"Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world." — Desmond Tutu
Join us tonight for Thinking Religiously Together
First gathering Wednesday, April 12, 7:00 pm, Zoom
MnMN is excited to announce a new "convening" or gathering of people interested in exploring religious traditions together. This convening titled "Thinking Religiously Together" will provide an opportunity for participants to consider different topics that touch on our religious understanding.
Each month we will invite a new guest to present on a topic of interest. This person could be a religious leader, scholar or faith practitioner. We are hoping for lively and personal discussion based on shared learning. As always, we hope that this convening leads to further both education and new connections with others in our greater community.
MnMN Religious Literacy Immersion Event for Forum on Workplace Inclusion Conference
The Minnesota Multifaith Network (MnMN) was honored to be a part of this years Forum for Workplace Inclusion from Augsburg University. For one of their sessions, we conducted a daylong Religious Literacy Immersion Experience with Dr. Brian Carwana from Encounter World Religions and Dr. Lara Trubowitz from ADL. We were hosted by leaders of the Hindu Temple in Maple Grove, the Northwest Islamic Community Center (Masjid Al-Kareem) in Plymouth and Temple Israel in Minneapolis.
At the Hindu Masjid, we were welcomed by Vishal Agarwal; Pooja Bastodkar; and Sudesh Chhabra, the Vice Chair of the Hindu Society. Vishal led us on an excellent tour of this magnificent temple with 21 ornate shrines each honoring a different representation of the same single God. The Hindu Mandir is an architectural wonder and spiritual home to the majority of Hindus in MN.
Next we visited the Northwest Islamic Community Center where we were greeted by Shaykh Saifullah Muhammad and Dr. Imam Tamim Saidi, Resident Scholar of the Islamic Resource Group (IRG). Both Imams engaged in a lively discussion of the basic tenets and practices of the Islamic faith. This was even more impressive as both leaders are celebrating and leading Ramadan prayers and activities. Shaykh Muhammad was up most of the night in prayer and both were fasting. They included our group in observing the noon (Zuhr) prayer recited by Shayk Muhammad.
Our tour ended at Temple Israel where we were greeted by Rabbi Ricky Kamil. Dr. Lara Trubowitz presented a compelling talk on the recent rise of Antisemitism and how it is affecting our Jewish brothers and sisters as well as its harmful influence on society as a whole.
Thank you to all of the wonderful people who came together to make the day a success! To read more, check out Taking Discovery on the Road, a reflection on the day by Dr. Brian Carwana of Encounter World Religions.
MnMN is now accepting applications for Multifaith Leadership Training Program
The Minnesota Multifaith Network (MnMN) in partnership with the Jay Phillips Center for Interreligious Studies at the University of St. Thomas is conducting a joint Multifaith Leadership Training. Participants will be non-students from Minnesota to join student Interfaith Fellows from St. Thomas and other Minnesota colleges.
Eligibility: Persons under the age of 35 interested in developing transferable dialogue skills for leadership and for strengthening multifaith relations in the broader community. No prior experience is expected.
Time Commitment: The seminar meets six times by Zoom for 75 minutes approximately every other week during September to November, 2023. Days and times of sessions will be determined based on availability of participants. The program concludes with an in-person public workshop in the spring of 2024. The workshop will involve local scholars, experts, trainers, and leaders.
Content: Topics include dialogue, interfaith dialogue, identity, key tools of dialogical communication, the righting reflex and motivational interviewing, courage and vulnerability for leadership, and empathy in religiously diverse contexts (e.g., DEI, workplace, public life). Topics subject to change.
Stipend: Accepted participants receive an all-inclusive honorarium ($400 each) to put towards attending the six online sessions and travel/lodging for the in-person workshop.
The Niagara Foundation of Minnesota is excited to announce its revamp of the 3Faiths@OneTable project after a pandemic hiatus and invites you to join this year's cohorts! The goal of this project is to create meaningful friendships across differences over the sharing of a small meal or snack in each other's homes. Once signed up, Volunteer Project Manager Elizabeth Kulus will match three families/couples/friends to make a cohort. She will facilitate a brief orientation meeting so that folks can have the chance to meet and get to know each other. Cohorts agree to meet at least once at each other's homes over the next three months for a total of three gatherings.
It can be difficult to meet new people nowadays, and oftentimes the people we most often interact with are from similar backgrounds as us. The 3Faiths@OneTable project provides a low stakes opportunity for people to create genuine connections. Even though we have included the word "faith" in the name of the project, we encourage people from all religious and non-religious backgrounds to join. The goal of the project is not to convert or proselytize, but simply to learn about each other's differences and find commonality through friendship. If you are interested in learning more or signing up, please email Elizabeth Kulus at ekulus@niagarafoundation.org. Thank you!
Inter-belief Conversation Cafe: How Reliable Is Scripture?
Monday, April 17, 7:00 pm, Zoom
What do we rely on scripture to do for us? Is it a science text? Is it a history book? Is it a guide to living? Is it an effort to make sense of our relationship with a supernatural being or force? Is it a quaint collection of parables, metaphors and myths, perhaps entertaining but long outdated? Is it a justification of our hatred and harm (or of our love) of the other, and of those who don’t conform? Can scripture in turn rely on us, to read and understand it? Do we ask scripture to do things it was never intended to do? The Bible, Vedas, and Qur’an may have used the knowledge of the natural world held by its listeners or readers to explain how life is to be lived.
On Monday, April 17 from 7-9 PM by Zoom, Inter-belief Conversation Café will ask if scripture steers us to heaven, or off a cliff. But on the way up (or down), our agreements of open-mindedness, acceptance, curiosity, discovery, sincerity, brevity, and confidentiality will hopefully guide us to a safe landing!
Join Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light for an Earth Week screening and discussion of a new docuseries on renewable energy transition. Current Revolution, a series of short films from the American Resilience Project, explores the transition from fossil fuels to renewables with a focus on national security, economic prosperity, and environmental justice. The films show how the nation can embrace smart policies and investments that support grid modernization through distributed renewable energy generation, and ensure that the transition is just and sustainable. We’ll watch the first episode of Current Revolution (approx. 30 min) on 4/17 then open up for a discussion moderated by MNIPL’s Buff Grace.
Tuesday, April 18, 6:30 pm, Beth Jacob Congregation or online
Jewish Community Relations Council and Beth Jacob Congregation invite you to Yom HaShaoh, Minnesota and the Dakotas’ annual Holocaust Remembrance Day Commemoration.
6:30 p.m. Pre-program Recitation of Names: Unto Every Person There is a Name
7:00 p.m. Community-wide Commemoration Service
Masks encouraged. Free and open to the public but registration is required.
Building the Multi-faith Future: Freedom of Religion in a Democracy
House of Hope Presbyterian Church
The Calvin W. Didier Annual Seminar is dedicated to spiritual growth through the best comprehensive thinking in religion, the arts, letters and science.
Schedule: Friday, April 21 6:30 p.m. Dessert Reception | Assembly Room 7:30 p.m. Democracy Not Theocracy: Confronting the threat of Christian Nationalism to preserve our religiously diverse nation – Rev. Paul Raushenbush
Saturday, April 22, Moderated by Rev. Paul Raushenbush 9:30 a.m. Christian Nationalism and the United States Supreme Court: Is the concept rooted in U.S. history? – Justice Paul Anderson 10:45 a.m. The Psychology of Meaning: How we create meaning and struggle with difference – Dr. Piercarlo Valdezsolo
Sunday, April 23 10 a.m. Worship | Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush Preaching: Shall Christian Nationalists win? The Critical Role of Congregations in Protecting our Diverse Democracy 11:15 a.m. Adult Enrichment with Rev. Paul Raushenbush: Where Do we Go From Here? Building a Multi-faith Future.
Sunday, April 23, 3:00 pm, First Universalist Church of Minneapolis or online
Please join Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light for Songs Are Seeds: An Earth Day Benefit Concert!Together we will celebrate our movement and affirm our shared commitment to the work of climate justice. Come for the sweetness of connection, the joy of good music, and the pleasure of yummy food and beverages.
Schedule:
Gather: 2:30-3:00pm
Music and Program: 3:00-4:30pm (will be livestreamed!)
Reception with snacks and beverages: 4:30-5:00pm
All are welcome! Invite your family, friends, comrades, colleagues, lovers, buddies, co-conspirators, and movement makers. We enthusiastically encourage you to bring children and babies.
Featuring music by singer-songwriter and beloved community bard, MJ Gilbert; a performance by Wild Voice Chorus; a special welcome from Jim Bear Jacobs (Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Nation); and other surprise guests!
Multifaith Leadership Workshop Saturday, May 6, 8:15 am - 3:30 pm Iverson Center for Faith, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul (map)
“If we truly see ourselves as interconnected, we must endeavor for others as we endeavor for ourselves,” writes Executive Director of Aspen Institute's Religion & Society Program Simran Jeet Singh. If "endeavor for ourselves" and for greater self-discovery is inherently wrapped up in "endeavor for others" and for greater interpersonal engagement, then, as Pope Francis proclaims, “our great challenge is to create a culture of encounter which encourages individuals and groups to share the richness of their traditions and experience; to break down walls and to build bridges.” Cultivating a culture of encounter, grounded in curiosity and wonder, strives for a world in which “we can also speak with those who think differently, as well as those who hold other beliefs, who do not have the same faith.” Advancing common public goods in such a world embraces the reality that great minds do not – and need not – always think alike but requires them to think alongside one another in order to address the urgent matters of our day.
Join us for this daylong workshop at the University of St. Thomas, free and open to all, to explore what it means to create a culture of curiosity, wonder, and encounter. Learn from practitioners, scholars, and leaders about developing skills to engage religious diversity, cultivate curiosity through storytelling, listen with empathetic understanding, navigate difficult conversations, participate in religious and nonreligious spiritual practices, and to develop greater self-awareness for leadership in religiously diverse societies.
Free and open to the public. Registration Required. Lunch included. Ages 16+. Open to all religious, nonreligious, and spiritual identities, worldviews, and ways of life. Join us for good food, rich conversation, and deep engagement.
Note: Simran Jeet Singh Ph.D. will give the keynote address at 11:00 am. Participants who attend the keynote do not need to attend the daylong workshop, but are welcome to. Sign up to receive an email reminder for the keynote.
Join the EcoFaith Network NE-MN Synod, the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin Creation Care, and the Saint Paul Area Synod Care of Creation for EcoFaith Summit 2023, April 15, 9:30 am
Echoes of the Divine: A Dialogue Between Jewish and Christian Musical Traditions, free and open to the public
Join Minnesota Peacebuilding Leadership Institute for LUNAFEST 2023, a night of inspiring films created by women and gender non-conforming directors, April 26, 7:00 pm
Join Minnesota Council of Churches and the Muslim American Society of Minnesota (MAS-MN) for TakingHeart Iftars. Multiple dates and locations during Ramadan. In 2023 Ramadan falls between March 22 and April 21.
Twice every month, Interfaith Action of Greater Saint Paul joins forces with Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, the Twin Cities Cardozo Society, and Progressive Baptist Church to provide a legal clinic free-of-charge for community members, 12:30 – 3:00 pm every other Thursday. Upcoming dates: April 20; May 4 & 18; June 1 & 15; July 6 & 20
.png)
.jpg)
