On Memorial Day (May 26th) I'll be participating on the chancel in a prayer service at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, convened by the Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking Initiative. If you're in the LA area I hope you can join us. All the details are in the press release below...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Franci Levine-Grater, Coordinator
Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking Initiative
francilg@myway.com
(626) 683-9400
Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking Initiative To Convene Memorial Day Interfaith Prayer Service
To Be Filmed and Broadcast Throughout the Middle East
Los Angeles, CA – April 29, 2008 – The Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking Initiative (AFPI) will convene an interfaith prayer service on Monday, May 26, 2008 at 11:00 a.m., Memorial Day, at All Saints Church located at 132 Euclid Avenue in Pasadena, California. The prayer service, which will be filmed and repeatedly broadcast via satellite throughout the Middle East thanks to the generous donation of a supporter, is intended to illustrate to the people of the Middle East that Christian, Jewish and Muslim Americans are working for peace and understanding between nations and faiths. The event also provides an opportunity for people from throughout Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley to join together with like-minded worshippers in the pursuit of peace on a day that commemorates the tragic losses of war.
“Not all Americans support the current war in Iraq; not all Americans support war in general. We want the people living in the Middle East to be exposed to an alternate point of view – Christian, Jewish and Muslim-Americans of faith are working hard for peace. Many of us believe that our faith demands we seek peace and justice for one another, and we are striving, together, to make our voices heard and to assert that peacemaking – as a concept and an action – is absolutely central to Islam, Judaism and Christianity,” says Rev. Dr. George Regas, long-time peace activist and co-founder of AFPI, Rector Emeritus of All Saints Church and Executive Director of the Regas Institute.
The Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking Initiative formed in 2006 as a group of clergy and religious activists that advocates peacemaking as an essential and defining mandate of all three faith traditions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam. As a counterpoint to the general perception that each Abrahamic faith broadly condones warfare, AFPI was formed by leaders of the three Abrahamic traditions in Los Angeles after decades of working together in the peace movement. In addition to Dr. Regas, other founders of AFPI include Dr. Maher Hathout, Senior Advisor of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, Rabbi Leonard Beerman, founding rabbi of Leo Baeck Temple, Dr. Nazir Khaja, physician and interfaith activist, Rabbi Steven B. Jacobs, Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Kol Tikvah, and Rev. J. Edwin Bacon, Rector of All Saints Church. In addition, AFPI participants include representatives of the Progressive Jewish Alliance, Progressive Christians Uniting and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, among others.
AFPI has also produced a document designed to encourage and equip faith communities to become more active in the peace movement. The document, which outlines some of the theological and scriptural foundations in each Abrahamic faith for peacemaking as a central mandate, is intended as a source for preaching and teaching; it will be assessed in selected local religious communities in the coming months before being offered to congregations nationwide.
“Because satellite television is widely available in the Middle East, the opportunity to publicize evidence of both genuine interfaith cooperation and of Americans who are in opposition to US militarism sends a strong message to the people of that region,” explains Dr. Maher Hathout. “It may give hope to people who have only been subjected to insubstantial rhetoric.”
According to Rabbi Sharon Brous of IKAR, who will be speaking at the service, “With the Memorial Day interfaith prayer service, we announce that Americans of faith do not blindly support war. We empathize deeply with all victims of war, and our shared commitment to dignity, justice and compassion inspires our united efforts to bring about peace.”
The interfaith prayer service is free and open to the public. Childcare will be available by reservation only by calling (626) 583-2781 before Friday, May 23.
Looks good! I think I can make it... that walk across the block is such a hassle, y'know.
Posted by: Scott Arany | May 12, 2008 at 01:10 PM