Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia

Walking the Walk

Suburban West Group - 2007

The Suburban West group was comprised of high school students from five congregations: one synagogue, one church, one Catholic school and two mosques. Students from these communities gathered 13 times over the year to engage in meaningful conversation with one another, to share ritual objects from their traditions, to respond to book requests made by incarcerated individuals, and to reflect on their program experiences through poetry and collage.

Group Leader:

Nicole Diroff, Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia

Interfaith Learning and Sharing

 “I think it’s important to relate to other faiths in order to prevent any prejudice or stereotypes.”
-Walking the Walk participant

When the Suburban West group first gathered, we each brought a ritual object from our religious traditions. Many students brought items that had been given to them by someone who was important in their spiritual development. Items included: prayer beads, books of scripture, and plates used for serving meals on holy days. We talked about the ways in which we honor our heritage and we reflected on the theme through poetry.

Service-Learning

Books through Bars, our service learning partner, is a Philadelphia organization that sends reading material to prisoners throughout the country and encourages education for those living inside as well as outside prison walls. During our time at the site, we read letters from inmates and tried to meet their requests as best we could. Among the most poignant book request letters were ones that described in painful detail the difficulty prisoners have trying to attain skills and knowledge while they are incarcerated.

Books through Bars volunteers also led the students through a curriculum intended to raise their awareness about the criminal justice system in this country. Reading the letters and talking with the volunteers led to discussion about the disproportionate imprisonment of young men of color and the challenges of community reintegration.

As a result of our volunteering, some of the students collected books to donate, especially after finding out how desperate the organization was for dictionaries and textbooks.

“I used to think that all people in prison were bad; however, I have learned tonight that many are trying to change their lives through education.”
-Walking the Walk participant

To learn more about the topics we began to explore at Books through Bars, we spent two sessions doing a ‘community listening project’, a program developed by the Search Institute. This was a unique opportunity for the youth to learn by asking questions of guest speakers and then forming their own opinions as young people of faith.

Our guest speakers included former inmates, prison chaplains and criminal justice advocates. The youth asked our guest speakers about the ways in which their experiences or their work changed their lives and affected their faith. The speakers also talked about things they see as making a difference for prisoners and their families as well as their personal hopes for the future.

“Your interview will forever stay with me, close to my heart.  I was deeply inspired by your story.  It saddened me while at the same time I was given a deep sense of hope from your passion and pursuit of positive action.”
-Thank you note from a Walking the Walk participant to a guest speaker

“Stereotypes present ex-convicts and convicts as mere gruff characters.  We learned otherwise.”
-Reflection from Walking the Walk participant

Congregational Partners:

Our shared values mini-retreats were hosted by the five Suburban West partner congregations. As part of hosting, the religious leaders from each congregation took the group on a tour of their buildings and worship spaces. We saw stained glass windows and a new organ at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, the Torah scrolls at Main Line Reform and the prayer space at the Foundation for Islamic Education. There never seemed to be enough time for these tours because everyone had so many questions!

Our Congregational Partners were:

Archbishop John Carroll High School, Radnor

The Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship, Philadelphia

Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, Bryn Mawr

Foundation for Islamic Education, Villanova

Main Line Reform Temple, Wynnewood

View pictures from the 2006-07 Suburban West group.