“Jainism is an austere and truly impressive religion, and I was fully at ease with myself while within this shrine and
its dedicated followers.” ~Freddie Kelvin

Jainism is one of the longest-established religions of India. Although it has only four to five million adherents, it has had a disproportionate influence on the modern world because of its overriding philosophy of non-violence (ahimsa). For example, Mahatma Gandhi was heavily inspired by the Jain principle of ahimsa and adopted it as the cornerstone of non-violent civil disobedience which eventually led India to gain full independence from British rule in 1947. There are approximately 200,000 followers of the faith in the United States and Canada.

The religion has no single founder. Its followers believe that their faith was revealed to them by a number of leaders called tirthankaras (or jinas), the most recent of whom was Mahavira who lived in the 6th century BCE. At 30, Mahavira left all his possessions and family behind and embarked on the life of a wandering ascetic in pursuit of spiritual awakening and liberation. After 12 such years, he finally achieved enlightenment. He then travelled extensively across India, and acquired many disciples. His teachings form the basis of the Jain scriptures.

Jains do not believe in a supreme creator god; however, they do recognize five levels of supreme beings who can help believers along their spiritual path. At the head of this spiritual hierarchy are the tirthankaras, from whom Jains’ original teachings arise. As in other Indian religions, Jains believe in a cycle of deaths and rebirths, and also that karma (one’s actions) is a kind of physical substance that attaches to a person’s soul and needs to be removed before this cycle can be broken.

Jains try to follow the spiritual path of the Three Jewels; Right knowledge, Right faith, and Right conduct. There is a fourth Jewel, that of Asceticism, which is very restrictive and includes the renouncement of relationships with other people. Lay Jains, however, are not subject to this requirement. Nevertheless, it is expected that they will renounce violence, eat only vegetarian food, and choose a career that does not involve the deliberate destruction of life. As a result, many occupations are banned. This applies not just to farming but also to other forms of work that include, for example, carpentry because sawing timber injures wood. Consequently, acceptable occupations for Jains are limited to fields such as trade, finance, teaching and art.

The principle of non-violence in Jainism is taken much further than in other faiths because even lower forms of life are respected. For example, Jain monks carry a small brush to move insects away from their path as they walk and they strain drinking water in order to avoid swallowing any tiny organisms. The monks also shun the use of lamps so that moths and other insects do not perish in their hot light.

Several years ago, I was fortunate enough to visit the magnificent 600-year-old Jain temple in Ranakpur, India. I have never experienced a temple so serene and breath-taking. Its main hall was supported by 1,444 pillars, each of which contained highly intricate carvings. But it was not so much the stunning architecture as the solemnity and calmness of the Jain devotees within the temple that made me feel so respectful and filled with awe. Jainism is an austere and truly impressive religion, and I was fully at ease with myself while within this shrine and its dedicated followers.

The most basic form of Jain worship is called darshan. This involves making eye contact with the image of a tirthankara, often while reciting a mantra (a sacred sound or verse). Cleaning these images, anointing them with saffron and decorating them with flowers enables the worshipper to come closer to their supreme beings. Lay Jains try to practice as many of their religion’s daily rituals as possible. These include a 48-minute time for meditation and prayer that aims to bring calm to the devotee who can then become at peace with the world.

Jains place considerable emphasis on fasting at key points in the calendar. Some of the Jain festivals are adapted from Hinduism. These include the festival of Diwali, during which they celebrate the enlightenment of Mahavira (rather than the Hindu goddess Lakshmi). Marriage ceremonies can be elaborate, but the couples-to-be are encouraged to ensure that the wedding rituals are performed with a seriousness that befits the occasion.

The Jain Center of Central Indiana (JCCI) is located at 3350, N. German Church Rd, Indianapolis, IN 46235. The JCCI is part of JAINA: the Federation of Jain Associations of North America whose mission is to preserve, practice and promote Jain Dharma and the Jain Way of Life. More information about JAINA can be obtained by contacting info@jaina.org.

Written by Freddie Kelvin

After growing up without caring parents or a real home, serving six different prison terms, and bearing fourteen children, Nina Porter is devoted to one thing: service, especially to mothers in need. 

In her early life, “‘love’ was absent, or it hurt,” Nina says. She had her first child at 17. “I had never felt love like when I was pregnant — it automatically makes you want to protect and provide.” But without money or stability, she was in and out of the war zone of prison, and in and out of relationships. “When you’re pregnant in prison, you have the baby and they often take it from you. Or, you don’t learn how to physically bond with your child.” Plus, once a new mother is out of prison, one free night in a hotel room might be all the transition help she gets. 

Experiencing this injustice, Nina felt called. Over the last decade, with the persistent support of her mentors — pediatrician Dr. Amy Metheny and neuroscientist Dr. Jack Turman, Jr. — Nina transformed herself into an advocate for incarcerated mothers by taking a leadership role in an initiative she co-founded called Mothers on the Rise. Soon after, her co-founder invited Nina to become an AmeriCorps member. 

As her new life of service was emerging, Nina questioned herself and her abilities. “I kept on thinking to myself, can I do any more, can I do any better? Do I level off or do I level up? Is this  legit? When I started to serve other people, because people had served me … then I knew how good it felt to help, and I knew I wanted to do more.”  

Twelve years later, thanks to Nina and others in the prison reform movement, there is now a pediatric unit and a play area in the Indiana Women’s Prison. New mothers reentering society can access a legal team, social worker, and OB-GYN nurse. They also receive $1,000 worth of hygiene supplies and clothes upon reentry to society. For her record of service to incarcerated moms, Nina received a 2023 Serve Indiana Awards for Excellence National Service Member Award.  

AmeriCorps has been Nina’s platform for focused service to the community. In her fourth AmeriCorps term with CIC’s Interfaith Enrichment Corps program, Nina is serving a new community: people in need on the Far Eastside of Indy, through an ingenious enterprise called Laundry & More. Every Tuesday at the Post Road Laundromat, people in need get coins and detergent to launder clothes and bedding at no cost. While the washers spin, they can also access health care such as immunizations, housing referrals, job training resources, and a healthy bite to eat, prepared by volunteers. 

On the day I visited, a large number of Haitian families were utilizing the program, which began as a ministry of the Servants of Christ Lutheran Church, but just became its own non-profit. Nina circulated the room with a clipboard, noting which machine held whose laundry and sharing encouragement with neighbors. The program serves 50 families per week with about $500 in quarters and nine devoted volunteers. Laundry & More just received a $100,000 Elevation grant from the Central Indiana Community Foundation, for staffing and training. 

Laundry, at Laundry & More, is not just laundry. If a person can’t wash their clothes and bedding, they are at greater risk for infection, disease, and being ostracized. Neighbors who participate in Laundry & More can expect to hear and be heard, to know and be known. The support works. After a mini job fair last March, eight people reported getting job interviews. George Bueltmann is the interim executive director of Laundry & More. “We do have a prayer at the beginning,” he says. “But we are not proselytizing. We simply want to help people who need a lot of help. As Jesus said, ‘what you do for least of us, you do for me.’” 

In her work at Laundry & More, Nina naturally gravitates toward the mothers in the room, with an offer of extra compassion. “If they’re here as refugees, Haitian moms cannot get assistance such as WIC (Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program).” So Nina helps them with referrals to other agencies. She’s also gotten curious about Haitian Creole language and culture as a way to serve these neighbors better.  

For a woman who rose from the ashes of her previous life, and is still raising three kids under age 12, so much seems possible. “Nobody thought I’d make it this far, not even me,” says Nina. Helping the lonely and the traumatized is what gives her life meaning. “I’ll never stop serving,” she says. “That’s the piece that fulfills.” 

Written by Anne Laker

“Hinduism gives me the opportunity to be my best self and explore the divinity within me and my fellow human beings, erasing our boundaries and making us one.” ~ Dr. Priya Menon

Hinduism is considered to be the oldest of the world’s living religions; it most likely originated 3,500 to 4,000 years ago. Unlike many other religions, it doesn’t have a clear founder. The word from which the name “Hindu” derives refers to the Aryan (Indian) people living beyond the Indus River, which separated Persia from ancient India. This river was called the Sindhu in Sanskrit, the classical sacred language of India. However, the ancient Persians could not pronounce the letter “s” correctly, instead pronouncing it as an “h”! Consequently, the word “Sindhu” became “Hindu” and so the Aryan’s religion came to be known as Hinduism and, ever since that time, the term Hinduism has been used.

Image on left: Ganesh, the Elephant God

Brahman and Atman are two key philosophical concepts of Hinduism, both of which are quite foreign to followers of monotheistic religions. Brahman is a Sanskrit word which refers to a transcendent power beyond the universe. As such, it is the Supreme Reality, and is present in all human beings. It is formless, eternal and the source of all existence. Whereas Brahman is the supreme universal spirit, Atman is the individual soul or the true self of a living being, which undergoes reincarnation until it finally achieves unity with Brahman.

Core principles of Hinduism include Dharma, Karma, Reincarnation, and Moksha. Dharma is a Sanskrit word that means righteous duty and responsibilities prescribed for each individual based on their class, caste and stage of life. Karma is also a Sanskrit word; it refers to the law of cause and effect through which individuals create their own destiny through their thoughts, words and deeds; this determines the conditions of Reincarnation under which an individual is reborn after death. Moksha is the ultimate spiritual goal of liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth (Samsara). It is achieved by eliminating Karma and realizing the oneness of Atman with Brahman.

Hinduism has many gods and goddesses, which are all personifications of Brahman. Hindus can choose their own personal god, based on family traditions, spiritual experiences, the gods’ divine qualities or a guru’s guidance. This chosen god becomes their medium for worshipping the Supreme Brahman. Three of the most renowned gods are Vishnu – the protector who embodies divine love, Shiva – the fearsome destroyer who takes away life only to re-create it, and Brahma – the creator god who provides a balance between Vishnu and Shiva. Other gods include Krishna – an incarnation who is depicted in a variety of forms, Ganesh – an elephant-headed god who is the patron of science, wisdom and intellect, and Lakshmi – the female companion of Vishnu who represents wealth, fertility, and spiritual abundance.

The essential ritual of Hinduism is puja, which refers to ceremonial offerings to the gods. These offerings can take place in the home or, alternatively, in temples which are often elaborately decorated. Festivals play an important role in Hindu worship. Among the most well-known of the festivals are Holi, which celebrates the Hindu New Year and takes place in February or March, and Diwali which offers prayers to Lakshmi and symbolizes the victory of light over darkness. Diwali occurs in October or November and may last for several days.

The Vedas are the most ancient scriptures of Hinduism. They are derived from the Indo-Aryan culture and began as an oral tradition before being finally written in Sanskrit. There are four Vedas. The Rig Veda is the oldest and most important one and contains hymns to the ancient deities. The Yajur Veda contains instructions for religious rituals, the Sama Veda contains hymns for melodic chanting, and the Atharva Veda contains spells against enemies, sorcerers, and diseases. The Upanishads are the fundamental texts of Hindu philosophy, and contain core teachings about Brahman, Atman, and Moksha.

The Purusha Sutra is a well-known hymn in the Rig Veda which tells of the creation of the world, during which the divine person was quartered into four parts that reflected the four classes of people:

The Brahmins were derived from the mouth, and represented the priestly class, the Kshatriyas arose from the arms and represented the warrior class, and the Vaishyas were derived from the thighs and represented the merchants and farmers. The lowest of these four classes were the Shudras, who arose from the feet and represented the laborers. Outside of this caste system altogether were the Dalits who, by definition, were outcasts.

Mahatma Gandhi was the devout Hindu leader of Indian independence. His key contributions included ending untouchability by renaming the outcasts as Harijans (children of God), initiating civil disobedience against British rule, promoting religious harmony between Hindus and Muslims, and emphasizing a simple life.

Priya Menon summarizes what Hinduism means to her and her family: “Hinduism gives me the opportunity to be my best self and explore the divinity within me and my fellow human beings erasing our boundaries and making us one.” If you wish to learn more about this rich and complicated religion, you can visit the website of Hindu Temple of Central Indiana where you can find information about visitor tours and scheduled events, or the website of Hindu Swayamsevak Singh where similar information can be found.

On a personal note, I’d like to genuinely thank, Dr. Priya Menon, member of the Center for Interfaith Cooperation’s board of directors and member of the Executive Committee of the Hindu Temple of Central Indiana. She is responsible for Youth Education at the temple and teaches Sunday School there. She has selflessly given up precious free time to help me understand Hinduism and, in the process of so doing, has shared great wisdom with me. For example, she states: “We arrive conditioned by our past, and we have to overcome that to arrive at the infinite truth.” Much of what I have learned from her has universal implications and extends far beyond Hinduism.

Written by: Freddie Kelvin

The Center for Interfaith Cooperation, representing a diverse array of faith communities across central Indiana, is dedicated to upholding the values of respect, dignity, and celebration of religious diversity within our great state. We emphatically renounce occasions where religion is used to encourage and justify antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, white supremacy, war, discrimination, genocide, sexism, violence, poverty, and any other form of bigotry and oppression. We feel it is paramount for others to speak out when any one group is attacked by word or deed. The recent antisemitic graffiti in Carmel and the Islamophobic misinformation spread at the Indiana State House are examples of the insidious hate that is antithetical to the teaching of all religion, and they denigrate our shared humanity. We stand in solidarity with the statements issued by the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Indiana Board of Rabbis in response to these incidents. We are committed to collaborating with people of goodwill from all faiths to promote greater understanding and cooperation across Indiana.

From Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council:

The Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council, Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis, and ADL Midwest are appalled by the graffiti of swastikas and Star of David in the snow of the house of a Jewish family in Carmel. This hate has no place in Indiana. Carmel police and our partners with Safe Indiana are aware and investigating. With the shocking rise in antisemitism in the past four and a half months, we urge you to continue to be vigilant. Please report any incident at: https://www.jewishindianapolis.org/incidentreporting

From the Indiana Board of Rabbis:

It has come to our attention that the Indiana Muslim Advocacy Network (IMAN) was accused of being in league with the terrorist organization Hamas.  The members of IBOR unequivocally state that this is an offensive and hateful remark.  Conflating the Muslims of Indiana and America with the actions of terrorists is not only wrong, but against every value of our faith.

The Indiana Board of Rabbis (IBOR) categorically condemns all forms of hatred, be it in word or action. While the Jewish and Muslim communities differ on some issues, we do so with civility and love. We can disagree and still be brothers and sisters. Judaism upholds the concept of B’tzelem Elohim, that all people are created in the image of God… ALL people regardless of race, religion, creed, social status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.  Islamophobia and antisemitism are wrong. The path to peace is acknowledging each other’s humanity with civility, love, and compassion.

Rabbi Meir Bargeron, co-chair IBOR

Rabbi Roxanne J.S. Shapiro, co-chair IBOR

Rabbi Adam Bellows

Rabbi Brian Besser

Rabbi Jordana Chernow-Reader

Rabbi Karen Companez

Rabbi Michael Friedland, DHL

Rabbi Justin Kerber

Rabbi Brett Krichiver

Rabbi Gary Mazo

Rabbi Bruce Pfeffer

Rabbi Dennis C. Sasso

Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso

Rabbi Benjamin Sendrow

Rabbi Hal Schevitz

Rabbi Aaron Spiegel

Rabbi Faedra Weiss

Rabbi Lew Weiss

Swastikas, Star of David found in snow in Carmel

Marc Preston Moss will be the first to tell you that Buddhism saved his life. In fact, he’s actually written a book about his journey “from suicidal depression to ever-increasing and lasting joy” titled “Law of Reflection”. Now a practitioner of Buddhism for over 20 years, Marc teaches an introductory Buddhist philosophy course at the Indiana Buddhist Center (of which is he President of their Board of Directors), speaks publicly at the Indiana Buddhist Center, and has traveled to India four times to study his faith. I will be forever grateful that he invited me to his home and was kind enough to grace me with an invaluable understanding of the 2,500-year-old religion of Buddhism. 

With more than 500 million followers, Buddhism is one of the world’s major faiths. By stressing the benefits of wisdom and inner peace, Buddhism continues to gain adherents around the globe including in regions as widely separated as the American West and China.

Buddhism was founded in the 5th century BC by Siddhartha Gautama. who was born in present-day Nepal into a wealthy family, so much so that he had, at his disposal, three palaces and 40,000 dancing girls. Upon abandoning this princely background at the age of 29, he was shocked when he experienced The Four Sights. These were life-changing encounters with an elderly man, a sick person, a dead body and a holy man seeking to understand truth.

He then spent years living the austere life of an ascetic, hoping to find a solution to the inescapable sufferings that he had witnessed. This left him so weak that he fell into a faint and nearly died. Realizing that both indulgence and abstinence were futile, he decided to follow a “middle way” between these two extremes.

Consequently, he entered a period of deep meditation which eventually led him to experience Enlightenment. He now became the Buddha, the Awakened One. This Enlightenment is the centerpiece of the Buddhist faith. The Buddha now began to teach the Four Noble Truths to help humanity understand suffering; namely, suffering is an inherent part of human existence, it originates in desire, it can be eliminated by achieving detachment, and the way to end this suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path. This path guides individuals toward a life of moral virtue, mental discipline, and wisdom, and requires very intense self-effort.

The Buddha rejected the idea of an eternal soul, and taught that life is cyclical (samsara), with an endless number of births and rebirths. These cycles are driven by one’s actions in the current life (karma) which can either relieve or bring about suffering in a subsequent life. Nirvana represents the state of liberation from these cycles of suffering.

Buddhism drew its lifeblood from Hinduism, but radically differs from this and many other religions in that it is devoid of authority, tradition and the supernatural. Buddhism lacks a true creation myth, and is nontheistic. Meditation, the practice closest to traditional forms of worship, may take place in the home as well as in the temple.

The so-called Three Jewels of Buddhism are: the Buddha, the Dharma (his teaching) and the Sangha (the community of monks, nuns and lay people). As the Buddha neared his death, he emphasized that the Sangha should govern itself and all decisions, including who would be his successor, were to be made democratically by a simple majority of the monks present.

There are three main branches of Buddhism. Theravada Buddhism, which emphasizes personal enlightenment, is dominant in Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka. Mahayana Buddhism, instead of seeking personal enlightenment, aims to attain enlightenment in order to help free all beings from suffering. It is popular in Northeast Asia, especially China and Japan. Vajrayana Buddhism is an offshoot of Mahayana Buddhism that is widely practiced in Tibet.

In the deeply informed words of Marc Preston Moss: “Buddhism is the study of cause and effect on gross, subtle and very subtle levels through science, philosophy and practice for individuals on their journey towards self-actualization.”

If you are interested in learning more about Buddhism or the Indiana Buddhist Center, the only Tibetan Buddhist Dharma Center in the lineage of His Holiness the 14^th Dali Lama within the Indianapolis metropolitan area, you can visit their website at www.indianabuddhist.org/ where you’ll find a schedule of events, recorded teachings, and visitor information.

Freddie Kelvin, Author of “Urban Nomad”
www.engagingauthor.com
Jennifer Neer, Contributing Author

“We all owe a debt of gratitude for their courageous and pioneering work.” ~ Charlie Wiles, Executive Director, Center for Interfaith Cooperation

Central Indiana is a more welcoming and inclusive place thanks to the passion, dedication, and generous spirit of Lynn & Bill Jackson. Lynn passed away on January 4 and Bill followed on January 11.

Long-time friend and fellow member of the Fishers Multifaith Community for Compassion Muzaffar Ahmad described Lynn and Bill as “champions for peace, love, and compassion for all.

They made immense contributions to interfaith activities by including groups from diverse backgrounds and making so many positive connections in central Indiana. Lynn played a key role in setting up the Fishers Multifaith Community for Compassion, insisting the words community and compassion were included in the name. Love and compassion were key characteristics of Lynn and Bill’s lives.”

Betty Brandt, a long-time friend and colleague, attributes much of the amazing interfaith work at St Luke’s UMC to Lynn Jackson. “Over the years, St. Luke’s has hosted a Buddhist Mandala, Iftar dinners, a Muslim fashion show, interfaith art exhibits, and many other events celebrating central Indiana’s religious and cultural diversity.” Betty explained that Lynn grew up in the Jim Crow south where she learned to have a heart for the “other”. “She knew firsthand the negative impact of excluding people and was always reaching out her hand whenever she could to be inclusive. At different times of her life, Lynn would reach out to different people who were being marginalized due to their race, faith, ethnicity, or national origin. Bill and Lynn traveled extensively, and they chose destinations off the beaten path which deepened their appreciation for people from all backgrounds.” Betty also talked about Lynn’s affection for all things gaudy. “Texas gaudy was Lynn’s email address, and that really captured her style.” Betty shared fond memories of parties “where everyone was encouraged to dress as gaudily as possible. Lynn would even give away costume jewelry and connect with people by simply providing permission to have fun!”

CIC executive director, Charlie Wiles, mentioned how generous Lynn and Bill were in supporting the Interfaith Banquet and Festival of Faiths. “Lynn was always the life of the party and fun to work with. They will be dearly missed. We all owe a debt of gratitude for their courageous and pioneering work.”

Here are links to Lynn and Bill’s obituary:

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/indianapolis-in/lynn-jackson-11611221

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/indianapolis-in/william-jackson-11622156

A Celebration of Life is planned for Saturday, March 16, at 2:00 pm in the St. Luke UMC Sanctuary with a reception following in Fellowship Hall.

“I have had blessings on top of blessings, so I want to share them. If not me, then who?”

The day after he finished preschool in his native Burma, 6-year-old David Hauhulh’s family fled the country. Life wasn’t easy for Christians in a country run by a militarized government persecuting people for their religion. “My father didn’t want his children to live through that, with no choices for how to thrive,” David explains. The family migrated to Malaysia, and a few years later arrived in the U.S. in 2011, when David was nine. The whole family was faced with learning an utterly new language and culture.

Fast forward to today. David is a role model — a job he takes very seriously — for the next generation of Burmese immigrants living on the southside of Indianapolis. As a member of CIC’s Interfaith Enrichment Corps, David shares his gifts every week at Hope for Tomorrow, a non-profit that empowers Burmese refugees toward a hopeful, successful future. 

On the afternoon I visit the Hope for Tomorrow offices, David is awaiting the arrival of two dozen middle school students. As the evening unfolds, he will help them with their homework, pay them quality attention, and pull off the trick of keeping them focused while also letting them blow off steam. The youth clearly adore him. “One mother said to me, ‘You’re the only person my son wants help from.’ It’s because I treated him like a young adult,” David surmises. [In nel tuk is the Chin phrase, meaning “comfortable with you.”] 

Not everyone has a knack for working with ‘tweens and teens. “It was my Sunday school teacher who made me want to teach,” he says. “I like to see the kids’ mental development. I like to figure out what is best for a student: a stern or friendly approach?” 

With the students, David is focused on two things: helping them interact with each other in better ways, and instilling the value of academic achievement, based on his own experience adapting to the U.S. education system. “I started out at a high school that didn’t have very high academic standards,” he says. “When it’s not valued at school, and parents can’t help at home, then what?”  

David transferred to Plainfield High School where standards were indeed higher. He is now a 21st Century Scholar studying business administration at IUPUI with a full-time courseload. When an IEC/AmeriCorps position at Hope for Tomorrow (HTF) was offered to him, he decided to say yes, inspired by the vision of Executive Director Justin Thang. [A Community Impact Investment Fund grant from IU Health enables David’s work at HFT]. 

“I have had blessings on top of blessings, so I want to share them. If not me, then who?” David says. He is named for the courageous shepherd’s son in the New Testament, a name that means “beloved of God.” His family name, Biak Sui Lian, means “if you worship God, you will be rich with gold.” David was born in the Falam township of the Chin state in northwest Burma, home to the Lai mi people.  

In Burma, practicing Christianity makes a Chin person a target for forced labor and abuse by government soldiers. Indiana is a refuge where David can freely practice his faith. “Our Chin community is very big on Christian faith,” he says. “That’s how we get to know each other, by asking ‘What church you go to?’” David is a proud member of Falam Baptist Church of Indiana near the University of Indianapolis. “In front of the church is a big circle of flags of countries represented in the congregation,” he says. 

While visiting Hope for Tomorrow, I met Biak Chin Rem, David’s colleague in supporting the students. She too came to the U.S. at age nine, and is now an elementary school teacher who helps Burmese parents navigate the American educational system. “I hope the kids know what their parents have gone through in order for them to be here,” she says. “It’s a blessing to be here, which should be a big motivator to do well.” 

Rem and David admit that youth work can be a tough job mentally. The Hope for Tomorrow team sometimes lingers after the kids have gone, reassuring each other and processing what they’ve observed. They have in common a devotion to mentorship. 

“While I am with AmeriCorps,” David says with determination, “my mission is to focus on preparing the kids for their futures. This work has opened my eyes and motivated me to do more for my community to better their lives, helping people in our community, and beyond.” 

Written by Anne Laker

If you are Muslim or Christian, if you are Black or Burmese, does “wellness” mean something universal, or something distinct? This query is at the forefront of CIC’s Strengthening Healthy Support Networks in Minoritized Communities project, co-led by the IU Health Congregational Care Network, and funded by a Community Impact Investment Fund grant from IU Health. 

The question of the cultural meanings of wellness is playing out in the daily work of CIC’s Interfaith Enrichment Corps (IEC). IEC AmeriCorps members are offering pathways to wellness everyday at the sites they serve. For example: David Hauhulh helps Burmese (Chin) youth achieve academically. Nina Porter works to connect Haitian refugees with support. Delilah Harris helps cancer patients find healing resources. Rashidah Abdulhaqq helps urban kids and seniors access the benefits of community gardens. 

This theme of wellness from a cultural angle was on full display at the December 13, 2023 Interfaith Enrichment Corps Health Fair, held at Cancer Support Community. IEC members exchanged ideas and tools for culturally-specific wellness resources. For example, www.findhelp.org is a national site for finding free or reduced-cost resources like food, financial assistance, and health care, with only a zip code required. “I always keep this tab open in my laptop when helping clients,” says IEC member Delilah. “Today I learned how it’s accessible to readers of many languages.” 

Part of the goal of the Strengthening Healthy Support Networks in Minoritized Communities initiative is to explore unmet health needs of communities of culture and of faith — especially mental health. To that end, CIC Program Director Josih Hostetler is inviting everyone to share their opinions in a short survey. “We’re especially interested in how youth define wellness in their communities of faith,” he says. 

The Interfaith Alliance for Mental Wellness (IAMW) will use the information received through the to develop monthly programming in 2024. It’s all about 1)increasing good health outcomes for people of all faiths; and 2) growing trust and mutual interfaith understanding. Both ingredients for a strong social fabric.

Written by Anne Laker

Community comes in many forms, and social workers — like the Delilah of the future — help ensure people in need have a community to enable their endurance, and their resilience.

“Poverty is exhausting.” At age 26, Delilah Harris (they/them) has witnessed the impacts of living on a shoestring. “A lot of people are one broken leg away from poverty. Anything you want someone to do, they can do so much better when they are not in poverty,” they say with clear-eyed grit.

Their vocation now is to be a connector of people to the resources they need through their work as an Interfaith Enrichment Corps (IEC) member serving at the non-profit Cancer Support Community (CSC).

CSC is a trove of resources for those impacted by the disease. Located on the northwest side of Indy, CSC is a warm environment of education and healing for those who are “living with, through, and beyond” the disease, as a cancer patient, caregiver, or survivor. “It’s all free!” Delilah says. “Financial need is not a barrier.”

The Community offers massage therapy, art therapy, garden therapy, cooking programs, shared meals, gentle yoga, and support groups for different kinds of cancer. Some of these programs are virtual, and many are in-person, either at CSC’s homey facility, or one of their partner hospitals: Community Health Network, Franciscian Health, or Hendricks Regional Health.

Delilah’s role as an IEC member is to help run programs, answer phones, and connect people to additional services, such as a healthcare bill forgiveness program. “There have been studies on this: once you reach a certain amount of wealth, you have a harder time empathizing with people less fortunate. But I’m a big believer in this: money can literally solve most problems the average person has,” they say.

Born in Queens, New York, and having lived for a time in a New York City hostel, Delilah speaks, in part, from experience. As a person living with asthma and allergies, stretching their dollars, and embracing public transit out of necessity, Delilah is both empathetic and matter-of-fact.

At their first AmeriCorps position, they worked with Playworks Indiana, a non-profit that helps kids build social and emotional skills through active play. Stationed at a school, Delilah saw the unmet needs of kids, often expressed through meltdowns during the unstructured time of recess, when emotions run high.

“It made me realize I want to be a social worker,” Delilah tells me. When I ask what kids today need, they say: “If they’re in poverty, they need money, food, healthcare, a place to live … it depends on the kid.”

A liberal arts major who is also a self-described lover of spreadsheets, Delilah has a perennial desire to match available resources with those who need them, including cancer patients. It comes from their mantra: “focus on what you can control.”

Delilah’s AmeriCorps work at Cancer Support Community is not faith-specific, but, they say, “it’s enriching to learn new things about all these different faiths.” As an IEC host organization, CSC hosted a major health fair on Wednesday, December 13 at their W. 71st St. facility where people of all faiths can learned about tools and programs to meet their needs.

Uniqah Muzaffar and Prashant Naik are members of the Africa, Middle East, and Central Asia (AMECA) Employee Resource Group at Lilly. For over the past six years, they have been amazing partners with CIC in supporting efforts to better appreciate religious diversity in the workplace. AMECA’s mission is to learn, share and celebrate Middle Eastern culture, while unifying and developing meaningful relationships across the organization. Recently, CIC worked directly with AMECA to host a visit and dialogue at Masjid Al Fajr and Congregation Beth-El Zedek. After the visits, AMECA member Mahmood Hanif, shared these observations:

                                   Exploring Diversity: AMECA’s Visit to Congregation Beth-El Zedeck Synagogue

On December 7th, 25 Lilly colleagues embarked on an enlightening journey, continuing the legacy of meaningful events organized by AMECA and the Center for Interfaith Cooperation (CIC). The day unfolded with an insightful tour of the synagogue, featuring an open Q&A session about the Jewish faith, expertly led by the knowledgeable George Kelley, the Education Director.

George passionately shared insights into the Jewish faith tradition, unveiling the sacred Torah, their holy book. The interactive session allowed participants to ask questions, fostering a deeper connection and understanding. This experience proved invaluable in creating a deeper appreciation of the Jewish Faith.

Such moments are not just about visiting sacred places; they are transformative learning opportunities. AMECA remains dedicated to fostering inclusivity, and we are excited to share more details about our 2024 programs soon. Stay tuned!

Heartfelt thanks to the curious participants who dedicated their time to this enriching experience, and our sincerest gratitude to Prashant Naik, Uniqah Muzaffar, and the entire CIC team for their invaluable support in organizing this event.

Embracing Diversity: AMECA Scared Places Tour at Masjid Al-Fajr

On Thursday, November 9th, 30 enthusiastic participants from Lilly embarked on the Sacred Places Tour at Masjid Al-Fajr, a meaningful event organized by AMECA and the CIC (Center for Interfaith Cooperation). The mission was clear: to embrace the religious significance of this sacred space and deepen our understanding of faith across cultures.

The day unfolded with enlightening activities, including an open Q&A session about Islam, expertly answered by Imam Ahmed Alamine. A group discussion and an immersive tour of Masjid Al-Fajr followed, culminating in the observance of the Asar
prayer—a poignant moment of spiritual connection for all participants. “Understanding the religious accommodations employees may have been essential for creating an inclusive environment,” shared an HR colleague who participated in the event.

Bringing your whole self to the workplace is a cornerstone of our values, and events like these contribute to a culture of empathy and understanding. AMECA remains committed to fostering inclusivity, and we’re thrilled to announce our next Sacred Places tour on December 7th, where we’ll visit “Congregation Beth-El Zedeck”.

Continuous engagement in such events not only strengthens our internal bonds but also contributes to a more inclusive workplace. From cultural celebrations to dialogues promoting understanding, AMECA is dedicated to creating an environment where every voice is heard and valued.

“Embracing the World’s Faiths in Indianapolis” is a blog written by local author and photographer, Freddie Kelvin. In it, you will read Freddie’s experiences in visiting local sacred spaces and speaking with members who practice that faith tradition.

The foundations of the world’s faiths and religions were laid when ancient peoples searched for a meaning to their lives. They were witnesses to unseen forces that were outside of their control such as floods, earthquakes, and unexpected illnesses. Understandably, they wondered what caused these circumstances. With the passage of time, the answers came in stories that were passed between families and communities. These stories invoked powerful beings who had created the world a long time, beings that created fire, became heavenly bodies in the sky, and punished humans for showing a lack of respect. As a result, stories about the desires and requirements of these beings – who eventually became gods – began to shape human behavior. In this way, ancient beliefs, faiths, and religions gained widespread traction. Many of these, and particularly those of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman mythology, continue to influence Western culture today.

*Picture to the right – “Looking Skyward” a photograph of two dancers from Dance Kaleidoscope taken by photographer Freddie Kelvin*  

Humans are primed to believe in the existence of a world beyond their own from a very early age. This belief explains our purpose, soothes our fear of death, and sets parameters for moral behavior. Many of the world’s religions are connected to something eternal. They have structured belief systems, invoke certain actions of its adherents, and address the great uncertainties of human behavior. Major issues such as the meaning of life and the nature of the universe, as well as questions as to what causes suffering and what happens after death, are often addressed.

In describing faiths and religions, we should all be respectful and as accurate and neutral as possible in our descriptions. Whereas the facts matter, it is perhaps even more valuable to focus upon their ideas and values so that we understand their meaning. In order to do this, we must be prepared to listen, and to listen carefully. The assumption that any one religion is superior to others carries with it the potential for unwanted and even dangerous consequences. As Arnold Toynbee observed; “Who knows enough to say with confidence whether one religion has been greater than all others?”

The old story about the blind men and the elephant is pertinent; a group of blind men come across an elephant and start touching it in order to understand its shape and size. One says that the elephant is like an immovable, textured wall, another says it is like a smooth, hardened pipe, and yet another declares it must look like a sturdy pillar. Each man is convinced that he is right. As a result, they start to argue about the elephant’s true nature. The men, of course, are all correct but each has only understood one part of the creature. This story raises questions about the world’s faiths and religions such as: “Does each of them only represent a part of the whole?”

The story also leads us to understand that the world’s religions and faiths are often interconnected. For example, Buddhism separated itself from Hinduism and Jainism developed in India around the same time. Christianity began as a Jewish sect, and Shia Islam gave rise to the Baha’i faith. Despite the trunk and tail of the elephant being part of the same animal, they have very different functions and forms. The same could perhaps be said for many of the world’s faiths and religions.

Differences between major faiths and religions have often had major consequences. Throughout history, those who refuse to follow a particular faith have too often been regarded by its adherents as less than human and in need of salvation. Religion is about identity, and identity excludes. For every “we” there is a “them” and these people are not like “us.” The answer, though, is not to resort to coercion, violence and even slaughter but rather to adopt interfaith initiatives based on mutual respect and understanding. That is why the Center for Interfaith Cooperation is so important in our lives.

In the forthcoming months of this calendar year, this blog will attempt to objectively define the principles and practices of the world’s major faiths and religions. We all need to have an understanding of these different belief systems so that the world’s inhabitants can live in relative harmony rather than in discord. Indeed, that harmony will be necessary if the human race – as we know it – is to survive intact.

Freddie Kelvin, Author of “Urban Nomad”
www.engagingauthor.com

Working with the Center for Interfaith Cooperation has been an incredibly meaningful experience. I was involved in many events that brought our community together. From sharing food with others from various backgrounds, sharing prayers from different faith paths, and coming together to hear music and watch diverse dances from multiple traditions, this experience allowed me to collaborate with new people and help bridge connections across several faiths. The Festival of Faiths, hosted in downtown Indianapolis every September, brought over 50 different faith traditions from central Indiana together for a celebration. This was a great start to my internship, and I enjoyed speaking with people from faiths that I had little knowledge about before this experience. This opportunity definitely helped me grow my religious literacy.

In addition, I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in Sacred Space tours. Through this, I would go to various places of worship in the Indianapolis community. Each faith welcomed us into their space with open arms, and it was a great educational opportunity to learn more about their beliefs and how they practice their religions. Some of these visits also included sharing a meal and diving into their faith celebrations, such as a Diwali celebration with the Hindu Temple of Central Indiana. These experiences widened my perspectives and made me eager to interact with and learn about more faith traditions in the future. It was also incredibly powerful to hear the youth perspectives through our Emerging Interfaith Leaders Dialogues. These were run upon the completion of each of our tours. Learning about other faith traditions from our own is crucial to grow empathy and become better educated citizens within our communities.

As part of my internship, I got to learn more about how non-for-profit organizations function. Seeing the behind the scenes of the grant proposals and administrative tasks was incredibly useful to learn, and this also gave me an even greater appreciation for non-profits and the challenging work they do to help our communities. Overall, I highly enjoyed my experience working with the CIC. I know that I will take the things I learned through this experience with me for the rest of my life.

A reflection of Hanukkah by CIC board member, Alan Bercovitz

Jewish people world-wide celebrate Hanukkah each year by sharing the story and traditions of this holiday.  Hanukkah is an eight-day
holiday that begins on the 25th day of the month of Kislev and ends on the 2nd day of the month of Tevet (on the Hebrew calendar, which
is now in the year 5784).  This corresponds to our calendar year of 2023, with Hanukkah beginning at sundown on December 7th and
ending at sundown on December 15th.

The story of Hanukkah dates back over 2000 years, when Jewish people lived in a land called Judea (now modern-day Israel).  The center
of their worship was the Great Temple in the city of Jerusalem, and in that Temple was the great menorah.  The light of the menorah
burned day and night and was a brilliant symbol of holiness.  King Antiochus ruled the land of Judea.  He demanded the Jewish people
to abandon their religion and worship his god, Zeus.  When the Jewish people refused, Antiochus sent his soldiers into the Temple, where
they destroyed the holy books and desecrated holy objects, including the precious menorah.  Placing all their trust in God, and with great courage, a small band of Jewish people, led by Judah Maccabee, began to fight with the thousands of soldiers and horsemen of the King’s
army, and they defeated this much larger army, driving them out of Jerusalem.  This unbelievable military victory is the first of two miracles
of Hanukkah.  Although now free of oppression, the Jewish people had before them the great task of repairing the damage to the Holy Temple.  The Temple was cleaned thoroughly, the altar was rebuilt, and a new menorah was placed.  It was time to re-dedicate the Temple to God (Hanukkah means “dedication”).  When it came time to re-light the great menorah, only one small jar of oil was found, enough for just one night.  It would take 8 days of travel to obtain more.  It was decided to light the menorah anyway, and the next day, to everyone’s amazement, the menorah was miraculously still lit.  For 8 days the oil burned, until a new supply of oil arrived.  This is the second miracle of Hanukkah.  Seeing this as a sign of God, Judah Maccabee declared, “Let these events be celebrated with mirth and gladness for all time to come.”

And that is exactly what Jewish people do every year all around the world.  With prayers of thanksgiving, we celebrate the victory God gave to those who believed in Him.  We light Hanukkah candles at sundown on each of the eight days from a special candle called the shamash (“assistant”), adding a candle each day, so that a full menorah of 9 candles (8 plus the shamash) burns brightly on the last day.

May the lights of this season shine brightly on us all.

Alan Bercovitz MD FAAFP

Center for Interfaith Cooperation and Keep Indianapolis Beautiful celebrate “Giving Treesday” with
interfaith gathering and tree planting at Lutheran Child and Family Services 

INDIANAPOLIS – This afternoon, the Center for Interfaith Cooperation and Keep Indianapolis Beautiful (KIB) partnered to host “Giving Treesday” at Lutheran Child and Family Services (1525 N Ritter Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46219). As part of the Giving Tuesday movement, the gathering provided an
intentional space for faith-based communities and local residents to connect, reflect, and take lasting action by adding to the urban tree canopy.

The event included remarks from Center for Interfaith Cooperation Executive Director Charlie Wiles, Imam Ahmed Alamine of the Indianapolis Muslim Community Association, Rabbi Jordana Chernow-Reader of the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation, Father
Rick Ginther of the Catholic Archdiocese Office of Ecumenism & Interreligious Affairs, and Susmita Singh of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh.

“Center for Interfaith Cooperation is enthusiastic to partner with Keep Indianapolis Beautiful on an interfaith tree planting to help heal our earth and our shared humanity,” said Charlie Wiles, Executive Director of Center for Interfaith Cooperation. “I believe that prayer can be a good intention that translates into action. Planting trees, together, demonstrates our determination for a better environment, cleaner air, shade, and beauty that will benefit future generations.”

“For almost 50 years, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful has worked with people from all walks of life to make the city a better place for everyone. Many faith traditions share a common moral obligation to care for the world around us, and we look forward to joining hands to help people and nature thrive,” said Jeremy Kranowitz, President and CEO of Keep Indianapolis Beautiful.

The event marks the final tree planting of KIB’s project season. This year, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful has planted over 3,000 trees throughout Marion County. The trees planted during the event will have an impact for generations to come, including cleaner air, carbon mitigation, and stormwater retention.

Giving Treesday is being held as part of Giving Tuesday, which was created in 2012 with a simple goal: create a day that encourages people to do good. Since then, it has grown into a year-round global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.

Press Release Provided by Keep Indiana Beautiful

IEC Member Profile: Sister Rashidah

“I love dealing with the dirt,” says Rashidah Abdulhaqq, a CIC Interfaith Enrichment Corps member stationed
at Touba Gardens. “Dirt is good for you,” she says from experience. Her endearment to soil rings true for a
woman who’s raised many children, grown a lot of food, and created community wherever she’s gone in her 73 years. 

She was just a girl when her family migrated from Plumerville, Arkansas to Cleveland, Ohio in the 1950s to seek work in the auto industry. When they came, they brought with them a peach stone from her grandfather’s Arkansas orchard. “After seven years, that tree gave the most beautiful peaches in Cleveland,” she remembers. Her grandfather had 40 acres where he grew peaches, apples and pears. On summer visits down south,
Rashidah and cousins would wash and peel the fruits before they got laid out to dry on the house’s hot tin roof. “People came from miles around to buy that dried fruit,” she says. 

In Cleveland, young Rashidah had her own garden, planted with tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, at Miles Standish Elementary which had an agriculture education program. Years later (2013-2022), Rashidah would
work for the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund to get dozens of hoop houses/high tunnels built in Cleveland, to extend the growing season and encourage food sovereignty. 

“That was the topic of my capstone project for my masters degree,” she says: “the effect of high tunnel hothouses in District 11.” Rashidah got her M.A. in food sustainability in 2018 from Green Mountain College, after earning her B.A. from an online adult learning program in 2012. 

Rashidah has worn lots of other hats, too: as a member of the Cleveland School Board (1998-2011), as a member of Cleveland’s Hunger Network, always as a connector to resources. “School supplies, bread, clothes, copies of birth certificate: I’ve helped track it down if that’s what needed doing.” She adds with a smile: “I enjoyed myself.” She’s also met a Tanzanian ambassador, worked with Bill Clinton’s cabinet members… and she’s proud of sharing a birthday with Malcom X. 

Throughout it all, Rashidah has played a lifelong role as mother. She had her first son at 20; today she is a matriarch of many Muslims. Three of her kids live in Indianapolis, and her grandkids and “great grands” live all over. One of her daughters is the director of a senior program that delivers meals to the elderly. Two of her grandsons were lost to gun violence. Hardship and loss are no match for Rashidah. Raised as a southern Baptist, she and her brother converted to Islam In the throes of the civil rights movement in 1968. “It made sense to me,” she says. “Islam is about common sense.” 

Rashidah explains that in Islam, “There is one God and he has no partners…Islam teaches you to take nothing for granted, because too many other people depend on the same thing,” she explains. Islam teaches that the Earth is entrusted to Muslims by Allah; humans are accountable to Allah for betrayal of trust if they damage the Earth irreversibly. 

So stewarding the land is embedded in Rashidah’s nature. In her work as an IEC member, Rashidah works with Touba Gardens founder and leader Mame Bousso to bring “garden therapy” to those who need it. The two met at Masjid Al Mumineen when Rashidah had moved back to Indianapolis in 2021 to be near her children. Rashidah and Mame Bousso are seeking to make the garden accessible to seniors, those with limited mobility, and those with dementia. “Because that’s good therapy!” says Rashidah. Touba also engages youth and families in growing their own food, for health and affordability, without chemicals. 

Thyme is Rashidah’s favorite herb: it grows like a small tree, and it persists, even as the days shorten. Like a plant, Rashidah seeks the sun. “Don’t close yourself off,” she advises with gusto and grace. “Get out there and help people. Because the creator gave you a life: live it.” 

Written by Anne Laker

IEC Member Profile: Nahla Ameen

Nahla Ameen — mother of six, and one of four founders of the Al Haqq Foundation Academy and Daycare — giggles often. 

Her smiles are like a reflex for finding peace amid chaos, or finding the fun in work. No wonder she has this reflex. Nahla comes from a long line of caregivers and educators: her mother ran a home daycare. “I would take attendance with my stuffed animals,” she
recalls with one of her signature giggles.  

Fast forward to 2017: Nahla was running her own home daycare when Imam Muhammad Ndiaye of the Al Haqq Foundation, a Muslim faith community on the city’s northwest side, asked her to come and do the creative work of setting up a school and daycare at the mosque. 

“We started with four students,” Nahla says. “I had to set the daily schedule, select paint colors for the rooms, get the bookcases, everything. It was a beautiful thing to start!” she says. A school based on Islamic principles of faith, charity and prayer, she explains, is a comfort to parents who “want to leave their children with people who fear God first.”

After several years of nurturing the school and its students as a volunteer, Nahla left to pursue a job in the medical field. When the job ended without warning in summer 2023, she needed work badly. One of her fellow Academy founders, Sister MomJara, told her about the Center for Interfaith Cooperation’s Interfaith Enrichment Corps. Now she could be compensated for the same work she’d previously volunteered for.

“This is my life’s work,” says Nahla. “Connecting with people from different faiths, doing charity work, giving back!” She says being an IEC member reminds her of an image of a circle of hands of different colors, joined together in purpose. She’s so far enjoyed learning about meditation, meeting a practicing pagan for the first time, attending an interfaith service at Lucas Oil Stadium, and hearing about the projects of her fellow IEC members — while deepening her own faith. 

Born in Lansing, Michigan to parents who converted to Islam in college, Nahla finds that Islam gives her “a blueprint for how to live my life: how to eat, pray, and worship.” As a young adult, she went through a time of exploring other religions. “It was Islam that answered all my questions.” It guided her in her role as mother to Yusuf (25), Hasanah (23), Yaqeen (16), Nouri (12), Nasir (9), and Aamir (3).  

During the present time of a heart-wrenching war between Israel and Hamas, Nahla calls on her faith when explaining the conflict to her younger children. “It’s true, babies are dying,” she admits to them. “There is nothing to do but pray for now. We’re on the side of a cease fire. And we believe Allah will not take something from you without giving you better,” she says. Despite the fearful cultural climate, Nahla does not want to raise children to be afraid of the world. “I want them to develop their own opinions, with knowledge.”

Such is the purpose of any good school. Today, the Al Haqq Foundation Academy and Daycare that she co-founded serves 84 youth. At the hour I visited, one class was preparing for wudu, the ritual of cleaning one’s face, arms, head, and feet before prayer. Another class was learning to write in an Arabic language. Yet another was away on a field trip to The Children’s Museum. 

“The school has come so far,” says Nahla with pride. There are now 11 teachers. “I used to know every student! Now there are so many that I don’t.” Her son Nasir attends the school and her son Aamir attends daycare. Nahla works alongside her colleague, Sister MomJara (“we are bonded as soul sisters,” says Nahla. “We share the same birthday, August 25”), solving problems and keeping everything moving at this unique school of knowledge and human development.  

Nahla Ameen found her calling long ago: guiding young minds with care and compassion.

Written by: Anne Laker

The 2023 Indianapolis Prayer Breakfast was on October 3rd in the Indiana Roof Ballroom. This event gathered a diverse group of Christians from central Indiana. The Center for Interfaith Cooperation was a Bronze sponsor for this event, and as an intern with the CIC I had the opportunity to attend it.

The event began by giving an honor to a local ministry who reflected the messages in the passage Isaiah 58.
Many Christians believe that this passage outlines what true prayer and fasting are. The event donated one dollar from every ticket sold to this local ministry and allowed participants at the event to donate more if they felt inclined to. The event next presented several prayers toward the betterment of Indianapolis. Whether this was
for the service workers, the veterans, the youth, first-responders, and those employed or looking for employment, the prayers included many dimensions of the Indianapolis community. Participants who were directly impacted or involved with each prayer were asked to stand. These prayers were done as a thank you, a call for guidance, and
a hope for peace. It would be nice to include more of an interfaith perspective within these prayers in the future. This could be done through an acknowledgement of our neighbors in Indianapolis who have different faiths
outside of Christianity or by including a prayer presented by someone who identifies with a different faith tradition than Christianity.

This year’s keynote speaker was Pete Shimer, the Chief Operating Officer of Deloitte. Deloitte is one of the largest professional services organizations in the United States. He shared the impact God had on his life and how his faith has become a vital part of his work-life. He was a talented and eloquent speaker, and it was interesting to hear his perspective. He described how his upbringing was one without religion and how he used to consider himself a self-reliant person when it comes to thinking of the future. He said that he never really thought about what happens after death until his junior year of high school when his older brother was in a car crash that unfortunately caused the ending of his girlfriend’s life. He explained how this new perspective sparked a growth in his spiritual path.

He also discussed how his parents taught him the importance of service from a young age. After an international mission trip, he and his wife looked for ways to give back to their home community. They now focus primarily on service for youth, athletics, and education. Shimer, a former basketball player from the University of Washington, discussed how sports set people up with skills that can be transferred into regular life. Sport is often thought of as a medium for community building, so it was fascinating to hear that this also has the potential for religious learning. It would be interesting to hear more about this perspective and better understand how he coaches sports through a faith-based lens.

Additionally, a crucial aspect of his speech was when he described the book Love Your Enemies by Arthur C. Brooks. Here he discussed how we need to learn to disagree. Many have a tendency to wait for a pause in conversation to interject our ideas and prove that we are right instead of actually listening to what others have to say. Shimer also stated how people do things in the name of Jesus even when it doesn’t necessarily align with what Jesus believed in. This can especially be seen through America’s current political landscape. He further described how we have become increasingly polarized. The topics discussed in this book and Shimer’s speech are important to understand. Learning how to listen to different perspectives can help us grow into a stronger interfaith community as well as de-escalate our extreme political atmosphere. This was a great lesson that everyone can reflect on and work toward incorporating into our personal lives. It took humility and great empathy for Shimer to be able to recognize the importance of these messages.

In the future, the Prayer Breakfast could work toward being more inclusive of all faiths and perspectives. The Indianapolis Prayer Breakfast notes on their website that this event’s purpose is to gather Christians who believe in the power of prayer to change the world. If this organization wants to focus solely on Christianity, it would be more accurate if they renamed the event to the Indianapolis Christian Prayer Breakfast, as the name can be misleading. It would also be a great step for inclusion, if Indianapolis hosted an Interfaith Prayer Breakfast, especially if the group wants to keep the original prayer breakfast to just Christian faiths. Overall, the keynote speaker was compelling, and this event was effective in bringing a large group together to pray for the betterment of the Indianapolis community.

Written by: Stasia Raebel

Twenty-year-old Talha Kahf has zeal and skill for assisting people in need. He is also a thoughtful ambassador for the Muslim faith. These qualities make him an ideal member of the Interfaith Enrichment Corps (IEC) AmeriCorps Program, organized by CIC. 

Born to parents of Syrian heritage in California and raised in the Muslim faith, Talha and his family moved to Indiana in 2020. He started his IEC year of service in September 2023 at Masjid Al Mumineen, an active mosque led by Imam Ismail Abdul-Aleem on the city’s near northeast side in the Avondale Meadows neighborhood.  

A social work student at IUPUI, Talha’s work at Al Mumineen includes assisting with the food pantry; providing American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation at jumu’ah (the special noon prayer service on Friday); keeping up with the mosque’s IT and organizational needs; prepping space for the first Muslim-led community development corporation to move in to the mosque; and staffing Straight Path, a reentry support group program. 

Talha is working to be a resource for health within his faith community, as part of the Strengthening Healthy Support Networks in Minoritized Communities project, funded by a three-year grant to CIC from IU Health’s Community Impact Investment Fund.  

An analysis of the health needs of the Al Mumineen community by its leaders showed that stress relief, healthy food access, and support for re-entry into the community are high priorities. Talha works in all three of these areas. 

Helping people re-enter society after a prison term is important work at Al Mumineen, for Talha, and for the people it serves. “The Straight Path group has been going on for more than a decade,” says Talha. “It’s the only one in Indianapolis founded and run by people who were formerly incarcerated, and the only one that is Islam-based.” Talha says that Straight Path provides moral and philosophical support while offering care packages and job placement help to those newly released. Given the number of people who convert to Islam while in prison, Straight Path also hopes to someday start a Muslim-specific transitional housing program, much like the Wheeler Mission’s Christian-based services. 

Meanwhile, Al Mumineen provides food to the hungry through Lut’s Pantry, every fourth Saturday of the month. Lut, Talha explains, was a prophet and nephew of Abraham. Lut’s Pantry distributes fresh seasonal vegetables, canned foods and home-cooked meals as well. 

Talha also brings his own special skills, like ASL, to IEC. “I started learning sign language at 11 just because I thought it was a really cool language,” he says. He’s now minoring in it at IUPUI and is interpreting jumʿah at each Friday at Al Mumineen. “Members of the deaf community have shown up because they know I’m here.” 

As an IEC member, Talha works to strengthen Al Mumineen’s own capacity to improve the social determinants of health for its community. One of his passions is working to prevent domestic violence. He recently completed an internship with the Indiana Coalition against Domestic Violence. “It would be a dream job to work there in the future,” he says, noting his passion for civic engagement and public policy advocacy, a key domestic violence prevention tool. 

In October 2023, a militant Islamic group attacked Israel, after decades of oppression. As people around the world witness this tragic conflict in the Middle East, Talha, who has been to Palestine and has seen the walls built to surround Muslims, has many thoughts including this one: “There are people on both sides that do not condone the violence.” 

In America, organizations like CIC work to help members of all faiths receive respect in a diverse society. Next up: Talha and will be assisting with a health fair planned for December 13 at CIC. There is so much good work to be done by Talha Kahf, an Emerging Interfaith Leader in his community.

Written by: Anne Laker

We, the board and staff members of Center for Interfaith Cooperation (CIC), stand in solidarity as we grieve and continue to pray for the
victims of violence in Israel and Palestine. We recognize the profound impact this has on our local community. We ask that people of good faith affirm the dignity inherent in every human being, and we call on leaders, in our community and throughout the world, to exercise restraint and to serve as an example for others.

CIC Board Chair, Imam Ahmed Alamine, says that he is “encouraged by the growing relations between the Muslim and Jewish community here in Indianapolis”. And he is “inspired by positive steps that are being taken to bring young people of different faith backgrounds together for better understanding”. 

CIC encourages each of us to move beyond a comfort zone to build empathy for people who see and experience things differently and to reaffirm the commitment to work for a better future. 

On August 17th, a group of CIC delegates comprising of staff, board, and Interfaith Enrichment Corps members rented a passenger van and headed to Chicago for 2 days to attend the Parliament of the World’s Religions. We were a small group in a setting of over 7,000 attendees there to experience presentations, exhibitors, and being in the presence of other like-minded people dedicated to the interfaith movement. Here are a few of our most memorable take-aways from the event.

Connor Bomar, Interfaith Enrichment Corps member

I went to the Parliament a day early for one specific panel event titled “Sacramental Plants and Fungi: Historical and Scientific Insights for the Religious Life”. This panel consisted of Elaine Pagels (a revered scholar of religion), Jaime Clark-Soles (a Baptist minister and participant in a recent study), Rev. Mike Young, Father Richard Rohr (a beloved author, speaker, and Franciscan priest), and Robert (Bob) Jesse (a renowned researcher at the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research).  The presentation delved into the millennia-old use of entheogenic plant medicines in spiritual practices and recent scientific studies, showcasing their potential in inducing profound, spiritually significant experiences and lasting, positive psychological affects. The findings from the1962 Marsh Chapel experiment (of which Mike Young was a subject) and a recent Johns Hopkins and NYU study were discussed, emphasizing their relevance to historical and future religious and psychiatric practices.

The next evening, I had the privilege of having a conversation with Bob Jesse at the hotel restaurant. We discussed the research, its potential for healing, and everything in between. This subject holds a special place in my heart, and in the heart of many people that I hold dear. I have been following the research for years, devouring books on the history of sacramental plants and fungi, and I’ve watched as they’ve positively transformed so many people. The potential for these medicines to change our relationship to ourselves, to nature, and to alter our dependence on pharmaceutical intervention is exciting and promising. 

These are moments that I will never forget.  

Charlie Wiles, Center for Interfaith Cooperation Executive Director

Traveling to Chicago with friends and colleagues from CIC to witness the Parliament of the World’s Religions was an unforgettable experience. The conversations as we traveled together were deep and enriching. Each of the workshops, panel discussions, and exhibit booths I visited were insightful and educational. It was truly inspiring to see people from all over the world gathered to share and learn about the beauty and compassion brought forward by our diverse religious communities. The langar lunches provided by the Sikh community brought out a spirit of love and generosity.  The theme of this Parliament was Defending Religious Freedom, and it was a historical moment to witness Reverend Jesse Jackson receive a lifetime achievement award for his contributions to civil rights and equality. To the right is a photo of Reverend Jackson with his daughter and Congressman Bobby Rush.

Josih Hostetler, Center for Interfaith Cooperation Program Director

On Friday I was able to connect with the Parliament’s Call to Conscience by joining with the beautiful creation that exists within and around us. I took a stroll by Lake Michigan and then took the Metra to the morning Plenary where sounds from the drum circle filled the hall. I heard the interfaith call for creation care from Native American Spiritual leaders from throughout the Americas and will put this call into action!

Jennifer Neer, Center for Interfaith Cooperation Director of Development and Marketing

One of the most memorable moments for me was stumbling upon a Pagan ceremony on Friday morning on
the outer west patio of the convention center. It was a beautiful morning with the sun still rising over Lake Michigan sitting in the distance but close enough to smell it. There we people of all faiths participating in chants, songs, and a celebration of Mother Earth. While my personal thought is that Pagans have a certain stereotype, it was apparent that everyone there was for one purpose, regardless of their faiths, to thank
the earth for all it provides and to remind ourselves that we need to continue to take care of it and
each other. It brought me joy. It brought me peace. And it brought me a better understanding of how we
are all on this one planet together.

Dr. Joni Clark, Interfaith Enrichment Corps member

This lovely sister invited me to take a tour of the Muslim Community Center. In preparation for the tour, she showed me how to wrap a hijab. It wasn’t mandatory for the tour, but I wanted to get a sense of what some of my female family and friends experience in worship and everyday life.

Posted: 9/20/2023

In the Jewish Faith, we are about to begin the 10 day period known as Yamin Noraim, the Days of Awe, more commonly known as the High Holy Days.  For centuries, Jewish people have gathered together as a community to stop and think about the year past and the year ahead.  This year, Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on September 15th, corresponding to the 1st day of Tishrei in the year 5784 on the Hebrew calendar, and ends at sundown on September 17th; Yom Kippur begins at sundown on September 24th (the 10th of Tishrei) and ends at sundown on September 25th.

Rosh Hashanah, “The Head of the Year,” is a gift of time and an opportunity to learn and grow.  It is a happy time as we welcome the New Year, but it is also a serious time as we think about ourselves, what we have done in the past year, and how we may do better in the year ahead.  We eat apples dipped in honey in the hope of a sweet New Year.  In a dramatic and powerful part of the service, the Shofar, or ram’s horn, is blown to announce the New Year and awaken us in the intention to do better.  We ask God for a happy and peaceful year, and we give thanks to God for all good things.  God opens the Book of Life which contains all the things we have done in the past year, each of our lives comes before God, and God judges us for the coming year.  The Book is kept open, and we each have the power to change our judgment through prayer, forgiveness, and good deeds (the Book is closed at the end of Yom Kippur).  When the service concludes, we say “L’Shanah Tovah Tikatevu,” may you be written in the Book of Life for a good year.

Yom Kippur, “The Day of Atonement,” is the holiest day of the Jewish year.  It is serious and holy, but not sad.  After a festive meal, a fast is begun prior to the start of services.  This fast allows more time to pray and helps us to know hunger.  Kol Nidre, “all the vows,” the most beautiful service of the year, begins at sundown.  We ask God for forgiveness.  It is the only evening service when tallit (prayer shawls) are worn.  The Torah are taken out, and the Kol Nidre prayer is chanted three times.  An all day service follows the next day, as we pray a confession of sins, not only for our own sins, but for the sins of others, for things either done or not done.  Yizkor, a memorial service, is the time to remember family and friends who have died. To honor their memory, we promise to give Tzedakah, or contributions, to help those in need.  The Biblical story of Jonah is told during the service.  Neilah, or “closing,” is the final part of the service, as the Book of Life is closed.  The Shema is chanted to reaffirm our belief in God, and the Shofar is once again blown.  After sundown, the long fast is broken.

As each of us looks at our individual lives during this period of introspection, may we all as well look at the vast world around us that continues to need our prayers.

Alan Bercovitz

Medical Director Emeritus, Joshua Max Simon Primary Care Center
Medical Director Seton Cove/Physician Liaison Mission Integration
Faculty, Family Medicine Residency Program

Indianapolis, Indiana

August 26, 2023

Center for Interfaith Cooperation responds to Greenwood Police Department’s Officers’ Actions

The Center for Interfaith Cooperation’s board of directors and staff (CIC) is calling for Greenwood Police Department (GPD) to hold its officers to a higher standard and act in a manner that is respectful and equitable for all.

As an organization, CIC appreciates the diversity in gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, nationality, disability, socioeconomic background, age, religious belief, and any other differences that have been used to divide people.

This call to action comes after the Indianapolis Star ran an article on August 23, 2023 (here) that uncovered a lawsuit in which an officer is suing GPD after being suspended from the department for using “vulgar, racist, and homophobic language in instant messages using department equipment.” Additionally, the article states that over 5,000 pages of messages were exchanged between staff members that expressed antisemitic, racist, and homophobic sentiments.

Charlie Wiles, CIC’s executive director states, “The number of messages sent between members of the Greenwood Police Department are deeply disturbing.”

The diversity of Greenwood’s residents continues to grow and includes people of different faiths, immigrants, refugees, and sexual identities and orientations. It is Greenwood Police Department’s responsibility to ensure that its officers remain vigilant in the cultural training of its officers and hold them to a higher standard and act in a manner that is respectful and equitable for all.

Discrimination of any kind is unacceptable.

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A printable version of this statement can be found here. 

Muscular Angel: Karenni Artist Maw Reh

By Anne Laker 

Twenty-five-year-old Maw Reh is a Karenni artist in America, against all odds. One of the first sketches he ever did, at the Arizona middle school where he had just arrived from a refugee camp, was a muscular angel. His drawing skill caught the attention of his teachers. Now, Maw Reh is one of five artists featured in the exhibition Burma Now, presented by Hope for Tomorrow and the Center for Interfaith Cooperation. 

Maw Reh is Karenni, one of many ethnic groups in Burma, a country neighbored by China, Laos, India, and Thailand. Burma is a country of people crushed by a continuous civil war and an ongoing humanitarian crisis. Under the military dictatorship, churches, schools and villages are bombed, burned, and set with landmines. In July 2023, the New York Times reported that the calculated attacks to intimidate civilians are only becoming more brutal. 

Though Maw Reh is 100% Karenni, he was not born in Burma. He was born and grew up in a Karenni refugee camp bordering Thailand and Burma. 

“My father had joined the resistance army and the government cracked down,” he says. “So we fled.” It was in the camp that he first saw people drawing. When he was 11, in 2008, the United Nations resettled his family in Arizona. Like many refugees, he remembers his first day at American school. “It was very nerve wracking,” he says. Art was a non-verbal refuge. After graduating from high school, Maw Reh won a full scholarship to Phoenix College and proudly earned an associate’s degree in fine art. 

“Art serves as a speaking method for me to show the world and my own people what is going on,” he says. While refugees strive for good lives in America, the shadow of war never fades for someone born into it. 

That is the reason for the art show, says Justin Thang, president and founder of Hope for Tomorrow: “To people in Central Indiana living in peace with the Burmese community, we want you to know: your neighbor’s home country is not safe, their families are still suffering.” A new generation of American-born Burmese, under pressure to assimilate, may be tempted to “forget” the war as it rages still. 

Not Maw Reh. In 2021, he traveled back to visit the camp where he was born in Thailand. He found that with the politics of international aid and the Thai government’s new rules, the camps have gotten worse for the Karenni people, with poor education and a lack of clean water, food, and medical supplies. Remembering his own childhood experiences, he was moved to paint oil portraits of people there, documenting their humanity and resilience with dramatic color: a Karenni boy making himself a soccer ball of bamboo, a young Karenni woman in tribal dress leading her people toward hope. 

This summer, Maw Reh spent several weeks at a retreat called Art Farm Iowa making the largest painting of his life: a pensive portrait of a Burmese (Karenni) woman adorned with feathers, shells and beads, looming with beauty. “My purpose with art is centered around my journey as a Karenni person and the promotion of our rich culture,” says Maw Reh. 

The Indianapolis exhibition Burma Now of which Maw Reh’s work is a part is made possible by a grant from the IU Health Community Impact Investment Fund for a project conceived by Center for Interfaith Cooperation and IU’s Congregational Care Network called Strengthening Healthy Support Networks in Minoritized Communities. The idea is to increase health resources and health outcomes among immigrant groups. 

The link between art and mental health, the way it moves people from isolation to connection, is part of the saving grace of bearing witness, for Maw Reh and many others. “I’ve been suffering from depression since high school,” he says. “Art serves as a base to feel relaxed and to find peace in my own world.” He pauses. “Right now, it is less about me … it is my goal to paint my culture and my people and what they are going through.” 

Burma Now is on display through September 8, weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Please return and bring a friend.

Imagine coming to a new country as a teenager due to religious persecution in your homeland. Imagine being given a new name, having to learn a new language, and being bullied. You would not want anyone to suffer the way you had. This is part of the story of Justin Thang, founder and executive director of Hope for Tomorrow, an organization devoted to empowering Burmese refugees toward a hopeful, successful future 

Hope for Tomorrow is one of CIC’s partners in the “Strengthening Healthy Support Networks in Minoritized Communities” project, funded by a grant from IU Health’s Community Impact Investment Fund. Through this grant, project partners will work to identify ways that members of the Burmese community can access mental health resources, smoking cessation resources, youth mentorship, and more. Although there is no word for “mental health” in the Burmese language, people universally need support.

At a visit last month to the Hope for Tomorrow offices on Indy’s south side, Justin and AmeriCorps member associate Van warmly greeted CIC staff and the project team. The many thriving plants in the office were a visual metaphor for the hope this organization engenders. Justin and Van shared their stories, reflected on their community’s needs, and described the chilling fact of a military war against citizens raging in Burma today, with bombings in Justin’s home state of Falam, in the Chin area of Burma.

We look forward to supporting Hope for Tomorrow with human and financial resources to help Burmese neighbors feel whole and healthy in their adopted Indianapolis home.

Written by: Anne Laker 5.12.2023

The Center for Interfaith Cooperation is a local Indianapolis non-profit focused on improving the relationships between different faith groups and creating community between religious groups. The CIC hopes to improve the relationships between different religious communities through mutual exposure, thereby demonstrating the humanity common to all. Over the course of the fall semester, I had a chance to participate in these community building efforts and witness the role of interfaith within our modern world.

The work of the CIC challenged my beliefs of what our community is and who makes it up. On the board alone, some nine different faiths are represented, and even more exist within the Indianapolis community at large. On a personal level, it was a shock to see the religious and cultural diversity in a community I thought I was familiar with. Like many raised from the Midwest, I wasn’t exposed to much cultural or religious diversity growing up. I came to mistakenly assume that our communities lacked any significant cultural, ethnic, or religious diversity. The work of the CIC, through their events like the Festival of Faiths, the Interfaith Banquet, and community religious dialogues, demonstrates the incompleteness of that view: considerable diversity exists within our communities, and merely needs an opportunity for exposure. The CIC highlights and raises the profile of many faith communities that may not otherwise receive such exposure. Within Indianapolis alone, Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, Jains, and Pagans all call the city their home. Similar diversity can be found in most cities across the country — even if our mainstream culture doesn’t highlight their role.

In a larger sense though, the work of the CIC captures the pluralistic ideal that we aspire to as a society. Far from idle talk about inclusivity and cultural diversity, the CIC activity facilitates tolerance, understanding, and empathy our society aspires for. By introducing people to unfamiliar religious, cultural, and ethnic traditions, they become more empathetic to those groups of people. In this way, a stranger becomes a friend.

Perhaps the greatest takeaway of my time at the CIC and my interfaith experiences is that it demonstrates the humanity in people who, on the surface, may appear dissimilar to yourself. The superficial distinctions of dress, custom, or cuisine can lead people to believe that others are unlike themselves; that nothing is shared in common, and perhaps the “other” isn’t fully human at all. But a simple introduction to someone who seems unlike yourself will illustrate the fiction of this idea; although people may dress differently, eat unique food, or practice a different set of rituals… They are still people. We have a chance to learn this firsthand when we come into contact with these people, providing an opportunity to change and challenge our beliefs. Without these encounters, our beliefs may unfairly calcify and become distorting caricatures of those around us.

Though there may still be ideological or political differences across lines of faith, we come to see the humanity in people of different faith backgrounds than our own — the first step to creating a truly interfaith community and facilitating cooperation amongst all people. The importance and value of pluralism and interfaith collaboration may be best described through a political analog: while Liberals and Conservatives may disagree, both recognize the right of the other to live within the larger community; both are equally endowed to citizenship in a shared national space. Interfaith engagement attempts to cultivate shared citizenship in a common social space — whether a Jain, a Pagan, a Christian, or a Sikh, everyone has a place in the modern world.

Written by Noah Giddings, CIC Fall 2022 Intern

Anne Laker, Laker Verbal
1/18/2023

This week, it formed. A powerful new network for supporting the wellness resource needs of distinct cultural communities in Indianapolis.   

At the Indiana Interchurch Center, with light pouring in through the stained glass windows of the Krannert Room, leaders from four communities gathered for the first time at the invitation of the Center for Interfaith Cooperation (CIC) and the IU Health Congregational Care Network (CCN):  

• Masjid Al Mumineen (an eastside mosque serving Muslims from around the world) 
• St. Monica’s (a Catholic parish on the northwest side with Spanish, French/West African, and English speakers) 
• Hope for Tomorrow (a southside non-profit serving Burmese immigrants and refugees) 
• the Grassroots Maternal Child Health program (facilitating systems change that improves maternal and child health outcomes in marginalized neighborhoods).
  The rallying point for these diverse partners is a generous three-year Community Impact Investment Fund grant from IU Health for a project conceived by CIC and CCN with the long but accurate name of “Strengthening Healthy Support Networks in Minoritized Communities.” “Minoritized” communities may be abundant, rich, and well-established … but perhaps less visible or more isolated—and not by choice.

The project goal is to increase health resources and health outcomes in congregations with higher immigrant populations. And to grow trust and mutual interfaith understanding at the same time.  

The project, and the meeting, kicked off with an ice breaker about what brings us joy. Rev. John P. McCaslin of St. Monica had been up late the night before, tending to the spiritual needs of a parishioner who had lost a loved one. But he arrived in time to share that he receives joy from his rescue cat, Magdalena (Maggie for short).   

Another ice breaker question: what do we love most about our communities? For Julius Ali Mansa, board vice president at Masjid Al Mumineen, it is the international quality of the Islamic community. A North Central High School graduate and Hoosier native, Julius shared that he has lived in Morocco, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia, and that wherever in the world Muslims gather, many languages are spoken.  

But sometimes, cultural barriers prevent access to resources for health. CIC Program Director Josih Hostetler explained that, thanks to the grant, the four communities will host a CIC-sponsored AmeriCorps member drawn from that community who will connect the community with health services and help organize health fairs and community celebrations (while receiving training in religious literacy and non-profit administration). Communities will also receive monthly stipends to help support this work.  

Shadreck Kamwendo, the Congregation Care Network manager at IU Health, shared the wonderful existing resource of CCN, which organizes volunteers from faith communities who stand ready to support patients with no one else to support their at-home recovery.  

Justin Thang, founding director of Hope for Tomorrow, was overwhelmed with excitement to learn about these resources. His organization builds bridges between the Burmese and American communities, and empowers Burmese refugees with resources to achieve hopeful, successful futures. He spoke of his own grief as a newcomer to the U.S., as he struggled to complete his homework in a new language as an elementary school student. He spoke of the ongoing trauma of a violent civil war and military coup in Myanmar that weighs heavily on the minds of the local Burmese, and his community’s hesitation to step into the community at large here in Indiana. 

Grief counseling, HIV testing, immunizations, substance abuse counseling, health care in general: depending on need, these are just a few of the resources that the “Strengthening Healthy Support Networks” project will bring to people who need them.  

In turn, each community has assets to share. Everyone gathered completed an assessment of community strengths. What innovations, special places, cultural arts, leadership, or social capital does each community bring?  

As Charlie Wiles, CIC executive director pointed out, the Indiana Interchurch Center has an art gallery. Imagine the feeling of belonging that could be created if the whole community were invited to explore, say, the art of the Burmese community.  

Belonging and wellness. The most human of needs, to be served with humility and trust through this nascent and promising project. There is much goodness to come.  

(L to R): Jennifer Neer (CIC), Ismail Abdul Aleem (Masjid Al Mumineen), Barb Bacon (St. Monica), Maria Pimentel-Gannon (St. Monica), Charlie Wiles (CIC), Julius Ali Mansa (Masjid Al Mumineen), Josih Hostetler (CIC), Tim Bush (St. Monica), Justin Thang (Hope for Tomorrow), Shadreck Kamwendo (CCN), Prof. Jack Turman (Fairbanks School of Public Health), David Love (CIC).  

Not pictured: Rev. John McCaslin (St. Monica), Marcos Collado (Riley Health), Jay Foster (IU School of Medicine). 

Center for Interfaith Cooperation is excited to announce the election of new board chair, Imam Ahmed Alamine. Imam Alamine first joined the board of directors in 2019 as a leader at the Indiana Muslim Community Association, his interfaith work on the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department as the first Muslim Police Chaplain, Chaplain of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, and his extensive non-profit work. The Imam is one of three board members of the Muslim faith. He will begin his duties as board chair in January 2023.

In addition to appointing Imam Alamine to the board, six additional board members were added to the already diverse board. Ernest Lifferth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Dr. Priya Menon of the Hindu Temple of Central Indiana, Rabbi Jordana Chernow-Reader of Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation, Ephraim Palmero III from the Seventh Day Adventists, Dr. Gregory Shufeldt of the University of Indianapolis, and Stephanie Mozee from Family Development Services.

Established in 2011, Center for Interfaith Cooperation has had over 120 religious and community representatives serve as leaders on their board of directors. Within those more than 120 leaders, at least nine (9) distinct faiths traditions have been represented along with dozens of distinct denominations. The religious diversity of CIC’s board of directors is only part of the work they do to fulfill their mission to provide a safe environment that provides resources and opportunities for service to increase religious literacy, build empathy between faiths, and facilitate interfaith encounters.

If two communities share a border, how will the two groups interact? How ought people or organizations act as neighbors? How can neighbors avoid conflict and treat each other well? Must borders cause conflict or can proximity be a vehicle for community and collaboration?

Neighbors around the world struggle with these questions of conduct. Whether people share a cul de sac, a state line, or a national border, a shared space induces a shared relationship. Shared spaces make these relationships unique; neighbors have a relationship not by choice but by circumstance. Our relationships with our neighbors offer insight to all our relationships. More so than any other relationship, the relationships we have with our neighbors illuminate how we relate to ourselves.

Of all the boundaries in the world, borders separating religious groups have often been the most contentious. Since time immemorial, religious borders have been a cause of destructive and harmful dispute. Whether the Crusades of medieval  history or contemporary conflicts like the status of Palestine or Kashmir, religious boundaries have a propensity for causing conflict. Within an ever-more interconnected world, however, we have a pressing need for conflict to give way to collaboration and for religion to act as a vehicle of unity rather than division. Religious leaders have a unique role in this project of interfaith collaboration and community building. As congregations look to their leaders, the leaders set the tone for the relationships across religious borders. Whether positive or negative, the relationships across religious boundaries are set by those at the pulpit. Collaboration between leaders of different faiths illustrates how interfaith cooperation is achievable.

In East Indianapolis, the leaders of the Nur-Allah Islamic Center and First United Church are proof positive of this idea, demonstrating how different religious communities can collaborate and cooperate. The relationship between Nur-Allah and First United  is unique because of their proximity: the two houses of worship share a single plot of land. In a field, adjacent to a lively thoroughfare, sit the two religious communities. On one side of the plot, leaning towards the road in friendly invitation, sits the Nur-Allah Islamic Center. Across an imperceivable boundary and slightly recessed into the broad green field is the First United Church. No physical barrier separates the two places of worship; no fence, no gate, no difference in upkeep can distinguish the two plots of land. In every manner except the deed, the two houses of worship occupy the same campus.

During a visit to the shared campus earlier this fall, the leaders of the two communities only reinforced the sense of peaceful coexistence evident externally. Imam Mikal Saahir and Pastor Danny Davis capture the harmonious coexistence the shared campus seems to represent. Like the shared campus, the relationship between the two religious leaders also show no barriers: Imam Mikal Saahir and Pastor Danny Davis interact with obvious respect and mutual appreciation. Shared concern for the local community and similar life experiences of the two men (Pastor Davis’ father was an Indianapolis firefighter at the same time as Imam Saahir) gird their relationship as both individuals and men of God. An outside observer might contemplate the significance of their peaceful coexistence, but their relationship runs deeper than nominal differences of faith. Like the divide between the two places of worship, the divide between the two holy men is largely perceived. To a surprising degree, their religious backgrounds play a mostly limited role in their relationship. In fact, to the extent religion plays a role at all, it reinforces their relationship. Although both men share a common background, their piety forms another basis for collaboration: Imam Saahir and Pastor Davis perceive the role of faith within their relationship in a similar light.

In conversation with the two men, both stressed the emphasis Chrsitian and Islamic Theology place on neighborly virtue. “What I know from the study of scripture is that we are called to be neighbors… Love your God; love your neighbor”, were Pastor Davis’ thoughts. In a similar vein, Imam Saahir remarked: “The words of Muhammad say always be kind to your neighbor”. Later in conversation, the Imam recalled that Allah’s instruction on neighborship was so extensive that Muhammad believed he must put the neighbor into his inheritance. Far from impairing their relationship, their religious backgrounds have informed it.

Although both men would likely collaborate outside a religious context, their religious backgrounds inform and reinforce their collaboration and friendship. Despite drawing upon different religious traditions, their religious instruction acts as catalyst for neighborly cooperation rather than a challenge to it. For religious communities throughout Indiana, the United States, and the World, perhaps the relationship between Pastor Davis and Imam Saahir may serve as an example. Like the property line between First United and the Nur-Allah or the piety of Pastor Davis and Imam Saahir, oftentimes the borders which separate us are largely perceived.

Written by Noah Giddings, CIC Fall 2022 Intern

Center for Interfaith Cooperation is about words. Words that express our humanity and help to define our relationship to the divine through our relationship with one another across a beautifully diverse religious landscape.  

Sacred texts and words of wisdom from all our faith traditions help to guide daily actions as well as inform thoughts about eternity. 

Our goal in producing statements is not only to seek common language and understanding regarding particular events, but also to illuminate the places where we have honest differences. CIC’s mission is to build empathy for other positions while further defining and challenging our individual convictions. 

We have never hesitated to stand in solidarity when any one of our faith communities is attacked. We all vigorously support an open pluralistic society where everyone feels free to worship as they choose or not to worship at all. Our challenges come when it when we approach social issues and the pursuit of equity in all we do. We pride ourselves in building trust across theological and ideological difference. 

Below are more statements from CIC and community partners. We hope that you join the conversation and bring your voice to the ongoing conversation.