To Get Interfaith Value, Talk While You Work
June 1, 1999
Rev. Bob Murphy learned an important lesson on the road from Mt. Olive, just before Easter. If you're serious about doing interfaith work, take sunblock.Murphy and some of his parishioners walked much of the way from Mt. Olive, NC, to Raleigh in support of organizing farm workers. It's the third year they've done that, and Murphy recommends it, not only to support the farm workers, but to learn something about other faiths.
Murphy, who serves three Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations, at Morehead (72 members), Greenville (61), and New Bern (30), walked with Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, Methodists, and Baptists. He says, "If you walk twenty miles with someone and eat a couple of meals with them, you can share all kinds of things."
The UU Congregation of Fairfax, Oakton, VA (648), helped found an interfaith gospel choir six years ago. "Mosaic Harmony now includes members of at least ten faiths," says Sharon Van Duizend, a promoter and group member. "Strong friendships have developed and members attend each others' churches," she says.
"The choir, a popular attraction throughout the area, has helped members become more broad-minded," says Van Duizend. "We think of ourselves as tolerant, but like any institution we have biases. Because of this group we've been a little less inclined to use the right-wing religious groups as a springboard. We tolerate a wider range of religious beliefs. And what matters most is coming from very different belief systems into a place of unity."
"We were refused membership because we weren't a Christian church. We had no idea we were not acceptable, but this is rural Dixie. There are people who will cooperate with fellow Christians, but don't want to see people from other faiths."
He adds, "If you're in the midst of a very conservative culture it makes you think very carefully about what it means to be a UU and how you respond to the world around you."
For more information contact interconnections @ uua.org.
Last updated on Friday, April 18, 2008.
