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Hosting an Interfaith Discussion

An interfaith discussion is a good way to establish friendships with people of other faiths and it’s a great way to discuss similarities and differences of beliefs, personal experiences, and historical challenges. To help you get started, here are several questions to ask about your community, followed by questions that might be helpful for your first interfaith meeting.

1. Preparing for Your Interfaith Meeting

• How are religious groups of different faiths working together in your community?
• Check on groups that participated in worship services or dialogues immediately after 9/11. Are they still participating in interfaith efforts? How has their participation changed?
• What are some real-life challenges to “coexisting” in your local community?
• Are there stereotypes that need correcting or projects that need to happen to help promote partnership and interaction with other faith communities?
• What venue would work well in hosting a dialogue like this? Maybe in your home or residence hall, a coffee shop, a community center, or library? Sometimes the location can make a big difference.
• What is a good time to schedule a first meeting? You may want to consider how to keep your discussions going each month. Perhaps taking up issues that are current or histoxrical is a way to organize the purpose of meeting regularly.

2. Hosting Your Interfaith Meeting

• Survey the group: What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think “Muslim,” “Jewish,” and “Christian”?  Do the responses identify any trend?
• 9/11 brought much heartache to families of victims and to the U.S. and the world as a whole. What has happened since and, putting the political realities aside, what is the responsibility/role of faith communities?
• Was there any way to prevent 9/11? Can we prevent another catastrophe?
• What are the opportunities and challenges that arise from catastrophes like 9/11 or even natural disasters like Katrina and the tsunami? 
• Has your faith commitment changed because of a national or world disaster or perhaps even because of a tragic event in your own life?