traditions, urged for provision of an interfaith prayer-room.

University officials, besides Johnson, who attended this meeting, included Executive Vice President Heather K. Hardy, Vice President Student Services Shannon Ellis, Associate Vice President Student Life Services Gerald Marczynski, Director Joe Crowley Student Union Charles Price, and Stewart. Area religious leaders present were Nicholas F. Frey, Rajan Zed, Sherif A. Elfass and Stephen Child; and campus student leaders included Sarah Canak, Anthony Hemmert, Sumayya Beekun, and Elliot Malin.

UNR, founded in 1874 and which has about 18,000 students, is known for helping to create the world’s most accurate atomic clock, earthquake expertise, highly ranked MBA program, several Pulitzer Prize winners and for “study of the behavior of matter at extremely high temperatures and densities”.  About half-a-dozen Hollywood films were shot here.

Details of the picture : UNR officials, area religious leaders and campus student leaders who attended the meeting regarding Interfaith Prayer Room at UNR campus on February three. Seventh from right is UNR President Marc Johnson while eighth from right is Hindu leader Rajan Zed.

Annual Day of Judaism/ Day of Jewish-Catholic Dialogue

From Paul McKenna, Scarboro Missions Interfaith Dept.

In 1990, the Catholic Church in Italy introduced a “Day of Judaism” / a “Day of Jewish-Catholic Dialogue“. The intent of this annual celebration is to provide a special occasion each year to remember the Jewish roots of the Christian faith, to look with gratitude to the systematic dialogue with Judaism that has been going on since the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), and to further encourage such dialogue in the current situation accompanied by practical activities.

This important day has been observed annually for more than 20 years in Italy as an opportunity to explore, observe, deepen and celebrate relations between Catholics and Jews.  It has also been observed in Austria, Poland, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Presently, Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Vatican’s Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, has urged other countries in which Jews and Catholics live side by side and have kept up the dialogue for some time to consider introducing this annual day of reflection and dialogue. It is hoped that such a “Day of Jewish-Christian Dialogue” will also be introduced into the Canadian Church in the near future.

Below, please find an article from L’Osservatore Romano in Rome published in anticipation of the January 17, 2012 celebration of The Day of Judaism in Italy.

The special responsibility of Jews and Catholics

2012-01-16 L’Osservatore Romano

On 17 January, as in past years the Church in Italy will celebrate the “Day of Judaism” which affords a special opportunity to remember the Jewish roots of the Christian faith, to look with gratitude to the systematic dialogue with Judaism that has been going on since the Second Vatican Council, and to further encourage it in the current situation with practical actions. The Day of Judaism has so far been accepted by the Bishops’ Conferences of Austria, Poland, the Netherlands and Switzerland.  Cardinal Kurt Koch, who was appointed  President of the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews by the Holy Father, has urged certain countries in which Jews and Catholics live side by side and have kept up a dialogue for some time to consider introducing this commemorative day.

The Jewish-Catholic dialogue began systematically after the Second Vatican Council. The Declaration Nostra Aetate (n. 4),H the starting point and the document on which this dialogue is based, still provides an indispensable orientation for every effort that aims for a  rapprochement  and reconciliation between Christians and Jews.

In 1966 Paul VI decided that an office should be set up within the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity that would be  responsible for planning and carrying ahead the dialogue with Jews.  Since it was impossible to initiate a bilateral dialogue with each one, the Holy See suggested that all the Jewish organizations interested in dialogue should gather in a single association that could be recognized as the official partner. So it was that the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC) – which is still the official partner in the Jewish-Catholic dialogue – came into being. The Holy See in turn institutionalized the dialogue with the creation of the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews on 22 October 1974. However, the first international conference for Jews and Catholics had already been held in Paris in 1971.

In his initial discourse Cardinal Kurt Koch mentioned the commemorative character of the meeting: “40 years of institutionalized dialogue are not many in comparison with the long history of the Jewish People and the 1,000-year-old history of the Catholic Church. But what happened in these 40 years can truly be seen as a great miracle worked by the Holy Spirit”.

From the theological viewpoint, Jews and Christians not only have a rich patrimony in common but can promote common values in society, work for human rights and collaborate in the social assistance and humanitarian aid sectors.

Judaism and Christianity, however, are called in a special way to promote  peace in this world. And they must do this together, because they have always been dependent on one another. The then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger emphasized this very close bond in an article which came out in L’Osservatore Romano on 29 December 2000: It is obvious that as Christians our dialogue with the Jews is on a different level than our dialogue with the other religions. For us the faith witnessed in the Bible by the Jews, the Old Testament of the Christians is not another religion but the foundation of our faith.

Norbert Hofmann, Secretary of the Commission for Relations with the Jews

Golden Rule texts in 13 religions translated into Urdu

from Paul McKenna, Scarboro Missions Interfaith Dept.

Scarboro Missions is proud to announce that the Golden Rule texts in 13 religions have been translated into Urdu and can be downloaded free of charge from the Scarboro site. The translation was done by Shahid Akhtar, an interfaith activist in Mississauga , Ontario Canada .

It is estimated that close to one billion people understand spoken Urdu. The use of the Urdu language is concentrated in South Asia but Urdu-speaking people reside in many countries throughout the world.

The publication of these texts in Urdu is an effort to further universalize the already universal message of the Golden Rule.

Below please find the link to the Urdu translation. Feel free to forward this link through your communities and networks for use in newsletters, bulletin boards, websites, mailing lists, list-serves, blogs, Facebook pages, twitter, etc.

When you click the link below, it will take you to our “Multilingual Versions” page. If you look to the left of your screen, you are given the choice of clicking one of eight languages. Urdu is listed at the bottom of this list. Here is the link:

http://www.scarboromissions.ca/Golden_rule/sacred_texts.php

Youth LEAD’s annual Teenage Identity and Diversity Education (TIDE) Conference Memorial Day Weekend at Boston’s Northeastern University

Youth LEAD (Youth Leaders Engaging Across Differences) will be having its annual Teenage Identity and Diversity Education (TIDE) Conference, held each year over Memorial Day Weekend at Boston’s Northeastern University this year! The conference is planned and led by fifty high school students of diverse backgrounds, and the goals of the conference are to train teens to communicate respectfully and use their skills in discussions about highly charged issues; develop leadership and facilitation skills; understand what they are capable of; and foster bonds and friendships among the youth in attendance that will continue after the conference has ended. Conference attendees participate in workshops, dialogues, and other activities throughout the weekend that have been planned by high school students specifically for their peers. Adults working with teens can attend a parallel but separate adult track at the conference.
If you know of a group of high school students (classes of 2012-2015) that you think might be interested in the opportunity to attend this conference, and/or (2) if you are interested in attending the conference as an adult participant, contact them at the links below. If you do not work specifically with high school students or are unable to attend this year’s conference, perhaps you can put them in touch with those who work with high school youth that might be interested in this opportunity. Thank you!
http://youthleadonline.org/tide-conference/
(781) 784-0651

The Teenage Identity and  Diversity Education (TIDE) Conference is planned and led by teens who want to have their voices heard and their presence felt as a positive force in the global community. A three-day event planned by fifty high school students of diverse backgrounds, the conference seeks to train teens to communicate respectfully and use their skills in discussions about highly charged issues; develop leadership and facilitation skills; and foster bonds and friendships among the youth in attendance that will continue after the conference. Conference attendees will participate in workshops, dialogues, and other activities throughout the weekend that allow them to discover more about themselves and their own understanding of personal identity; learn about the beliefs and identities of others; and make their voices heard at a conference that has been planned by high school students specifically for their peers. This is an exciting opportunity to see future leaders in action! Adults working with teens attend a parallel but separate adult track at the conference. The conference is sponsored by Youth LEAD, formerly Interfaith Action, Inc., in collaboration with the Brudnick Center on Violence and Conflict at Northeastern University.
History of TIDE
TIDE was the creation of Dan, a 16 year-old, who wanted other teens to have a chance to
experience the power of teen-run interfaith programs. On June 26, 2007, after six months of planning, Youth LEAD’s teens ran the first ever TIDE conference at Harvard University. The youth planned and facilitated the activities; wrote a proposal to Dr. Diana Eck, Executive Director of The Pluralism Project at Harvard University; recruited participants; and coordinated the event logistics.
In his opening address at TIDE 2007, Dan noted that “the reason we spent so much time and effort on this conference is because we want to spark change in our community and in our state. The things we do [with Interfaith Action] might seem trivial, but each activity has changed us for the better and changed our community for the better. We hope to do the same today.” The teen-led workshops focused on strengthening communication skills necessary for the ensuing interfaith dialogue. Over fifty high school students attended the conference from across New England and even as far away as New Jersey.
Since then, TIDE conferences have been held at Tufts University, Wheaton College, and
Boston’s Northeastern University. In 2010, the TIDE Conference expanded into a three-day event to be held annually at Northeastern University. The multi-day conference now includes a pre-planned workshop series for both teens and adults on Saturday, as well as a plethora of original topical presentations and workshops on Sunday. 2010 also saw the expansion of TIDE into a national event, with groups coming from Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, and Ohio.

Resources for Catholic-Muslim Relations

from Paul McKenna, Scarboro Missions Interfaith Dept.

This important document described below has recently been added to the Scarboro Missions website.

Together, Catholics and Muslims form one-third of the world’s population. There are therefore lots of reasons for promoting positive relations between these two faiths. This two-page document on the Scarboro Missions website outlines numerous suggestions, tips and resources to enable Muslims and Catholics at a parish/congregational level to learn and cooperate with one another. To read the document, click here

http://www.scarboromissions.ca/Interfaith_dialogue/docs/catholic_muslim_relations.pdf