One Lakeside church is putting a fresh twist on its faith by snuffing out ignorance of other religions.
"A lack of understanding can breed ignorance and fear," said Rev. David Werner, Lester Park United Methodist Church, about the impact of its summer series, "Learning about the Faiths of Our Neighbors."
"Part of loving our neighbors is understanding and respecting who they are and what they believe," Werner said.
The faith talks include speakers from traditions of Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Unitarian Universalism, Bahaism, Christian Science, Islam, Mormonism, Greek Orthodoxy, Jehovah's Witness, Messianic Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Quakerism and Sufism. "Through the process of research, we found faith traditions we didn't even know were in the community," Werner said.
The summer barbecue and speaker series was dreamed up as a result of creative community outreach. Werner said his church community realized it didn't know a lot about other faiths and wanted to help the Lakeside community grow in togetherness.
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The church found some of the speakers with the help of the Arrowhead Interfaith Council.
"The whole notion of interfaith dialogue is a really positive one," said Doug Bowen-Bailey, president of the Arrowhead Interfaith Council. "It deepens your appreciation of your own faith tradition and helps you see things in new ways."
The series will be held on the front lawn of the Lester Park United Methodist Church, 5401 E. Superior St., every Wednesday through the summer. A 5:30 p.m. barbecue will precede the talk, and at 6:30 p.m., things will move indoors, concluding with a question-and-answer session. The church said the talks are open to everyone in the community and ask that participants bring a lawn chair and a friend. Activities will be provided for children during the faith talks.
Learning about the Faith of our Neighbors" takes place at Lester Park United Methodist Church, 5401 E. Superior St. The schedule is as follows:
June 15 -- Roman Catholic: the Rev. Bill Fider from St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church.
June 22 -- Judaism: Don Ross, director of the Hebrew school at Temple Israel.
June 29 -- Unitarian Universalist: Karen Gustafson, minister of First Unitarian Church.
July 6 -- Baha'i: Marj Johnson.
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July 14 -- Christian Science: Kelzin Herstad and Irene Koenig of First Church of Christ Scientist.
Other speakers will be announced as the summer goes on.
For more information about the series "Learning about the Faiths our Neighbors," call Lester Park United Methodist Church at 525-4373. For more information on interfaith relations, call the Arrowhead Interfaith Council at 722-7166.
