INFORMATION
SOURCES
* The Kansas City Star (also on
line)
* Helen Gray, faith editor
* Faith announcements, Saturday
* Bill Tammeus, Saturday faith columnist
and daily blogger
* Vern Barnet, Wednesday free-lance columnist
and occasional blogger
* Faith columnists from many traditions
appear in rotation
* Regular news and features often include
topics of diverse faiths
KC Muslim News Digest (email)
The National Catholic Reporter
This outstanding
weekly (also on line) occasionalyl reports interfaith stories and special
profiles of non-Christian faiths.
KC Jewish Chronicle (Fridays)
Despite its biased,
often anti-Muslim reporting and editorial stance, it is essential reading
to keep abreast of local Jewish organizations. Columnist Rabbi Margolies's
column is always worth reading.
Camp (monthly)
Vern writes the
“Sacred Paths” column.
Many Paths (CRES monthly journal)
Each issue routinely
contains
*an essay to guide understanding issues
of pluralism,
*calendars of community events,
* CRES programs, and
* holidays,
*comments,
*humor,
*quotations,
*poetry,
*reference resources in the supplementary
insert, and
*reports from the now-independent Interfaith
Council.
KCPT Channel 19 Public Television
Occasionally
the Friday KC Week in Review with Nick Haines present local religious issues
with reporters and clergy.
Wednesday's Talk
Back Live with Steve Rose occasionally features guests from the field of
religion.
ANNUAL
INTERFAITH EVENTS
Some events
may migrate from one month to another.
Mayors’ Prayer Breakfasts.
— Area observances vary from decidedly Christian to deliberately interfaith
events. The Raytown Community Interfaith Alliance’s observance truly is
a prayer event embracing every faith.
JANUARY.
The annual Martin
Luther King observance brings folks together from many faiths.
Salaam Shalom Dinner
(see).
Journey toward Understanding
(high school program).
FEBRUARY.
Jan 30 - Apr 4 The
Season for Non-Violence, an observance of 64 days between the memorial
anniversaries of Gandhi and King, is hosted in Kansas City by the Center
for Spiritual Living.
National Council
of Jewish Women luncheon
(Greater KC) Mayors’
Prayer Breakfast, KCMO
MARCH.
Raytown Mayor’s Prayer
Breakfast
Harmony Week Luncheon
SEPTEMBER.
Annual Conferendce
on Health and Spirituality, Community of Christ Temple.
NOVEMBER.
Greater Kansas City
Interfaith Council Table of Faiths luncheon.
Harmony Choral Concert.
Crescent Peace Society
annual dinner.
Festival of Faiths
signature event and other programs
CRES Thanksgiving
Sunday Family Interfaith Thanksgiving Ritual Meal (the Sunday before
the holiday, 6p), since 1985, a full meal in liturgical style with greetings
from American Indian, Bahá'í, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu,
Jewish, Muslim, Pagan, Sikh, Sufi, Unitarian Universalist, Zoroastrian
and Freethinker traditions and American history and aspirations. Awards
for distinguished interfaith leadership are presented.
Raytown Community
Interfaith Alliance Thanksgiving Service (Tuesday evening before Thanksgiving).
Pilgrim Chapel Interfaith
Thanksgiving Service (Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving).
DECEMBER.
Interfaith World
Peace Celebration” Dec. 31 at 6a (gather at 5:30a), Rime Buddhist
Center.
|
ORGANIZATIONS
-- Part One: Intro
This list does not
include groups like the Greater Kansas City Coalition for Worker Justice,
the Independence Ministerial Alliance, Raytown Community Inter-Faith Alliance,
Wyandotte Interfaith Sponsoring Council, Project Equality, or More2 which
develop their membership and plan their programming to be religiously inclusive
but may have economic, racial, collegial, civic, or other issues as their
primary focus. They may be interfaith in the sense that they involve people
from several traditions, but not in the sense that their focus is the sacred
as revealed through different faiths.
Surely institutions like
* the Nelson-Atkins
Museum of Art,
* the International
Relations Council,
* the Center for
Practical Bioethics,
* the American Civil
Liberties Union, and
* the American Friends
Service Committee are significant resources for interfaith understanding,
as are schools which offer programs and instruction in world religions
such as
* the Saint Paul
School of Theology,
* the Nazarene Theological
Seminary,
* Central Baptist
Theological Seminary
* Unity Institute
* Ottawa University—KC
* Community of Christ
Seminary
* Park University
* UMKC Center for
Religious Studies
* KU Department
of Religious Studies
* William Jewell
College
(We cannot recommend
Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary as its approach to non-Christian
faiths is unreliable and hostile.)
We also omit private groups open only by invitation, like the Interfaith
Dinner group.
This list does include some organizations with specific programs or directions
aimed at interfaith understanding even if their main focus is broader.
We want to salute the impact of organizations which no longer exist as
well, such as Ecumedia and the KC Interfaith Peace Alliance, and interfaith
relief efforts like Shifa, Kansas City Helps, and Heart to Heart International.
Nowadays hospitals, schools, religious organizations and others are helping
us all to recognizing the faiths of our neighbors through a variety of
special programs.
ORGANIZATIONS
-- Part Two/List
Center for Spirit
at Work
4310 Madison Av
#204, KCMO 64111; 816.268.1077
centerforspiritatwork.org/
info@centerforspiritatwork.org
CSW, founded eight years ago as the Cathedral Center for Faith and Work,
then based at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception,
offers programs by people of all faiths. Recent speakers have included
Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim leaders in their fields, such
as Henry Bloch, Irv Hockaday, Gary Forsee, Tom McDonnell, Mike Haverty,
Bill, Terry and Peggy Dunn, Dick Miller, Carol Marinovich, Kay Barnes,
Jim Stowers, Shirley and Barnett Helzberg, Joan Israelite, Buck O’Neal,
Alvin Brooks, Clyde Wendel, Adel Hall, Tom Hoenig, Mahnaz Shabbir, and
Vern Barnet.
These breakfast and dinner sessions are open to the public. Those who attend
get thinking of the highest quality from folks of different faiths about
how the spirit informs, or can inform, the workplace.
Community Praying
for Peace
communitypeace.com/id18.html
CPP provides opportunities for people of many faiths to pray together for
peace.
CRES
[World Faiths Center
for Religious Experience and Study]
Box 45414, Kansas
City, MO 64171
cres.org;
staff@cres.org
[aka
Multi-faith Community Resource for Exploring Spirituality,
Box
4165, Overland Park, KS 66204]
Founded in 1982, its many achievements include founding the KC Interfaith
Council with American Indian, Bahá'í, Buddhist, Christian-Protestant,
Christian-Roman Catholic, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Pagan, Sikh, Sufi, Unitarian
Universalist, and Zoroastrian members, organizing the 2001 Gifts of Pluralism
conference (attended by 250 youth and adults from these faiths as well
as Christian Orthodox and Free-Thinker traditions) and many other workshops
and conferences, planning the city-wide 2002 9/11 observances, networking
with many other organizations and staffing their programs, consultation,
teaching, writing, and civic leadership, including chairing a 5-county
diversity study commissioned by Jackson County, with a 77-page
report issued one day before the first anniversary of 9/11.
A 32-page Interfaith Passport and other programs were the subject of a
half-hour CBS-TV special in 2002 and has been imitated in other cities.
Donna Ziegenhorn of the CRES auxiliary Mosaic, wrote the play The Hindu
and the Cowboy and Other Kansas City Stories from a collection of over
80 interviews from KC area residents of all faiths following the 2001 conference.
The 12-page monthly color journal Many Paths and web site are key
interfaith resources for the metro area. Other publications are used nationally.
The CRES minister, the Rev Vern Barnet, DMn, has won many awards from Buddhist,
Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, and secular groups. He is a frequent
speaker at area churches and writes the Wednesday “Faiths and Beliefs”
column in The Kansas City Star.
Because of the CRES network, the nation's first Interfaith Academies
were held here in 2007, in cooperation with Harvard University's Pluralism
Project, Religions for Peace-USA at the UN Plaza, the Saint Paul School
of Theology, and the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council. Vern was a
member of the international faculty and coordinated the study-visits to
six area sites to supple,emy classroom experiences. Vern also signed the
Certificates.
At the Academies, designed for both students and professionals, Ellie Pierce,
principal researcher for The Pluralism Project at Harvard University, began
her lecture by saying, "At the Pluralism Project, we consider Kansas City
to be truly at the forefront of interfaith relations. This is — in no small
part — due to the tireless efforts of Vern Barnet, whose work and writings
have been an inspiration to all of us at the Pluralism Project."
Board chairs David Stallings, Larry Guillot, and L Joseph Archias have
helped to make interfaith work a mainstream Kansas City priority.
For the CRES vision, mission, values, programs, and other positions, visit
the web site or turn to page 8 of Many Paths, and examine the research
program suggested by the chart on the next page. CRES was founded as the
[World Faiths] Center for Religious Experience and Study, sometimes known
as the [multifaith] Community Resource for Exploring Spirituality. CRES
is a unique approach to interfaith work, joining together relationships
and scholarship, theory and practice. Its research
program identifies wisdom from the world's three great families of
faith to address our environmental, personal, and social crises.
Crescent Peace
Society
crescentpeace.org/
Box 27023, Shawnee
Mission, KS 66225
913-491-5509
The Crescent Peace Society is a non-profit organization that serves as
a focal point of action in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area for raising
awareness of different Muslim cultures. It establishes and maintains liaisons
with educational institutions, religious groups, and local media.
In order to better represent the peaceful nature of Muslim cultures existing
in the United States of America and around the world, the Society aims
to analyze, evaluate, and respond to any local media publications or programs
that misrepresent Muslim issues and cultures.
The Board and the Executive Committee of Crescent Peace Society invite
you to join the Society's cause for propagating a better understanding
and awareness of different Muslim cultures and for peace and harmony all
over the world. Membership is open to all US residents or citizens of any
religious affiliation or culture.
Cultural Crossroads
Cultural Crossroads
Inc
3605 Blue Ridge
Boulevard
Independence, MO
64052; 816.737.5979
CulturalCrossroads@hotmail.com
culturalcrossroads-kc.org
Cultural Crossroads, founded by Mary McCoy, was incorporated in 2001 and
conducts cross-cultural education in an interactive environment, designed
to promote tolerance and respect through understanding the commonalities
across diverse cultures. The focus of all programs is on common life experiences
of people of all cultures and an understanding of the unifying elements
within an environment of diversity. Volunteer opportunities are limitless
and include creation, scheduling, and presentation of educational programs,
publicity and communication, and promoting the organization. Cultural Crossroads
is also seeking to develop a cultural heritage center in the greater Kansas
City area.
Diversity Coalition
(Kansas City)
c/o Allan Abrams,
aeabrams@yahoo.com
The KCDC was organized in 1996 by the late Dr David Shapiro as an adjunct
to his Minority Museum which opened in 1991 in south Kansas City. It has
no formal membership and no dues. Its participants discuss international
or national political issues, particularly emotionally charged topics which
could be affected by one’s faith, ethnic, or regional perspective. Meetings
usually are held on the 2nd Wednesday of the month., 7-9p.
Festival of Faiths
festivaloffaithskc.org/
info@festivaloffaithskc.org
Initated in 2007 by folks at Village Presbyterian Church in consultation
with interfaith leaders in the metro area, Festival of Faiths brings a
focus to the many faith communities in our area for a fortnight in November.
Its first year began with the Interfaith Council's Table of Faiths and
concluded with the 23d annual CRES Interfaith Thanksgiving Sunday Family
Ritual Meal. Inspired in part by a Louisville-type metro-wide collaboration
to display, enjoy, and celebrate our religious diversity, it has been adapted
to the unique situation and opportunities in Kansas City.
The Greater Kansas
City Community is emerging as a leader in the recognition and celebration
of religious and spiritual pluralism. The festival celebrates that process
by:
--Casting a spotlight on interfaith opportunities
--Building relationships that foster interfaith
dialogue
--Increasing leadership through innovative
program collaborations
--Identifying commonly held beliefs while
deepening one’s own faith
--Widening the circle of interfaith participation
The Festival
of Faiths is a series of cornerstone events designed to build awareness
of the wealth of religious and interfaith activities in Kansas City, to
widen participation in interfaith dialogue, to create interfaith dialogue
and relationships through the planning and execution of Festival events,
and to attract a large and diverse audience for the Keynote Speaker Event,
the next of which will be
January 26, 2009 with Jon Meacham,editor
of Newsweek.
The Mission of
the Festival of Faiths is to discover, recognize, celebrate and promote
the reality of pluralism in our community through listening, learning,
understanding and experience – the exercise of acceptance.
For additional
information, or to sponsor a portion of the Festival, please contact us
info@festivaloffaithskc.org, or call 913.432.2107.
Friends of Sacred
Structures
fosskc.org/
201 Westport Road,
Kansas City, MO 64111
Friends of Sacred Structures (FOSS) is dedicated to the preservation
of historic religious structures for active community use in Kansas City.
FOSS strives to increase public awareness of these buildings' culture,
history, and architecture.
FOSS is
an all-volunteer organization with no paid staff. The support of
contributing members is critical to sustaining FOSS programs. We
invite you to renew or become a member of FOSS. Members receive Inspired
Space, a quarterly newsletter, invitations to special events, and an opportunity
to benefit historic sacred structures throughout metropolitan Kansas City.
Greater Kansas
City Interfaith Council
kcinterfaith.org
info@kcinterfaith.org
Shannon Clark, Executive
Director, 913- 548-2973
PO Box 415, Louisburg,
KS 66053
Organized by Vern Barnet in 1989, the Council was a program of CRES until
2005. A 5,000-word history of this period is available at http://www.cres.org/now/ifc-hist.htm.
CRES support for 2004 included staff work by CRES administrative assistant,
Simon Gatsby, who then transitioned the Council to independence as part
of a cooperative plan for 2005 with advice from Religions for Peace-USA
which then provided some funding. The Council’s web site posted PDF versions
of the Council’s page in the monthly CRES journal, Many Paths, for
the year 2005.
That year on November 10, the Council awarded Vern its first “Table of
Faiths” award, presented by Mayor Kay Barnes, honorary chair and keynote
speaker, at a luncheon with over 600 people of all faiths. A 12-minute
DVD with Vern, Governor Sebelius, Huston Smith, and local political and
business leaders was produced and shown, and is available from the Council.
David Nelson was the Council convener and the luncheon co-charis were Alvin
Brooks, Gayle Krigel, Mahnaz Shabbir, and Chuck Stanford.
At the Council's Second Table of Faiths Celebration, co-chaired by Mahnaz
Shabbir, Sheila Sonnenschein, and Chuck Stanford, with honorary co-chairs
Kay Barnes, Alvin Brooks, Ben Craig, and Peggy Dunn, and Advisor Gayle
Krigel, with Co-conveners Caroline Baughman and David Nelson, awards were
given to Don and Adele Hall and Ed Chasteen. A video narrated by Bill Tammeus
presented the development of the Council
The Third's Table of Faiths Celebration, chaired by Sheila Sonnenschein
and Susan Cook, with honorary ch-chairs Dianne Cleaver, Mark Funkhouser,
and the Rev Dr Bob Meneilly, honored Alvin Brooks and The Kansas City
Star. A video, a portion of which can be seen at Sacred
Art includes a look at art from many faiths and the spirtual impulse
out of which all art arises.
The Council’s statement: “We are growing a sustainable, pervasive culture
of knowledge, respect, appreciation, and trust amongst people of all faiths
and religious traditions in the greater Kansas City community.”
Its goals:
1. To develop deeper understanding within the community of each other's
faiths and traditions, and to foster appropriate interfaith dialogue and
interaction,
2. To model spiritual and religious values, especially mutual respect and
cooperation, in a society often intolerant of cultural and religious diversity,
3. To develop and provide resources, networking, and programs for the community
through the arts and education to increase appreciation for cultural and
religious diversity,
4. To work with educational, spiritual and religious leaders and the media
in promoting accurate and fair portrayal of the faiths within our community,
and
5. To help the community become more aware of the spiritual values that
can help resolve issues that occur in the environmental, social and personal
realms of our lives.
The Council usually meets the 2nd Monday of the month.
It offers two interfaith book clubs. David Nelson facilitates the northland
book club, Vital Conversations,
at the Mid-Continent Library, Antioch Branch 6060 N Chestnut in Gladstone
1p the second Wednesday of each month; 816.454.1306. Pam Peck facilitates
the south club. It meets four times a year, 7p the first Monday in February,
May, August, and November, at the Christian Science Center, 504 E. 112,
Red Bridge Shopping Center, 111 (Red Bridge Road) and Holmes; 816.268.8212.
Harmony
4901 Main, Suite
300
Kansas City, MO
64112
kcharmony.org
816-333-5059
When
Harmony first debuted in Kansas City in 1988, the mission was singular--to
ease racial boundaries in communities throughout the Kansas City metropolitan
area. However, local leaders Emanual Cleaver II and Drue Jennings had a
broader perspective; they envisioned a community-wide resource available
to address all issues of diversity in the region. Under the keen vision
of these leaders and other key supporters, Harmony quickly became a trusted
resource offering nationally acclaimed programming, training and consulting
to schools and workplaces.
Harmony acquired the legacy of the National Conference for Community and
Justice (NCCJ) when the two organizations merged their resources in 2005.
The result was a comprehensive offering of programs and consulting resources
that spans a life-long learning cycle starting at the middle-school education
level and reaching into adulthood.
Harmony provides resources, programs and events including a week-long Harmony
Youth Leadership Institute; Manytown and Unitown, two day programs for
middle school and high school students; Campus Leadership Institute; and
professional services to assist corporations, organizations and government
entities with strategic planning and communication enabling a more inclusive
and global enterprise.
--Information provided by Harmony, 2008 July
In 1988, KCMO Mayor pro-tem Emanuel Cleaver and KCPL’s president/CEO Drue
Jennings led an 18-month effort to improve race relations and civic comity.
Maggie Finefrock, now Director of The Learning Project and CRES CLO and
was then co-director with Luther Washington. As part of the exploration
of diversity, a Religions Task Force produced a covenant redrafted by Vern
to be inclusive of all faiths, signed 1989 Aug 21 in Loose Park by members
of 10 faiths. CRES was commissioned to prepare an account of religious
diversity in the area for the Teacher/Student Study Guide.
The cantor at Beth Shalom initiated the Harmony Choral Celebration Concert,
the only known interfaith concert in the United States that features both
a mass choir and demonstration choirs.
Kansas City would not let Harmony go out of existence after 18 months,
and it has become a permanent and increasingly valuable leader in educating
about diversity in the metro area for business, government, the media,
and congregations.
In 1996, Cleaver, now mayor, commissioned a task force on race relations.
Maggie was chair of the religion/spirituality cluster, and Vern was assigned
the task of drafting its recommendation, paragraph 6 of which, inspired
by John Weston, called for the creation of a Congregational Partners Program
to assist congregations of different faiths to build relationships of trust.
Dozens of such partnerships were developed, at first as an independent
program, then for a time under Harmony auspices, including one three-way
with Catholic, Muslim, and Jewish congregations.
The 2001 Citistates Group reported that Harmony “consistently produces
the nation's most ambitious array of programs aimed at building better
relations across racial lines.” That year CRES invited Harmony and NCCJ
(see below) to cosponsor the area's first interfaith conference, The
Gifts of Pluralism. Following the 9/11 attacks, Diane Hershberger,
then Harmony executive director, joined with others when asked by
Jackson County to study the state of religious prejudice in the five county
area; the Diversity Task Force, chaired by Vern, issued its report
on Sep 10, 2001.
In 2005, after excellent staff preparation by Harmony and NCCJ, Vern, on
the board of NCCJ, made the historic motion for the two organizations to
merge. The National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) was begun
in 1927 as the National Conference of Christians and Jews to “fight“ bigotry.
Kansas City’s office began in 1953. In 1999 the name was changed to the
National Conference for Community and Justice. Locally its expert summer
programs for youth have included dealing with religious prejudice. For
four years NCCJ and CRES staffed a day-long “Journey toward Understanding”
for high school students to spent a day exploring their different faiths.
--Additional perspective from CRES
HateBusters, Inc.
Box 442, Liberty,
MO 64069
hatebusters.com
816-792-2272
HateBuster@aol.com
HateBusters, developed by Ed Chasteen, now CRES Amity Shaman, helps people
who have been hurt because someone hated them. “We never say no when asked
for help. We get more publicity for the good guys than the bad guys. We
teach people how to like people who are not like them. We bring people
together.” It produces the Human Family Reunion dinners.
The House of Menuha
801 E 77 St, KCMO
64113
menuha.org;
816.444.2434
Annie Loendorf SCL
and Diane R Hershberger, co-directors
House of Menuha
was founded in 1992 as an independent non-profit corporation not affiliated
with any religious or parent organization, when Annie Loendorf, a Sister
of Charity of Leavenworth, realized a great need for the women in the parish
she served was to have a place and the time to care for themselves that
was away from the never ending demands in their lives. “Menuha” is a Hebrew
word meaning to rest in purposeful contemplation.
Elizabeth Gilbert,
author of “Eat, Pray, Love”, says that people turn to spirituality when
their lives are in transition because fragility and dislocation make us
more open to the wondrous power of grace moving deeply in our souls. House
of Menuha is a spirituality center for women, a safe nurturing environment
where women walk in their own unique mystery continuing to discover ever
more deeply their piece of truth...their authenticity. Carl Jung says that
a person’s vision will become clear when they look into their heart. This
kind of looking needs silence, stillness, reflections and then the challenge
of giving voice to what is heard and what is felt. Menuha’s mission is
to provide the atmosphere, sacred space, companionship, guidance, and nourishment
to look deeply into one’s soul.
Through weekly
“Reflection” programming when women gather to learn about self-care, spirituality,
or dealing with change in their lives; through workshops addressing topics
of purpose and self expression; through “Villager” programming teaching
women to become more self-led and less dependent on cultural values of
materialism, competition and self-centeredness; and through a “Pioneer
Retreat” program supporting women who live with domestic abuse, addiction
or homelessness, Menuha meets women where they are in their religious and
personal journeys and equips them to bring spiritual wisdom and compassion
more fully into their lives and the world.
The Human Agenda
The Rev David E
Nelson, DMin, president
humanagenda.com;
816 453 3835
Dr Nelson has served as convener of the Interfaith Council and leads one
of its interfaith book groups. His skills in teaching "Appreciative Inquiry"
were evident at the 2001 "Gifts of Pluralism" conference. His "Vital Conversations"
are designed for people of different faith perspectives to discuss both
comfortable and difficult topics, news movies, books, personal experiences.
It is designed for people committed to celebrating the possibilities of
the pluralistic society in which we live. David is a gifted speaker who
enjoys addressing interfaith topics.
Independence Ministerial
Alliance
816-373-5333 -- josefwalker.com/ima/ima.htm
The Rev Pat Miller, Chair
motherpat@stmichaelschurch.org
4000 Lee's Summit Road, Independence MO
64055
Institute for
Interfaith Dialog
interfaithdialog.org;
fozcan_55@yahoo.com
Fatih Ozcan, Kansas
City Representative
9903 Pflumn Rd,
Lenexa, KS 66215; 913.206.6670
IID seeks to “unite the global communities through interfaith dialogue
by sharing the differences and similarities in cultures and religions in
an effort to achieve world peace.” IID is inspired by controversial Turkish
figure Fetullah Gulen, who advocates a “moderate” form of Islam.
Institute for
Spirituality in Health
Steven L Jeffers,
PhD, 1948-2008, founder,
whose loss we
mourn
Shawnee Mission
Medical Center
9100 W 74 Street,
SM, KS 66204
shawneemission.org/content/view/94/278/
913-676-8104
The vision of the ISH is to deliver health care within an environment that
values medical skills complemented by spirituality, often expressed in
the language of faith. Led by religious, medical, civic, and business leaders
of various faith traditions, ISH advocates addressing spiritual care in
medicine and health care.
ISH provides community and professional education, publications and research
on the topic of spirituality in the health care setting. In addition, the
Institute leads interfaith prayer teams, which provide encouragement and
support for SMMC associates and physicians, as well as local, state and
national civic and religious leaders. Annual events such as the Community
Prayer Breakfast, Physician/Clergy Conference, and symposiums on various
topics allow community members to explore their spirituality and determine
where it fits within their health care needs.
Interfaith Coalition
Against Bigotry
jeverett3@mindspring.com
An Ad Hoc organization to
bring balance to the attacks on faiths by Michael Savage.
Interfaith of Topeka
interfaithoftopeka.org
William Gitchell, President
3015 SW Clark Ct., Topeka, KS 66604
wgitchell@cox.net, 785-554-6735
JCRB/AJC
5801 W 115th Street
#203
Shawnee Mission,
KS 66211
jewishkc.org/agencies/jcrb
913-327-8126, jcrbajc@jewsihkc.org
The Jewish Community Relations Bureau/American Jewish Committee fights
anti-Semitism, racism, and bigotry.
Mainstream Voices
of Faith
mainstreamvoicesoffaith.com
mainstream@mainstreamcoalition.com
5350 West 94th Terrace
Suite 103
Prairie Village,
KS 66207-2520
(913) 649-3326
MVOF is a religious coalition promotes an inclusive approach to issues
of faith and public policy through education and advocacy.
Midwest Center
for Holocaust Education
5801 W 115th Street
#106
Overland Park, KS
66211
mchekc.org
913-327-8190; mcekc@org;
The Midwest Center of Holocaust Education teaches the history and
lessons of the Holocaust to people of all races and faiths in the Midwest
to prevent its recurrence and perpetuate understanding, compassion, and
mutual respect.
National Council
of Jewish Women
Greater Kansas City
Section
jewishkansascity.org/ir_listing.html?id=3641
5750 W. 95th St.
Suite 118
Shawnee Mission,
KS 66207
913 648-0747
ncjwkc@swbell.net
Berenice Haberman,
President
NCJW works through research, education, advocacy and community service
to improve the quality of life for women, children and families, and strives
to ensure individual rights and freedoms for all. Its annual February luncheon
has been focused on Jewish Christian Muslim exchange.
OpenCircle
opencircleonline.com,
816.931.0738
info@opencircleonline.com
Among OpenCircle’s programs are occasional film showings of interfaith
interest at the Tivoli Theatre.
Pathways
Pathways was
founded in 1999 by Gene Flanery
(flanerman@aol.com)
Pathways promotes interfaith dialogue, foster respect for all religions,
and celebrate diversity. Its members include the Hindu, Christian, Sikh,
and American Indian traditions. Monthly meetings are held at the Cross
Point Church in Shawnee, KS. While there is no official membership in Pathways,
participants strive to achieve balance between the various participating
faiths. Each year the group presents both an annual interfaith picnic in
the summer and an annual dinner in January.
Pathways Goals: To learn to listen with respect to those who are different
*To promote racial harmony and fight against negative stereotyping in society
*To provide a receptive place to speak about faith in God *To foster an
attitude of respect for all religions *To educate others about the benefits
of a multicultural perspective *To celebrate diversity in culture and appreciate
religious differences.
Person to Person
communitypeace.com/id15.htm
Mahnaz Shabbir and Sheila Sonnenschein offer a powerful presentation as
Muslim and Jewish leaders and mothers about their friendship and learning
about each other’s faith.
Raytown Community
Interfaith Alliance
(816) 353-1708 -- http://rcifa.org/
The Rev Joseph Weaks, chair
joe@raytowncc.org
c/o Raytown Christian Church,
6108 Blue Ridge Blvd., Raytown, MO 64133
Salaam Shalom
Celebration
salaamshalomcelebration.org
The annual KC area dinner originated as a twin to a gathering, or hafla,
in Israel begun by Fouad Salman, Samir Dabit, and David Leichman
in an effort to bring together Jews and Arabs. Fouad, Samir, and David
come here and cook an amazing feast (with dietary laws observed). A clergy
breakfast is also held. Both the first dinner in 2004 and the second
attracted 500 guests at Leawood’s Ironwoods Park Alpine Lodge. The next
is planned in KCMO.
Sustainable Sanctuary
Coalition
Jerry Rees, 913-568-4250
Margaret Thomas,
mgt84roe@aol.com
sustainablesanctuary.org
The mission of the Sustainable Sanctuary Coalition is to encourage sustainable
living initiatives, i.e., ""Care for Creation" in faith communities,
through education about and promotion of sustainable actions.
We live in a time where there is denial of the global climate change that
is fueled by humankind’s ever growing demands upon our Earth. The Sustainable
Sanctuary Coalition does not accept as inevitable these wasteful ways continuing
to cause ecological disasters to happen all around us. We also believe
that if we are to change our collective behavior, we need to accept an
accurate and positive vision of everyone's reality.
This vision of reality celebrates all humankind as the stewards of this
diversity of life on Earth and supporters of the natural systems on which
all life depends. We believe that to cherish what has been created is our
spiritual and moral responsibility – our ultimate responsibility to all
children and all grandchildren.
We believe what we can do here and now is to build a coalition of faith
communities that rapidly begin to reflect on what humankind is doing. We
will gather, share, and urge others to join us in the same spirit that
embraces change so stewardship and earthkeeping will soon become the sacred
responsibilities for all.
The Urantia Book
Fellowship
Susan Cook, 816-716-4944;
solonia@juno.com
415 Shannon Avenue,
Smithville, MO 64089
The Urantia Fellowship sponsors an on-line class in Interfaith dialogue.
The intent of this course is learning to listen and exchange in healthy
dialogue with people of other faiths and cultures. This course is 8 weeks
long and involves reading before each “class.” We then meet via conference
call to discuss learning opportunities, growth, difficulty, and ideas for
further development. This course is in process and involves students from
New York to Hawaii. Please contact us if you are interested in this course
for 2007.
Coming up is an on-line course, “You want to learn about Different Religions?”
This course will have different facilitators each week that represent their
faith. A reading will be sent out the week before each conference call
where we’ll then have the opportunity to be taught and ask questions. Why
a conference call? So people and facilitators from different cities can
come together. Please call for questions about enrollment in 2007. |
