Learning and Leadership Program

Overview

Interfaith event

An Interfaith Center brochure describes the variety of adult learning and leadership programs now available to community groups and congregations.

Programs are uniquely designed to meet the goals and needs of the requesting groups and can be adapted to meet all budgets.

Download Program Brochure

Getting Started

Encountering Other Faiths

Introduces adults of a particular faith or diverse faith traditions to the art of interreligious dialogue. Based upon the book, Encountering Other Faiths, this interactive seminar series has been designed with sufficient flexibility to meet the interests and desired outcomes of the participants. Participants over the years include persons of the Biha’I, Buddhist, Islamic, Jewish, Universalist and Christian faiths. This offering is available upon request. If your faith community or organization is interested in learning more, contact Maria Hornung, Coordinator of Interfaith Education at: meh@interfaithcenterpa.org.

One tool for assisting those interested in entering into interreligious engagement is the recently published Workbook for Encountering Other Faiths by Maria Hornung, MMS. This workbook is available online for free; download the workbook in pdf format.

Facilitator Training

Offers participants the orientation and training necessary to facilitate the Encountering Other Faiths programs. Trained leaders will facilitate groups, guiding this transformative dialogue experience in their own community as well as in other faith communities.

For those interested in facilitating others in their encounters with other faiths, Maria Hornung, author of Encountering Other Faiths and our coordinator of interfaith education, has developed a training course/workshop/seminar. Here, participants can join others to:

Articulate various dimensions of one’s own interfaith encounters
Gain confidence in being a constructive presence in interfaith situations
Explore the user friendly format of the Encountering Other Faiths series
Receive an orientation for facilitating the Encountering Other Faiths programs
Acknowledge and confirm basic skills in facilitating this series

To learn more contact Maria Hornung at meh@interfaithcenterpa.org.

Diversity in the Workplace

Centered on the need to support diversity in the workplace, this program acquaints employees with basic information about different faiths that encourages sensitive interfaith encounters in the workplace. It introduces employees to the various dimensions of interfaith encounters.
This offering is available upon request.

If your faith community or organization is interested in learning more, contact Maria Hornung, Coordinator of Interfaith Education at: meh@interfaithcenterpa.org

Deepening Your Understanding

Single Faith Immersion Program

single faith immersion

This is an experiential learning program about specific Abrahamic faiths, presented by the people who understand them best- the leaders and practitioners of those faith communities.
The upcoming program is scheduled to being in spring 2010. For more information contact Andrea Brooks at: abrooks@interfaithcenterpa.org.

Gateway to Religious Communities

gateway to religious communities Using our community of congregations as a network, we facilitate visits to faith communities for tours, programs and worship experiences.

Participants are encouraged to visit a variety of settings, thereby broadening their knowledge of other faiths while helping to create a more collaborative community.

The upcoming program is scheduled to being in January 2010. Register Online for the 2010 program.

For more information contact Andrea Brooks at: abrooks@interfaithcenterpa.org.

Engaging in Interfaith Dialogue

engaging in interfaith dialogue

Designed for members of different faith communities who wish to initiate dialogue to further mutual respect and understanding between and among faith communities and to work together toward common goals.

This offering is available upon request. If your faith community or organization is interested in learning more, contact Maria Hornung, Coordinator of Interfaith Education at: meh@interfaithcenterpa.org

Showing Commitment

Women in Religious Leadership Initiative

women in religious leadership

Engages a rich diverse group of women serving congregations and communities in order to strengthen spiritual connections, enhance understanding, share resources, and affirm their distinctive calls to action.

The day long retreat includes songs, dance, dialogue, text study, prayer and reflection time.

Past participants have talked about the great energy and the enlivening and enriching experience they had during the retreat. Other women commented on the wonderful diversity present and how that led to enlightening conversations from different perspectives

To learn more contact Maria Hornung at meh@interfaithcenterpa.org

The next retreat will be help on February 8, 2010.

Daughters of Abraham

daughters of abraham

Women in leadership from Abrahamic faith traditions gather six times a year to discuss selected books emanating from these faith traditions and to reflect on their life journeys and themes of mutual concern.

Daughters of Abraham is an interfaith book group whose mission is to overcome stereotypes and to foster mutual respect and understanding among Jewish, Christian, and Muslims women. The purpose is to increase respect for the Abrahamic faith traditions by reading books that teach about each other’s faith traditions and learn from each other about the spirituality and practices of our respective religions. The group members are committed to building relationships with each other. The goal is to have 21 women per group, religious leaders or educators, 7 of each faith.

For those interested in learning more contact Maria Hornung at meh@interfaithcenterpa.org

List of books previously discussed:

The Girl with the Tangerine Scarf
by Mohja Kahf

Gilead
by Marilynne Robinson

The Talmud and the Internet: A Journey between Worlds
by Jonathan Rosen

Quest Book Group

Since the fall of 2004, the Interfaith Center has hosted Quest, a monthly interfaith book group.

Each month, Quest features a book about a particular religious tradition, an autobiography or other work that gives insight into matters of faith.

Each book discussion is led by people from the respective religious community. Engaging and challenging, participants bring their own questions and perspectives that contribute to the dynamic nature of the group.

Scriptural Study

Congregations elect to study the scriptures of a faith tradition in a formal way. Interested faith communities have desired to gain a deeper understanding of and appreciation of another faith through the study of that faith’s main scriptural texts.

The faith traditions already studied are: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Involved groups have been very grateful for the wonderful insights they have gained into the beliefs and spirituality of a unique faith tradition. Participants have become more knowledgeable, more appreciative of others.

The Interfaith Center supports such groups in developing a scripture study series. The Center staff work with the faith community to identify their needs and to identify qualified professors to help with the study.

Study of Theology

study of theology

Persons of different faiths choose and study topics of interest and concern from the viewpoint of their various faith traditions.

A group of individuals from different faith traditions gather for four sessions during the year to discuss contemporary issues from the perspectives of the different faiths represented. Every group has members of different faiths as well as a facilitator.

The group decides the topics, one per session, to be discussed over the four sessions. Then, a group member finds readings and poses questions on that topic to be discussed at the next gathering.