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We Can Do More Together

We Can Do More Together

by Silvana Faillace

When the ground shook on that September afternoon in 2018, it was only the beginning. After a few hours of small quakes, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck Central Sulawesi in the early evening.

Matthew Fox & Lama Tsomo Explore Compassion

Matthew Fox & Lama Tsomo Explore Compassion

A TIO Interview by Megan Anderson

This month, TIO “sat” down via Zoom with Matthew Fox and Lama Tsomo to talk about compassion and the role it plays in our world today.

GreenSpirit: Where Green and Sacred Meet

GreenSpirit: Where Green and Sacred Meet

by Marian Van Eyk McCain

A friend of mine who lives deep in a forest and is both an eco-activist and a practising Pagan once remarked to me rather ruefully

Community Organizing for the Earth

Community Organizing for the Earth

by Estrella Sainburg

For longer than I can remember, and for reasons at the heart of my being, I have loved and cared about the natural world. Earth is precious, sacred, and beautiful; home to you and me.

Kids Going Green with God

Kids Going Green with God

by Vicki Garlock

Ever wondered if the Bible teaches care for God’s creation? Betsy LaVela and her GreenFaith Kids curriculum offer a resounding, convincing “Yes!”

Engendering Interfaith in Edmonton, Canada

Engendering Interfaith in Edmonton, Canada

by Netta Phillet

The Edmonton Interfaith Centre for Education and Action (EICEA) was officially incorporated in 1996, but its roots go back to at least 1992.

Encountering the World’s Religions on the Ground

Encountering the World’s Religions on the Ground

by Brian Carwana

“Look at all the white people!” As my 45 attendees piled into this tiny Rasta shop in Toronto, this was how we were greeted by the proprietor’s friend, a visitor from Jamaica, who stared at us with a mile-wide grin and eyes large as saucers.

Naming, Growing, and Collaborating

Naming, Growing, and Collaborating

by Marcus Braybrooke

What’s in a name? In June, the Three Faiths Forum, founded 21 years ago in the UK, is changing its name to the Faith & Belief Forum. This reflects the way its work has expanded to include people of all faiths and beliefs, both religious and non-religious. 

Exploring the Inner Journey of Kahlil Gibran

Exploring the Inner Journey of Kahlil Gibran

by Paul-Gordon Chandler

A hushed reflective silence filled the dark cinema as the world premiere of The Prophet finished its animated adaptation of Kahlil Gibran’s inspiring book of prose poetry

A Call to Professionalize Interfaith in Higher Education

A Call to Professionalize Interfaith in Higher Education

by Cody Nielsen

In the past twenty years, the world of religious, secular, and spiritual identities (RSSIs) has grown considerably on college and university campuses across North America. Once a forgotten and at times taboo topic, higher education is slowly embracing these identities as it re-imagines itself as a force for global citizenship.

Donna Bollinger Tapped to Lead Religions for Peace-USA

Donna Bollinger Tapped to Lead Religions for Peace-USA

by Paul Chaffee

She was raised in a home on a dirt road in rural western North Carolina, without indoor plumbing or a telephone. The family lived off the land and had never sent a child to high school before. Asked if there was some seminal moment, a particular experience as a youngster that influenced her for the rest her life, Donna Bollinger says “Yes!” 

Bede Griffiths – Interfaith's Interspiritual Pioneer

Bede Griffiths – Interfaith's Interspiritual Pioneer

by Marcus Braybrooke

Brother Bede Griffith’s (1906-1993) life of physical and spiritual exploration has been important in the spiritual journeys of many, many people, including myself. He was one of the first spiritually resonant models for those of us engaged in interfaith activities more than 50 years ago. His life suggested that one could be spiritually grounded and thriving in more than one tradition at the same time.

Teilhard de Chardin – Envisioning a Unitive Evolution

Teilhard de Chardin – Envisioning a Unitive Evolution

by Marcus Braybrooke

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-55), a distinguished paleontologist, theologian, and visionary, held a unitive vision that covered a wide canvas. He tried through his writings to bring the worlds of science and religion together, believing their combined insights held the key to creating a greater sense of global community. 

John B. Cobb Jr. – Environmental “Evangelist”

John B. Cobb Jr. – Environmental “Evangelist”

by Ruth Broyde Sharone

No ivory tower has ever been able to contain Dr. John B. Cobb, Jr. Even at 92, the premier “eco-theologian” of our times is a man on a mission. He urgently wants to convert us. But not in the conventional sense. He wants us all – regardless of our religious orientation, our racial, national, and cultural origins – to “evangelize” for an “ecological civilization”

Bahá’u’lláh – Founder of the Bahá’í Faith

Bahá’u’lláh – Founder of the Bahá’í Faith

by Marcus Braybrook

At this turbulent time, we need to hold on to Bahá’u’lláh’s message of hope. Voiced some 150 years ago, it deserves a high place among those who will influence the future story of the human spirit. In his teachings, Bahá’u’lláh anticipated many of the creative developments of the twentieth century.

 

The Chaplaincy Institute: Pioneering Interfaith Ministry

The Chaplaincy Institute: Pioneering Interfaith Ministry

by John R. Mabry

Andrea paused at the doorway to the hospital room to gather her thoughts. Her last patient had been a Sunni Muslim grandmother who was scared of what her tests might say. This next patient is an atheist who may or may not want to talk to her. After that, she has a Jewish person, and a Seventh Day Adventist. While that kind of rapid-paced paradigm-shifting might cause vertigo in some chaplains, it’s all par for the course for Andrea and others...

Dr. Mehnaz Afridi: Defying All Stereotypes

Dr. Mehnaz Afridi: Defying All Stereotypes

by Ruth Broyde Sharone

In an age when Muslim-Jewish tensions are unusually high, when prominent Muslim leaders publicly deny that the Holocaust happened, and when UNESCO recently voted to declare that the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is historically sacred only to Muslims, not Jews or Christians – it’s hard to imagine that a Muslim would have been selected to head a Holocaust center.

Monotheistic Mystic, or a Megalomaniac?

Monotheistic Mystic, or a Megalomaniac?

by Marcus Braybrooke

Should the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten be seen as an ancient forbearer of the interfaith movement? In one of his prayers he said of God, “You are the Lord of all, who takes care of all,” and he said “God created every person equal to each other.” He is, however, still today as in his own time, a controversial figure.

“I’d Like to Help” – A Conversation with Charles Gibbs

“I’d Like to Help” – A Conversation with Charles Gibbs
What can we learn from a pioneer who co-created the largest grassroots interfaith organization in the world? A conversation with Charles Gibbs gifted us with answers to this question.

C. F. Andrews: Gandhi’s Friend

Often the friendships made at a conference are remembered long after the keynote speeches are forgotten. In the ancient and mediaeval worlds, friendship was very highly valued. For Aristotle, friendship was the very fabric of a healthy society, and Cicero stressed the importance of friendship. The mediaeval monk Aelred even translated the Biblical verse “God is love” as “God is friendship.” (1 John 4: 8).