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Interfaith Relations

For more information:

Jay Rock
(800) 728-7228, x5289
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Or write to
100 Witherspoon Street
Louisville, KY 40202

Two women walk with their arms around each other

Zainab Ampatuan and Peggy Thomas develop a friendship. Photo by David P. Young

Interfaith toolkit

Engage your neighbors

This kit contains a variety of resources to help as you engage with neighbors of faiths other than your own, or prepare to do so. It contains “how to do it” sorts of pieces, examples of what others have done as well as more reflective materials on interfaith relationship as an integral part of being faithful followers of Jesus Christ.

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Finding Your Way in Presbyterian Policy and Teaching on Interfaith Relations

Many Presbyterians ask about the practical and theological bases for relations with men and women of religious traditions outside the Christian family. Over the last 30 years, our church has adopted a number of papers and policies that provide such guidance, many of which are available on this Web site.

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Learn about Interfaith Relations

The Interfaith Relations Office seeks to support those in the church who are interested in, concerned about or engaged in building interfaith relationships. As Presbyterians learn about religious diversity, we reflect theologically on our relations with neighbors of other faiths. We also seek avenues for cooperation, or look for educational resources and practical models for bringing communities together. We hope you will find helpful information and resources on this Web site.

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Looking forward to the 219th General Assembly

Delegates and guests to the 219th General Assembly in Minneapolis, July 3-10, will be joined by guests from the Islamic Society of North America, the National Council of Synagogues and a representative of the Ojibway nation of Lake Superior. Our three guests will speak at the Ecumenical Breakfast on Wednesday morning of the Assembly and will be available to advise committees and bring greetings to all.

To help the church consider the new study papers regarding Christian-Jewish and Christian-Muslim relations that are before the General Assembly this year, we are happy to announce two new resources!  The first is a book published by Witherspoon Press, Let Us Reason Together: Christians and Jews in Conversation, edited by Joseph D. Small and Gilbert S. Rosenthal (Item # 978-1571532114).  This book makes available the presentations and responses from four consultations that helped to inform the writing of the 2010 study on Christian-Jewish Relations.  The second is a new congregational study for adults in the Being Reformed series: Islam and Christianity.  A Participant's Book (#680712) with Leader's Guide (#680711) engages heads, hearts and hands in considering the distinctive ideas and practices of Christians and Muslims.   To order call (800) 524-2612 or visit the church store.

Why get involved with people of other faiths?

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has offered guidance about relations with neighbors who are Muslims, Jews, Hindus or followers of other faiths in a variety of documents and from a number of perspectives. We have assembled most of these policy and study resources here in an introduction to the thinking of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on interfaith relations and related issues. See the Presbyterian Principles and Policies section of the Interfaith Tool Kit.

Visit our new blog

Seeking Unity, Building Community

A lawyer asks Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?" And Jesus, in that deft way of his, tells the story about the Samaritan and turns the question on its head. Take a look at the first posting on the Seeking Unity, Building Community blog.

We hope this will be a place for conversation about ecumenical and interfaith relations, with postings by Robina Winbush and Carlos Malave of the Department of Ecumenical Relations and Jay Rock of the Interfaith Office.

Other resources of note

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