As survivors gathered Tuesday, they invited another congregation that knows the pain of murderous hatred to join them: members of the Tree of Life synagogue.
The Rev. Charles Graves IV is part of a younger, more diverse generation of Episcopal priests who believes the denomination can thrive — as long as it continues to evolve.
Though much of the discussion and Scripture readings focused on love and peace, the current state of politics was also on the minds of speakers.
‘You have done a marvelous job of grasping the underlying truth and philosophy of the movement,’ the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote to the creator of a comic book about civil rights.
‘Faith leaders have been at the forefront of every progressive movement in our nation’s history … so I’m glad to see faith leaders speaking out and getting into good trouble in opposition to the upcoming reconciliation bill,’ Delaware Sen. Chris Coons told RNS.
In the sessions, Black faith leaders are schooled on the differences between Sunni, Shia, and Nation of Islam sects and discuss the privileges Black Christians can enjoy compared to Black Muslims.
The clergy-led gathering stood in defiance of ICE policies, drawing on shared interfaith values and representing Jewish, Mennonite, Catholic, Baptist, and Unitarian congregations.
The Franciscan Action Network, along with partners Sojourners and Faith in Peace Concerts, held the fourth annual gathering that featured a variety of religious leaders advocating for a strong, functioning, representative, democracy.
Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said that President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary ‘promotes the concept of fundamentalist Christian dominance and supremacy.’
In “Budding Lotus in the West: Buddhism From an Immigrant's Feminist Perspective,” author Nhi Yến Đỗ Trần unveils the complexities of Buddhist teachings woven into the American fabric.