SCCPWR InterfaithYouth Program for 2010
SCCPWR welcomes youth (age 14-25) of all religious backgrounds or of no particular faith to participate in its programs. To see a video about the Parliament made by Sarina Van Zyl, a youth participant from SCCPWR, click on this youtube video.
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Saturday, April 24, Noon-5:00 PM. Peace Jam: Defund War--Defend Justice. An afternoon of peacemaking activities for children, youth, and young adults in the parkinglot next to USC United University Church, 817 W 34th St (corner of Hoover and Jefferson), LA 90089. Noon-3:00 PM, followed by a rally and peace march opposing US war in Afghanistan. Musicians and speakers TBA. Co-sponsored by Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace, the American Friends Service Committee, the USC Peace Center, the South Coast Interfaith Council and the SCCPWR.
Sunday, May 16: First Annual SCCPWR Interfaith Awards Banquet at the Center for Spiritual Living, 907 Knob Hill Avenue, Redondo Beach, CA 90277. Workshops 4:00-5:45 PM. Banquet: 6:00-9:00. Individual: $55. Student: $20.
Saturday, May 22: Third Annual Interfaith Tall Ships Sail. Co-sponsored by the South Coast Interfaith Council and the Maritime Institute. Noon till 5:00 PM at San Pedro Harbor. Details TBA.
If interested, please contact us at seeker@socalparliamentofreligions.org.
On March 28, 2009, we had a very successful interfaith tall ships sailing adventure co-sponsored by the So Cal Committee for a Parliament of the World's Religiions, the South Coast Interfaith Council and the LA Maritime Institute. Twenty-nine youth and adults took part in our four-hour sail from San Pedro harbor. One of our participants wrote: "What a wonderfull day! The debrief was so heartfelt and profound...I'll be warmed by it all forever."
Click on these thumbnails pics to see them full-size.
Around 40 youth and adults took part in the interfaith youth event at Reed Auditorium, a block away from the Soka Gakkai Center. The site was very pleasant, with plenty of space and colorful murals on the walls.
Youth played a crucial part in the planning and execution of this event. All but one of the workshops were either led or co-led by youth. The workshops addressed topics such as:“Peer pressure and Religion,” “What My Faith Means to Me,” “Overcoming Stereotypes,” “Vision of Wholeness: Including Young People with Special Needs into Our Religious Communities,” “Interfaith Café,” “Spiritual Wisdom for an Ecological Age.” A Mormon, Soka Gakkai Buddhist, Evangelical Christian, and a Muslim Sufi shared their faith journeys and a lively discussion ensued that continued through the break.
Dr. Richard Rose (a professor of religion and philosophy at La Verne University) showed a video about the Parliament from a youth perspective and spoke about his experiences leading a group of college students to the Barcelona Parliament. One of the students who took part in this trip spoke movingly about his experiences at this life-transforming event.
The youth also had a chance to meet with two spiritual leaders of indigenous communities: Thomas Onewolf, a medicine singer from the Navajo tribe, and Yoland Trevino, an indigenous Mayan born in Guatemala, who is global chair of the United Religion Initiative. This discussion took place outside on the lawn under a tree and addressed many important questions, including “How does my faith tradition engage in peace and justice work?”
The MTO Sufis performed their amazing music (called dikr) and a young man with autism who is involved in Cantor Steve Puzarne’s “Vision of Wholeness” program gave a moving rendition of Bob Dylan’s song “How Many Roads Must a Man Walk Down?”
The young people (mostly college age) who took part in this event were very enthusiastic and look forward to more interfaith activities. All raised their hands when asked if they would like to go to the Parliament someday, and several are seriously interested in attending the upcoming Parliament in Melbourne. Six of the young people gave impressive presentations at the adult Plenary Sessions. They came from a variety of backgrounds: Catholic, Vedanta (Hindu), Sufi Muslim, Jewish/Interfaith, and Seeker.
Click on these thumbnails pics to see them full-size.
We are looking for youth leaders to take part in our monthly planning meetings. If interested, please contact us at seeker@socalparliamentofreligions.org.
For more information, contact Dr. Anthony Manousos at info@socalparliamentofreligions.org. See also his Reflections on Interfaith Youth Work.
Meeting at the Islamic Center of South Bay in Lomita. Judy Gilliland (Mormon), Rini Ghosh (Vedanta, SCIC), Nancy Richardson (Maritime Institute, Wayfarers' Chapel), Dana Siegelman (Jewish, coordinator at Hillel Center, CSULB), Khalil Momand (Vice President, Islamic Center, SCIC), Richard Rose (professor of religion, Laverne, SCCPWR), Arin Ghosh (Vedanta, SCIC), Anthony Manousos (Quaker peace activist, SCIC, SCCPWR), Jasir Soomro and various other youth from the Islamic Center.
The South Coast Interfaith Council and the Southern California Committee for the Parliament of the World’s Religions
invite youth leaders and youth (age 13-25)
from different faith traditions
to pull together for interfaith understanding
Sail in harmony with the wind and waves
aboard LAMI’s twin tall ships for a real-life adventure in genuine cooperation…
Everyone is needed to raise and trim the sails, set and steer our course;
some may climb the rigging and work aloft…
Make reservations by March 13 for your leader-youth team at friendsbul@aol.com. . (Space limited. first come, first-served.) For middle-schoolers and up. Suggested donation $50. Make checks payable to "LA Maritime Institute" and send to Dr. Anthony Manousos at 1432 16th St Apt 2, Santa Monica CA 90404. Phone: 310-451-7605
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Noon – 4 pm sailing, then stay to share faith connections aboard and ashore.
Exchange water wisdom from faith traditions and create our own from this experience
Welcome Aboard at Berth 78, Ports O’ Call Village, San Pedro
Wear comfortable clothes, soft-soled shoes, and
bring extra warm layers with hood or watch/ski cap for cool winds.
BYO Lunch/Snack
Directions: From 110-Harbor Freeway or 710 to cross Terminal Island, over Vincent Thomas Bridge.
Take Harbor Blvd. Exit, stay right and turn right at light onto Harbor Blvd.
Proceed to turn left at light at foot of 6th St. over tracks, then Right at LA Maritime Museum.
At signs for ‘Ports O’ Call Village’ turn Left, to open lot by Berth 78, sign on posts in parking lot.
Go down right walkway, thru gate and down ramp to floating dock to board ship before noon.
Questions on the sailing? Call Nancy Richardson at 310-429-3277
310-833-6055 or via email to nrichardson@lamitopsail.org
LA Maritime Institute, Berth 84, Foot of 6th St., San Pedro, Ca 90731
Interfaith Youth Work:
Faith-based youth work has been a passion of mine for many years. For five years I served as youth director at my wife’s Methodist church. In 1992, I helped to start a youth service program jointly funded by the American Friends Service Committee and Southern California Quarterly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). This program mainly drew Quaker youth, but around ten to twenty percent of the participants hailed from different backgrounds, including a significant number of African American teens. For ten years I took teens on service projects to various sites: homeless shelters, a shelter for wild animals, an AIDS hospice center, and communities in Mexico where we built community centers and homes for workers living in utter poverty, without running water or electricity. These service projects were a powerful learning opportunities for all involved, especially the teens. Many reported having had life-changing experiences.
When I became involved with the South Coast Interfaith Council, I encouraged our organization to undertake interfaith youth work. Our first project was an “Interfaith Youth Icebreaker,” which took place at a local synagogue. This event was a big success and was written up in the local newspaper (see article by Kim Calvert).
I was inspired by Rabbi Arthur Waskow, an interfaith peace activist who noted that the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish holy month of Tishrei would converge in 2005—an occurrence that takes place once every 33 years because Muslims have a lunar calendar and Ramadan falls ten days later each year. In Waskow’s view, this convergence could provide an opportunity for Muslims, Christians and Jews (as well as those of other faiths) to celebrate together and affirm their unity as “Children of Abraham.” He called this opportunity “God’s October Surprise.”
Our second youth project was an interfaith café, which also took place during the month of Ramadan/Tishei (October) in 2006. Around fifty youth showed up for discussions about their faith traditions at a local Presbyterian church. Later many went to the nearby mosque in order to partake of iftar, the breaking of the fast at sunset. We ate delicious South Asian food, watched the Muslim prayers on close-circuit TV, and learned about Islam from various Muslim speakers.
This was followed by an Interfaith Tall Ships Sail, which drew over 30 youth in the spring of 2008. the goal of this project was to build trust and understanding through hands-on experience with sailing. The theme was based on the words of Martin Luther King: "We may have come here in different ships, but we are all in one boat now."
I am convinced that interfaith organizations are ideally and uniquely suited to do this trust-building work. The need for building interfaith understanding among youth is clear: we live in a society that is not only culturally but religiously diverse. We need to appreciate religious as well as cultural diversity in order to get along. Schools have made an effort to teach about cultural diversity, but have been reluctant to focus on religion—a much riskier topic. Interfaith organizations can provide opportunities for youth of different faith traditions to get together, talk openly, and learn from each other in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust. The goal of this work is to help youth to gain a clearer understanding of their own faith and an appreciative understanding of other faiths.
As my list of sources indicates, exciting interfaith youth work is taking place around the country in small “pilot projects.” The possibilities are endless!
Sources for interfaith youth work
Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) / http://www.ifyc.org. First envisioned in 1998 by a group of passionate and committed college students, IFYC is empowering young people of faith to be leaders in building a pluralist society. Their website goes on to say: “We are building a movement that brings together young people of different religious and moral traditions for cooperative service and dialogue around shared values like service and hospitality. Whether you’re a young person, a college student, a youth advisor, a faith leader or a civic leader, there’s a way to get involved!
IFYC director Dr. Eboo Patel received his doctorate in the sociology of religion from Oxford University, where he studied on a Rhodes scholarship. Eboo is a regular guest on Chicago Public Radio and a frequent contributor to the Op-Ed pages of The Chicago Tribune. Additionally, he has written for The Harvard Divinity School Bulletin, Utne Magazine, The Journal of Muslim Law and Culture and National Public Radio and has been featured on a range of media, including The New Republic, American Public Media, the BBC, and CNN. He is co-editor of Building the Interfaith Youth Movement: Beyond Dialogue to Action (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006) and is currently writing a book on the role of religious youth in the 21st Century with Beacon Press. Eboo is an Ashoka Fellow, part of an elite network of social entrepreneurs with ideas that have the potential to change the world. eboo@ifyc.org. (312) 573-8941.
There are also numerous interfaith youth camps.
http://traubman.igc.org/camps.htm This website lists a dozen camps for Jews and Christians in North America, including Seeds of Peace, Peace Camp Boston, Creativity for Peace (New Mexico), etc.
Hello, my religion is ...
Muslim, Christian and Jewish teens meet at Interfaith Youth Icebreaker
(Daily Breeze, Saturday, October 22, 2005)
By Kim Calvert
Get-acquainted games already were under way when four teenage Muslim girls, their quiet, dark-eyed beauty framed by traditional head scarves, arrived Sunday afternoon at Temple Menorah in Redondo Beach.
Their shyness gave way to warm smiles as they were welcomed into the Jewish synagogue's community room and invited to join 50 other teenage Jews, Christians and Muslims in an energetic game of Mingle-Mingle-Mingle, the object being to shake hands with as many people as possible.
The occasion was the Interfaith Youth Icebreaker sponsored by the South Coast Interfaith Council, an association of 140 faith-based groups in the South Bay-Harbor-Long Beach areas of Los Angeles and West Orange counties. It was inspired by a nationwide effort by Jewish, Muslim and Christian organizations to encourage peace during a rare convergence of religious calendars, a time when Ramadan and the Jewish High Holy Days fell on the same days in October.
Anthony Manousos, 57, a Quaker who is on the SCIC board of directors and chaired the event, said his religious philosophy is that every human is made in the image of God.
"When I heard about 'God's October Surprise' and the plan to use this coincidence to take steps to reach out to other faiths, I knew we had to do something too, and it should involve youth," Manousos said.
The SCIC, along with youth members of Temple Menorah, the United Methodist Church of Redondo Beach and the Islamic Center of South Bay came up with the idea to have games and then let teens talk about the role faith plays in their lives.
On Sunday, Alissa Thomas, 16, of Manhattan Beach, spoke about the importance of her Jewish faith. She said it was important to get to know people who care as much about their religion as she does about hers.
"I believe all people are born good," Thomas said. "We all have hope for humanity. That's why we're here today."
Charles Pickering, 14, of South Central Los Angeles, talked about being a Christian. He said he believed he could be a very devoted Christian and still have close friends of other faiths.
"Our differences don't have to create a wall between us," Pickering said. "We can discuss things -- not argue. There's no calling one person right and the other person wrong."
Anees Rehman, 15, of Lomita spoke about the Muslim experience.
"I believe in one God," Rehman said, about a commonality shared with Christians and Jews. "The Quran is my holy book and guides me. That means I don't drink and I don't use drugs. I value my body. I stand up for truth.
"We can all get along if we have the chance to get to know each other," Rehman said.
The youth director for boys at the Islamic Center of South Bay, Yasir Shah, 27, of Carson, said he was excited about the Icebreaker from the moment he heard about it.
"The kids I work with thought it was a cool idea," Shah said. "Our community has been involved in interfaith activities in the past, but never one developed by youth for youth."
Shah said the most difficult part was trying to convince organizations, inside and outside the Muslim community, of the beauty of this kind of event.
"The older generation, many who immigrated to the United States, keep a lower profile and are more private about their faith," Shah said. "Their children -- first-generation Americans -- realize we need to be more open so people will understand us, not fear us."
Caroline Dawes, youth director at First United Methodist Church in Redondo Beach, said until the Icebreaker First United Methodist had only participated in activities with other Christian churches.
"It's more difficult and challenging when you reach out to congregations you don't know as well," said the 27-year-old El Segundo resident. "This is a healthy opportunity to step out of our usual box."
Lora Mallen, 37, of Redondo Beach is a member of the SCIC's Interfaith Relations Committee and was the Temple Menorah liaison for the Icebreaker. She said once a young person becomes associated with people of other faiths, the result is compassion and understanding.
Mallen said she was particularly touched when, during one of the planning meetings at Temple Menorah, the Muslim teens did their evening prayers in the temple's chapel.
"It really brought home the realization that we are all God's children," she said.
"When 9-11 happened the whole world started to look at us in a different way," said Emaan Sourjah, 15, a Muslim student at Torrance High School. "It's good to know there are people who don't think we're terrorists."
Sourjah said the Muslim community in the South Bay has received tremendous support from the interfaith network.
"Events like this show we can put aside our differences and do things like throw a balloon over a rope -- have fun together," she said.
Jared Dichter, 13, a Jewish student at Paul Revere Middle School in Los Angeles, told the group he never really understood his faith until he attended an interfaith youth camp.
"Everybody worked together there as a team," he said. "It was like this brand new machine. I learned who I was there by learning about others. This is about bringing everybody together, about not being separated from each other."
At sunset, 16-year-old Amin Momand, a student at Palos Verdes High School, explained how Muslims are called to their daily obligatory prayers. He then placed his fingertips to his ears and sang out the prayer-call in a solemn, melodic Arabic chant that translates as:
God is the greatest
I bear witness that there is no god except God
I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God
Make haste towards prayer
Make haste towards welfare
God is the greatest
There is no god except God.
Following the Muslim evening prayers and a time for reflection by the other teens, all reconvened in the community room to enjoy kosher pizza and sodas provided by Temple Menorah. The SCIC's Manousos said he hopes the Icebreaker will be the beginning of an ongoing interaction, through which youths develop their new friendships and come up with ideas for joint projects.
Many Muslim youths communicate with family members in other countries, he said, and many Jewish teens communicate with family members inIsrael.
"With the Internet, a local event can have a global connotation," Manousos said. "We can build trust here and have that message of trust carried to the world.
"What we did here today will have an impact that goes far beyond our own back yard."
Kim Calvert is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles.
- Saturday, February 13, 2010: Interfaith Hotmeal for the Homeless at Walteria United Methodist Church, 3646 Newton Street, Torrance, CA.Co-sponsored by the South Coast Interfaith Council. Time: 10 AM through 2:00 PM. Coordinator: Anthony Manousos.
- Saturday, April 24, 2010: Interfaith Earthday Beach Cleanup with Heal the Bay. Co-sponsored by the South Coast Interfaith Council. Details to be announced.
- Saturday, May 22, 2010: Third Annual Interfaith Tall Ships Sail. Co-sponsored by the South Coast Interfaith Council and the Maritime Institute. Noon till 5:00 PM at San Pedro Harbor. Details TBA.
