Multifaith Events and Displays for 12th Interfaith Awareness Week

Interfaith Awareness Week 12
2009 Events and Activities for Madison Area
December 6 - December 12, 2009

This is the 12th annual Interfaith Awareness Week proclaimed by the Governor
of Wisconsin, the Dane County Executive, Madison Mayor and Middleton Mayor.
All events and activities are free and open to the public.

Interfaith Awareness Week 12 continues to be a collaborative effort of
people of different faiths. This year, Reverend Anne Wynne is coordinator
and facilitator of the noon program at the capitol. Greater Madison
Inter-religious Association, Dialogue International and Inroads Interfaith
Ministry are sponsors.

There are two kinds of events planned: multifaith events in a public
location and open houses of worship. This has at least nine open houses and
two public events. There will also be two public displays for viewing:

"Good Neighbor - Interfaith Awareness" in the main display case at the
Middleton Public Library Starting December 1, 2009 - all month

"The World of Faith Traditions in Wisconsin" in the Capitol Rotunda Monday
December 7 through Friday December 11, 2009 Over 20 DISPLAYS INCLUDE: UNITY,
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST, SUFI ORDER OF THE WEST, SIKH, ROMAN CATHOLIC,
PRESBYTERIAN, PAGAN, ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN, METHODIST (UMC), ISLAM, HINDU, EPISCOPAL, ECKANKAR, BUDDHIST, BELOVED COMMUNITY, BAHA'I and several interfaith groups.

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MULTIFAITH EVENTS:

WEDNESDAY 12/9/09
6:30-8:30pm
4th Annual Good Neighbor Interfaith Celebration Middleton Public Library,
7425 Hubbard Ave, Middleton "Christianity is an Eastern Religion" a
multifaith panel discussion Including Orthodox Christianity, Hindu,
Buddhist, Muslim and Sikh Moderated by Renu Paul, Society for Asian and
Comparative Philosophy

THURSDAY 12/10/09
10:00am-12:00noon
Madison Interfaith Dialogue group meets in the Capitol Building (Room 425 SW)
For over 20 years, MID has been meeting for multifaith discussion and dialogue

THURSDAY 12/10/09
12:00noon-1:00pm
8th Annual Interfaith Celebration at the Wisconsin Capitol Diverse faith
presentations with music and dancing. Afterwards, individuals of faith traditions will be at displays to answer questions

***

OPEN HOUSES - Faith communities listed have agreed to host the public during
Interfaith Awareness Week (see separate entry)

***
To be updated by email, sign up to madisoninterfaith-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Facebook: group "Inroads Ministry" or friend "Inroads Minister" or event "Interfaith Awareness Week"

This is preliminary list, so please check this website for updates and corrections

For contact purposes:
Rev. John-Brian Paprock
Inroads Ministry, P.O.Box 5207, Madison, WI 53705
608.242.4244 voicemail

Faith Open Houses during Interfaith Awareness Week

MADISON AREA OPEN HOUSES - Faith communities listed have agreed to host the
public during Interfaith Awareness Week in 2009. Most of these events
include worship in the faith tradition, food, and fellowship, with question
and answer sessions. More listings and some changes are likely, so double
check the website or call ahead. If your faith community would like to host
an open house, please contact us.

SUNDAY 12/6/09
The American Hindu Association
Hindu temple at 2138 S FISH HATCHERY RD, Fitchburg 10:30am - 12:30pm

SUNDAY 12/6/09
ECKANKAR Religion of the Light and Sound of God Eck Family Worship Service
at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center
953 Jenifer Street, Madison
10:30am - 12:30pm

MONDAY 12/7/09
Tiger's Eye Temple
Host a drumming circle - Time and place pending

TUESDAY 12/8/09
Madison Baha'i Community
Baha'i Center at 324 Lakeside Avenue, Madison 7pm-9pm

WEDNESDAY 12/9/09
Middleton Public Library
4th Annual Good Neighbor Interfaith Celebration (see separate listing of
multifaith events)

THURSDAY 12/10/09
Noon Program at the State Capitol (see separate listing of multifaith
events)

FRIDAY 12/11/09
Madison Dawa Circle (Islam)
2617 E. Washington Ave., Madison
608-242-9937
6:30pm-8:30pm

SATURDAY 12/12/09
Hanukkah at Synagogue (open house TBD)

SUNDAY 10/13/09
Unity of Madison
601 Thompkins Drive, Madison/Monona
9:45am-10:15am
Drumming following Worship Service at 10:30am

SUNDAY 12/13/09
Sufi Order of the West
Universal Worship Service
At The Gates of Heaven Synagogue, James Madison Park, Madison
10:30am-12:30pm

SUNDAY 10/13/09
Sikh Worship Service
Sikh Gurdwara at 6970 Century Ave, Middleton, WI
(608) 831-4401
~11am to 1pm

***

To be updated by email, sign up to
madisoninterfaith-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
On Facebook: group "Inroads Ministry" or friend "Inroads Minister" or event
"Interfaith Awareness Week"

This is preliminary list, so please check this website for updates and
corrections

For contact purposes:
Rev. John-Brian Paprock
Inroads Ministry, P.O.Box 5207, Madison, WI 53705
608.242.4244 voicemail

2010 Multifaith Calendar

Dear Friends,
Multifaith calendars available only as supplies last. Paid orders will be shipped the next business day.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Only fifty ordered for local distribution - but it is not too late

THE FULLNESS OF THE YEAR UNFOLDS WITH

THE

MULTIFAITH CALENDAR 2010

ONLY $10 EACH

(+$3.00 Shipping & Handling)

discounts after 5 ordered

The Multifaith Calendar provides accurate dates and information for thirteen major faiths, and is an essential source of information for government, educational institutions, business people, travelers, and all who want to become enlightened global citizens.

v Holidays and festivals accurately dated and described

v Large, color-coded easy-to-read calendar grid

v High profit, unique and appreciated fundraising program

v Twelve beautiful color images

v A beautiful calendar for the school, home and office

v A perfect gift

Order the 2010 Multifaith Calendar - Today!

For individual calendar, please send a check for $13 to:

Inroads Interfaith Ministry

P.O. Box 5207, Madison, WI 53705 (608) 242-4244 ~ 'INROADSMINISTER@GMAIL.COM'

---

For orders, please send this information:

Yes! I would like to order _____ 2010 Multifaith Calendar(s)

Name: __________________________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________________________

City: ___________________________________State: ________ Zip: _______________

Telephone: __________________________ Email: _____________________________

Amount enclosed: $ ____________ (make checks payable to “Inroads”)

You can email your order: 'INROADSMINISTER@GMAIL.COM' - Your order cannot be processed until payment or purchase order are complete.

Charter puts a new face on the Golden Rule

Charter puts a new face on the Golden Rule
Karen Armstrong and Archbishop Desmond Tutu


Cape Town/London - On 27 September at the Vancouver Peace Summit, amongst
some of the world’s most well-known peace-makers–including Nobel Prize
winners and internationally-acclaimed authors–we had the opportunity to
invite people everywhere to rediscover the Golden Rule.

The Charter of Compassion was composed by leading thinkers from many
different faiths. It is a cooperative effort to restore not only
compassionate thinking but, more importantly, compassionate action to the
centre of religious, moral and political life. Compassion is the principled
determination to put ourselves in the shoes of the other, and lies at the
heart of all religious and ethical systems.

Why is this so important?

One of the most urgent tasks of our generation is to build a global
community where men and women of all races, nations and ideologies can live
together in peace. Religion, which should be making a major contribution to
this endeavour, is often seen as part of the problem. All too often, the
voices of extremism drown out those of kindness, forbearance and mutual
respect. Yet the founders of each of the great religious traditions rejected
the violence of their time and sought to replace it with an ethic of
compassion.

They argued that a truly compassionate ethic, embodied by the Golden Rule,
served people’s best interests and made good practical sense. When the Bible
commanded that we “love” the foreigner, it was not speaking of emotional
tenderness. In Leviticus, love was a legal term: It was used in
international treaties, when two kings would promise to give each other
practical support, help and loyalty, and look out for each other's best
interests.

In our globalised world, everybody has become our neighbour, and the Golden
Rule has become an urgent necessity.

When asked by a pagan to sum up the whole of Jewish teaching while he stood
on one leg, Rabbi Hillel, an older contemporary of Jesus, replied: “That
which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. That is the Torah–and
everything else is only commentary.”

The Dalai Lama put it even more succinctly when he said: “My religion is
kindness.”

These traditions have also pointed out that we must not confine our
benevolence to those we find congenial or to our own ethnic, national or
ideological group. We must have what one of the Chinese sages called jian
ai, or concern for everybody. If practiced assiduously–“all day and every
day” as Confucius enjoined–we begin to appreciate our profound
interdependence and become fully human.

Today, our world has become dangerously polarised and many of our
policies–political, economic, financial and environmental–are no longer
sustainable. We are all bound together–socially, economically and
politically–as never before. Our financial markets are inextricably
connected: when one falls, there is a ripple effect worldwide. What happens
in Afghanistan or Iraq today may well have repercussions in New York or
London tomorrow.

But we have a choice. We can either choose the aggressive and exclusive
tendencies that have developed in many religious and secular traditions or
we can cultivate those that speak of compassion, empathy, respect and a
“concern for everybody”.

The Charter for Compassion will be launched on 12 November. It is not simply
a statement of principle; it is above all a summons to creative, practical
and sustained action to meet the political, moral, religious, social and
cultural problems of our time.

In addition to participating in one of the many launch events, we invite
each individual to adopt the charter as their own, to make a lifelong
commitment to live with compassion.

We cannot afford to be paralysed by global suffering. We have the power to
work together energetically for the wellbeing of humanity, and counter the
despairing extremism of our time. Many of us have experienced the power of
compassion in our own lives; we know how a single act of kindness and
empathy can turn a life around. History also shows that the action of just a
few individuals can make a difference.

In a world that seems to be spinning out of control, we need such action
now.

###

* Karen Armstrong is a former nun turned historian and author, and winner of
the TED Prize in 2008 and the 2009 Common Ground Award for Compassion.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is a South African cleric, activist and Nobel Peace
Prize winner, as well as the 2002 recipient of Search for Common Ground's
Lifetime of Peacebuilding Award. Find out how you and your community can
participate in the ongoing effort to build a fair, just and compassionate
world at www.charterforcompassion.org. This article first appeared in the
Herald Times and was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 20 October 2009,
www.commongroundnews.org
Copyright permission is granted for publication.

Interfaith Acitivity in the Madison Area

Upcoming Interfaith Activity in the Madison Area 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:  
(from Madison Interfaith Dialogue - Oct. 14, 2009 - Notes from Ellie Jacobi)
 
1. Our December meeting will be at the state capitol building from 10 – 12, prior to the Interfaith Awareness gathering at noon in the rotunda.  Give yourself time before or after to look at the various interfaith displays.  More details will be available at our regular November meeting. [Displays will be up all week] 

2. On Nov. 12 the UN Charter for Compassion will be unveiled.  There will be a Madison event in honor of the occasion on Thurs., Nov. 12 from 7 – 10 PM at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center, 953 Jenifer St.  For information, contact Callen Harty at 608-469-6686 or charty@tds.net

3. Please spread the word:  The Interfaith Thanksgiving Celebration will be on Sunday Nov. 22.  Gather at 2:30, program begins at 3, followed by sharing of food.  Keynote speaker is Joe Elder. There will be music, meditation, prayers, readings and other sacred expressions of Thanksgiving from a variety of spiritual traditions and communities in the grater Madison area.  You are asked to bring canned goods or cash for the Dane County Food Pantries, as well as an appetizer, dessert or other finger food to share at the end.  Ruth Hoffman-Hein provided flyers (sent via George) for us to post.  If you have places to put them up, just ask for more from Ruth 608-347-4724.  If your group is not yet a sponsor, or if you would like more information, go to   www.madison.com/communities/GMIA     (Note:  capital letters needed for GMIA)

Next meeting: Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009 at Holy Wisdom Monastery, 10:00 – 12:00
Next Program: Introduction to the Charter for Compassion and our individual reactions to it.  Please read it before the meeting,   www.charterforcompassion.org

December Program:  Interreligious Dialogue on the Charter for Human Rights and the Charter for Compassion.  We will compare, contrast and relate both to the Golden Rule. 

 

nain.org updates and Charter for Compassion

NAIN - NORTH AMERICAN INTERFAITH NETWORK

I would like to invite you all to visit our public website http://www.nain.org  to see the recently updated membership map. If you click on 'View NAIN NA in a larger map', you are taken to the online, interactive Google map with a side panel listing of our members. The membership list has also been updated.

Below the map is a link to an extensive online archive of NAINConnect '09. You might find it a useful resource.

I always welcome submissions on topics of interfaith interest for NAINews. For the Fall issue, I would like to set a deadline of November 9, so that I can bring the issue out to coincide with the unveiling of the Charter for Compassion on November 12 at the UN.

NAIN is already a listed partner for the Charter for Compassion. You may wish to see the recently inaugurated website sponsored by Karen Armstrong, the Dalai Lama, and Desmond Tutu. http://charterforcompassion.org/

If you are planning any local events in conjunction with this unveiling, please submit these for the NAINews. Local partnerships are invited. Karen Armstrong's team of writers wants this to be more than just a 'feel good' moment. They would like it to be a genuine catalyst of remembrance of our shared core value of compassion and the Golden Rule.

Judy Lee Trautman
NAIN

Faith-based & relief groups settle on spiritual care of disaster survivors

Disaster survivors to receive one standard of care
Faith-based & relief groups settle on principles

September 15, 2009 -- More than 20 faith-based organizations in the United
States for the first time have set minimum standards of care in a 10-point
document that defines how to minister emotionally and spiritually to people
in times of disaster.

"It is a true realization of their faith when Catholics, Scientologists,
Protestants, Evangelicals, Buddhists and Jews can sit down together and
define the standards of spiritual care for the benefit of disaster
survivors," said Diana Rothe-Smith, executive director of National Voluntary
Organizations Active in Disaster. Forty-nine U.S. organizations make up
VOAD.

"Rather than put aside their differing beliefs, they have mutually embraced
them, and this extraordinary document is the result," said Rothe-Smith.

Explicitly outlined in the set of standards are protections for survivors,
at what is often a vulnerable time. Without adequate care for those who seek
it, spiritual, emotional and psychological challenges can last well beyond
when homes or businesses are repaired.

The 10 points to the Spiritual Care Points of Consensus are:
- Basic concepts of disaster spiritual care
- Types of disaster spiritual care
- Local community resources
- Disaster emotional care and its relationship to disaster spiritual
care
- Disaster spiritual care in response and recovery
- Disaster emotional and spiritual care for the care giver
- Planning, preparedness, training and mitigation as spiritual care
components
- Disaster spiritual care in diversity
- Disaster, trauma and vulnerability
- Ethics and Standards of Care

"As significant as the adoption of these points of consensus is the
cooperation conversation that took place among these partners to form them,"
said the Rev. Kevin Massey, a current National VOAD board member. "We did
not start with consensus; rather, it was created through respectful
conversation."

Working collaboratively, the members of National VOAD are the driving force
behind disaster recovery in the United States. National VOAD facilitates
cooperation among every major non-profit and faith-based disaster response
organization in the U.S. National VOAD agencies focus on all stages of
disaster -- preparedness, relief, response, recovery and mitigation. In
2008, these organizations provided more than $200 million dollars in direct
financial assistance and more than 7 million hours in volunteer labor.

For more information, contact Diana Rothe-Smith at 1-703-778-5088.

The Points of Consensus in its entirety can read here:
http://www.nvoad.org/Portals/0/ESCC-SC-POC%20Final-weblayout.pdf

To learn more about National VOAD and the work of its member organizations,
or to review the Points of Consensus in its entirety, visit www.nvoad.org.

Wisconsin Governor Proclaims Interfaith Awareness Week

THE STATE of WISCONSIN
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
A Proclamation

WHEREAS, Wisconsin has a long history of celebrating the diversity of belief;

and WHEREAS, Wisconsin has been a leader in human rights throughout 162 years of statehood;

and WHEREAS, December 10, 2009 is Human Rights Day designated by the United Nations and the 61st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states in Article 18 that "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance;"

and WHEREAS, the State has developed great spiritual and religious diversity and diverse beliefs have played an important role in the development of our State; and

WHEREAS, the celebration of diversity diminishes no one, but enriches everyone;

and WHEREAS, we affirm the right of every person to believe and act according to their beliefs as long as it does not infringe upon the rights of others;

and WHEREAS, interfaith and multifaith efforts of different churches and faith groups have a rich history in the State;

and WHEREAS, interfaith and multifaith coalitions, dialogues and activities continue to grow in importance locally, regionally, nationally and internationally;

and WHEREAS, the Capitol of the State of Wisconsin is located on an isthmus, which is considered a place of peace and reconciliation;

and WHEREAS, December 2009 holds holy days of many religious and faith groups;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, James Doyle, Governor, do hereby proclaim December 6-12, 2009 as

INTERFAITH AWARENESS WEEK
in the State of Wisconsin and encourage citizens to learn more about each others' beliefs in the spirit of community.

[signature on September 9, 2009]

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

This year there will be open houses and events throughout the Madison area. In the Wisconsin Capitol Building rotunda there will be displays of the world religions all week and a special noon program on Human Rights Day, Thursday, December 10th.

(above photo is the display of last year's proclamation with other municipality proclamations)

Interfaith Awareness Week committee planning meeting

The next Interfaith Awareness Week committee planning meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 6:30pm at Perkins restaurant on University Avenue in Madison. IAW-12 will be December 6-12, 2009

The permit to use the Wisconsin Capitol's rotunda has once again been approved for week long displays and for a noon program on UN Human Rights Day - December 10th - Thursday.

Nothing else has been planned yet. Any ideas?

Please RSVP if interested in attending so that seating arrangements can be made at Perkins.

Please pass this along to other interested parties or representatives...

Inroads Ministry
P. O. Box 5207, Madison, WI 53705
608-242-4244 (voice mail)
http://www.interfaithsociety.blogspot.com/

Nonviolence from a Christian Perspective

"Taking a Vow of Nonviolence from a Christian Perspective"
A Special Talk ~ Saturday, March 21, 2009

Using references to Orthodox Christianity from the New Testament era to the present time, Father John Brian Paprock, Orthodox Christian priest, gave a two hour talk (in three parts) at the invitation of the Joyful Path Buddhist Center in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin.

Listen on-line (streaming):
Part 1 of 3
http://frjohbrian.blogspot.com/2009/03/nonviolence-from-christian-perspective.html
Part 2 of 3
http://frjohbrian.blogspot.com/2009/03/part-2-nonviolence-from-christian.html
Part 3 of 3
http://frjohbrian.blogspot.com/2009/03/part-3-nonviolence-from-christian.html

PODCAST OR DOWNLOAD: http://feeds.feedburner.com/frjohnbrian OR
http://frjohnbrian.hipcast.com/rss/spiritual_reflections_or_fr_john_brian.xml
OR http://frjohnbrian.hipcast.com/rss/interfaithsociety.xml

This is the first of a series of the "I Take A Vow of Nonviolence" series with presenters of a variety of religious traditions at Joyful Path Healing Center. For more information, visit their website.

[photos by Teresa Kochamma Paprock]

50th Anniversary of Martin Luther King's journey to India to study Mahatma Gandhi

"We think that the spirit of Gandhi is much stronger today than some people believe. Today we no longer have a choice between violence and non-violence; it is either non-violence, or non-existence."

Martin Luther King Jr - 1959


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US team heads for India to retrace Martin Luther King's steps
Friday, February 13, 2009,8:46 [IST]
http://news.oneindia.in/2009/02/13/us-team-heads-for-india-to-retrace-martin
-luther-kings-step.html

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Anniversary of Luther King, Jr.'s Trip to India
Friday, 13 February 2009, 3:39 pm
Press Release: US State Department
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0902/S00277.htm

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Martin Luther King III comes to India for a date with Gandhi
NEWKERALA.COM News Section: New Delhi, Feb 12, 2009
http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-91984.html

It will be a rare confluence of the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Junior, nostalgia and jazz when Martin Luther King III comes to India Saturday to retrace the pilgrimage of his father 50 years ago....

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"We need Martin Luther King and Gandhiji more than ever"
THE HINDU - Special Correspondent - February 12, 2009
http://www.hindu.com/2009/02/12/stories/2009021260391100.htm

NEW DELHI: The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a resolution recognising the 50th anniversary of the visit of legendary civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. to India and the positive influence of Mahatma Gandhi's teachings on his work during the American Civil Rights Movement....