Over 300 people from the Middle Tennessee community gathered at the Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee as a part of the Our Muslim Neighbor initiative’s 3rd Annual Community Iftar, an evening meal that ends the daily fast during Ramadan.
“Heartbeat” Brings Israeli-Palestinian Music to Tennessee
What is truly amazing about Heartbeat is not their music. It is the way they make their music. A group of ten 14-22 year olds, all of them but one an Israeli citizen, often proclaim that their music is simply a medium for a deeper message. Clearly inspired by a desire to love across boundaries of race, religion and ethnicity, the members proudly observe that what they are doing is anathema in many of their home communities. They are embracing the other in a way that is both constructive and creative.
Interfaith, Interspiritual, Integral – The Big ‘I’ Reconvenes
The “interfaith seminary” movement profiled in these pages last September has developed into a national community of clergy, scholars, and seminarians. Sixty of them gathered early this month at the Scarritt Bennett Center in Nashville, Tennessee, for the second “Big ‘I’” conference sponsored by OUnI (Order of Universal Interfaith). Eighteen presenters were each given 18 minutes period! – which left time for rich Q&A sessions that continued into the dining room.
First “Big I” Conference Held in Nashville
The first “Big I” conference (interfaith, interspiritual, and integral) was held Saturday and Sunday, February 4-5, at the Scarritt-Bennett Conference Center in Nashville, Tennessee. It felt like a mini-TED Conference on interfaith spirituality. Though brief, it included something for everyone passionate about building a world of interfaith harmony. With Rev. Timothy Miner and Rabbi Rami Shapiro at the helm, it was presented by the Order of Universal Interfaith (OUnI). Seventy-five attended, activists, clergy, scholars, and mystics from the broad area encompassing inclusive, interfaith, interspiritual, and integral ministry.