Rev. Dr. Jack Bomar launched United Church's Interfaith Ministry Fellowship this past Thursday, February 9th with a presentation on Native American Spirituality. He felt it appropriate as we are on land still under the spiritual stewardship of First Nations tribes. Among those presenting was my friend Billy who is in the Lodge (Sweat Lodge, where the Inipe ceremony of purification takes place) that I attend, and in which Pastor Jack recently participated. Pastor Jack's experience reconnected him in a profound way with his roots through his Cherokee grandmother in Tennessee.

​This will be followed by monthly presentations. March 9th the Baha'i Faith will be shared by Ms. Veronica Smalls, April 13th will feature a "Freedom Seder" conducted by Rabbi TZiPi Radonsky and in May Rev. Lori Hlaban will speak about Unitarian Universalism. There is much else in the works, to keep up to date please visit United Church's Facebook page.

On December 30th, 2016 IPSC, the Governors representative, and many fellow travelers joined in the Capitol Rotunda in Columbia, SC to launch January as Interfaith Harmony Month. My dear friend Andy and I traveled up for the event and there were throngs of people, including Gov. Haley's father Ajit Singh Randhawa and mother Raj Kaur Randhawa. The photo above is of Dr. Randhawa receiving a plaque of recognition on behalf of Gov. Haley who was out of town, and so this year her proclamation was read by her liaison Ms. Beth Webb. Behind them is a corner of my beloved C's Interfaith banner which was her birthday present to herself from the 2015 Parliament of the World's Religions. The little corner that you can see has the symbol of the Bahá'í Faith. This event spawned all sorts of Interfaith activities all across the state, several of which I participated in and there will be posts about them soon. The press loved the banner as the image highlights, and it was prominently displayed in a number of later events.

CommUnity Newsletter is a publication service of Unity of Hilton Head and serves seven Unity Church/Centers, five in South Carolina, one in Georgia and one in North Carolina. As the editor/designer of this publication I dedicate two pages of each issue to Interfaith news and commentary. I'll add them as they come out. Click on image to open each issue, these files are largish and may take a minute or so to open.​

While attending the 2015 Parliament of the World's Religions in SLC last year I signed the Indigenous Declaration which specifically addressed the desecration of sacred sites. We now have "boots on the ground" on site at Standing Rock. I was gratified to see Parliament Vice-Chair Andras Corban-Arthen leading the delegation meeting with the camp organizers.  I encourage all of you to visit the Parliaments site and sign this Declaration for Indigenous Peoples. The previous green text is a link.

Here is the Parliament of the World's Religions Statement On Standing Rock and the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and an excerpt from it:

The Parliament of the World’s Religions denies any purported “rights” of the Dakota Access Pipeline to trespass on, build upon, and subsequently endanger the sacred land and water of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation. We do not speak for the peoples whose sacred sites and waterways are under attack. Instead we respond to a call from our 2015 Parliament keynote speaker Chief Arvol Looking Horse, Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, and we are inviting you to join us in answering that call:

“What we are being faced with is a dark spirit. All life cannot afford to allow the same mistakes to be made any longer. Look what is happening to the four directions in the contamination of MniWic’oni – the water of life...”

“We are asking the religious leaders to come support them to stand side by side with them [the protestors at Standing Rock] because they are standing in prayer.”

                                                                       Chief Arvol Looking Horse of the Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota Nations

On October 9th, 2016 Interfaith Partners of South Carolina presented “Peace in the Park” a festival/celebration at Saluda Shoals Park in Columbia, SC, a perfect venue for this event. As promised there was fun for all ages! Art, crafts, music, dance, entertainment, nature walks, and an art contest for young people! Ten different religions each had an activity area for crafts and games, the Commons area featured music and dance – both performing and participative, and many people enjoyed the nature trails with a local birder-naturalist, the afternoon topped it off with a giant spiral dance. Hundreds of people from many religious traditions came to celebrate peace, harmony, respect and dignity.

The weather was perfect although hurricane Matthew had reached even this far inland on Friday and Saturday, there was not much damage in evidence and the mood was celebratory! I arrived late in the afternoon due to a speaking engagement earlier in the day. This year featured a youth art contest organized by Dr. Will Moreau Goins and his dedicated team. Dr. Goins is the current president of IPSC and has dedicated his life to preserving, presenting and performing Native American music traditions, beadwork and storytelling. He weaves the ancient past, mythology and the present with dramatic narratives and song. He was the 2008 Recipient for Native American Traditions in South Carolina’s Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Awards. The Peace in the Park art competition showcased some wonderful work from a very diverse sampling of young people.

Of great personal delight for me was the strong presence of the Sikh community. I knew almost nothing about them before attending the Parliament of the World’s Religions which my wife Chris and I participated in Salt Lake City, UT October of last year. The Sikhs fed more than 7,000 of us each day. They have done so for each of the modern Parliaments and 150 of them flew in from England to support the 2015 event. My talk at UUC Columbia was about the Parliament and I was pleased to tell a number of Sikhs about my experience with Langar (the name for ritually prepared meals served as an offering of service) and how one of my slides featured a picture of their Golden Temple at Amritsar where they feed more than 250,000 people three meals a day, every day of the year. A crowning experience of my visit to the “Peace in the Park” event was being honored with a Sikh turban to wear for the rest of the afternoon. Attached is a picture that one of them took of me.

IPSC has a long and rich tradition in South Carolina and had it’s beginnings in the 1970’s as a Christian/Jewish ecumenical initiative and was headed up by Dr. Carl Evans, University of South Carolina Professor Emeritus, he retired from the Department of Religious Studies in 2009 having been a member of the faculty since 1974. Dr. Evans is also past president of IPSC. Unity ministers Ed Kosak of Unity of Charleston and Rev. Peggy Konkel of Unity of Columbia are active in the IPSC as well. Click on Interfaith Partners of South Carolina if you would like to visit their website and to see the good work they sponsor and/or support.

Here is a link to Holli Emore's lovely celebration of the event: Peace in the Park. I love the song which she used as well, it is One by One by Michael Stillwater.
 

Recently I was in Beaufort for a meeting of the Unified Interfaith Community Coalition of Beaufort where Rabbi TZiPi Radonsky was also in attendance.  She and I work together with Interfaith Partners of South Carolina. Afterwards as I often do, I wandered the gracious city of Beaufort; this time out on the north eastern edge towards Pidgeon Point. As I was photographing the marsh and simultaneously trespassing (I can often pull off two things at once) I was called to by a man who asked if I “needed help”. After confirming that I was on private property we began a conversation that within a couple minutes brought us to the friendship between his grandfather Warren Mosby Seay, ThD (Doctor of Theology), pastor of the Beaufort Baptist Church, and Rabbi Julius S. Fisher PhD of the Beaufort Synagogue. After another few minutes I’m invited into the home of my host Andy Kinghorn and his charming wife Betsy, where he played the tape of Rabbi Fisher delivering his eulogy. After which Andy consented to allow me to capture this story on video. Not having my video equipment the sound suffered, I had no tripod and this was not the right lens, but I'm pleased to have the record nonetheless. Here’s the LINK TO VIDEO which is under 2 minutes. Below I've posted the Eulogy that Rabbi Fisher gave, although much is missed in the text as the Rabbi's deep, sonorous voice carries both love and gravitas so beautifully. As it was raining and I had walked several miles from where I had parked under the majestic oaks which line Newcastle Street at the east entrance to the Parish Church of St Helena, Andy offered to drive me back to my truck. We stopped a block away at the Baptist Church of Beaufort to visit Rev. Seay’s grave. Both sets of Mr. Kinghorn’s grandparents, as well as six uncles and aunts are also buried there. All in all a rather unexpected turn of events for me that day for which I am very grateful. This is certainly a fine example of the accord that Judaism and Christianity have reached in South Carolina as well as an inspiring personal testament to the friendships which can arise out of genuine interest in our neighbor’s faith paths.

On June 16th Rev. Nat Carter and I attended this moving interfaith memorial at the historic Grace Chapel AME Church on Charles Street in Beaufort. The memorial marked the first anniversary of the tragic shooting which took place at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina on June 17th 2015. Nine lives were taken including The church's senior pastor, the Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney who was also a Democratic member of the South Carolina Senate, representing the 45th District from 2000 until his death. 

The Emanuel  AME church was founded in 1816 and it is the oldest African Methodist Episcopal Church in the South, often referred to as "Mother Emanuel". It is the oldest historically black congregation south of Baltimore. The memorial was organized in a most commendable way by the Unified Interfaith Community Coalition of Beaufort. The sanctuary was packed with representatives of all the mainline churches as well as other faiths including Bahá'í, Judaism, Orisa (a west African based indigenous religion), and Islam. Rev. Nat and I represented Unity at the faith roll call.

Among the most memorable moments for me were the beautiful reading from Bahá'í scripture by Ms. Victoria Smalls and the address by former state representative Bakari Sellers (pictured above), a friend of the much lamented Clementa Pinckney, who had been born in city of Beaufort, SC.

Nine candles were lit, the name of a victim spoken by a faith leader with the lighting of each one. A 10th candle was lit in memory of the Orlando victims. The candle for Sharonda Coleman-Singleton was lit by Ms. Smalls who had known her in college. This was unbeknownst to the person who assigned the candles to the faith leaders who lit them, and for me much increased the poignancy of this ceremony.
 
This is a prayer from the sacred texts of the Baha'i' Faith by 'Abdu'l-Baha, as read by Ms. Victoria Smalls from the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'í s of Beaufort County.
 
O Thou kind Lord!
Thou hast created all humanity from the same stock. Thou hast decreed that all shall belong to the same household. In Thy Holy Presence they are all Thy servants, and all mankind are sheltered beneath Thy Tabernacle; all have gathered together at Thy Table of Bounty; all are illumined through the light of Thy Providence.
O God! Thou art kind to all, Thou hast provided for all, dost shelter all, conferrest life upon all. Thou hast endowed each and all with talents and faculties, and all are submerged in the Ocean of Thy Mercy.
O Thou kind Lord! Unite all. Let the religions agree and make the nations one, so that they may see each other as one family and the whole earth as one home. May they all live together in perfect harmony.
O God! Raise aloft the banner of the oneness of mankind.
O God! Establish the Most Great Peace.
Cement Thou, O God, the hearts together.
O Thou kind Father, God! Gladden our hearts through the fragrance of Thy love. Brighten our eyes through the Light of Thy Guidance. Delight our ears with the melody of Thy Word, and shelter us all in the Stronghold of Thy Providence.
Thou art the Mighty and Powerful, Thou art the Forgiving and Thou art the One Who overlooketh the shortcomings of all mankind.