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Bulletin inserts for Aug. 22 describe interfaith efforts at Faith House Manhattan
Full text of the inserts is below. Inserts may be downloaded here.
Embracing 'holy awkwardness' in interfaith experiences
By Bowie Snodgrass
Episcopalians are part of a church with a long history of interreligious relations. The 2009 "Theological Statement on Interreligious Relations" passed by General Convention reminds us that "prominent Episcopalians were involved in the first World Parliament of the Religions in 1893." To this day, there are myriad international, national, and local examples of Episcopalians engaging in interreligious activities.
In interfaith relations, whether we are involved as a guest, host, or on neutral ground, there is at first a degree of awkwardness. At Faith House Manhattan (www.faithhousemanhattan.org), "an experiential inter-religious community that comes together to deepen our personal and communal journeys, share ritual life and devotional space, and foster a commitment to social justice and healing the world," which I helped found in 2008, we embrace the gift of encountering God in the other as "holy awkwardness" and an indispensable spiritual discipline of the 21st century.
The story of the three visitors to Abraham's tent (Gen. 18:1–15) reminds us that hospitality and awkwardness often go hand in hand. Below is the story as told in the Koran:
Has the story reached thee, of the honored guests of Abraham? Behold, they entered his presence, and said: "Peace!" He said, "Peace!" [and thought, "These seem] unusual people." Then he turned quickly to his household, brought out a fatted calf, and placed it before them ... he said, "Will ye not eat?" [When they did not eat], he conceived a fear of them. They said, "Fear not," and they gave him glad tidings of a son endowed with knowledge. But his wife came forward (laughing) aloud: she smote her forehead and said: "A barren old woman!" They said, "Even so has thy Lord spoken: and he is full of wisdom and knowledge."
— Surah 51:24-30, (translated by Hafiz Abdullah Yusuf Ali)
In the Genesis account, Abraham has to hurry around after offering food to the strangers, asking Sarah to make bread and the servant to prepare a tender calf. In the Koran, Abraham becomes fearful when the guests do not eat the slain calf. In both stories, the hostess, Sarah, laughs aloud when the guests foretell that she will bear a son. Like Abraham bringing forth the fatted calf, we long to share our treasures and have them appreciated. But, how can we find a way forward when we are afraid to offend?
Faith House invites people to events, which are designed to be a safe space to "experience your neighbor's faith." We host living room gatherings twice a month with a leader who is deeply rooted in his/her tradition and a particular theme, where some learn about their own tradition through the eyes of the other, and new friendships begin and grow. We also practice being guests by going on field trips, where we step out of our comfort zones and visit religious services around the city.
Most people who come to Faith House are observant in a primary tradition and come to Faith House to encounter other traditions, genuinely curious and convinced that being interreligious is part of our future and something we need to figure out together — appropriately, playfully, hopefully, and prayerfully — in this pivotal time in history.
Phyllis Tickle states in her book The Great Emergence that "the two overarching, but complementary questions of the Great Emergence are: (1) What is human consciousness and/or the humanness of the human? and (2) What is the relation of all religions to one another — or, put another way, how can we live responsibly as devout and faithful adherents of one religion in a world of many religions?"
Tickle's second question is where I have directed my passion and work with Faith House, recognizing that I am part of a larger phenomenon. A 2008 Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life survey found that 70 percent of Americans believe that "many religions can lead to eternal life," while 83 percent of mainline Christians shared this belief.
God is doing something new and calling us to participate in different ways — through worshiping together, interfaith dialogue, social justice and community organizing with people of other faiths, and experiments in interreligious community, like Faith House Manhattan.
God knows our awkwardness, but blesses us anyway. Sarah did conceive and have a son, and she named him Isaac, meaning laughter, to remind her that laughter is our response to holy awkwardness and a sign that God is "full of wisdom and knowledge" beyond that which we can comfortably grasp.
This essay is a condensed version of "Has the story reached thee, of the honored guests of Abraham?" which appeared in the Winter 2010 issue of Anglican Theological Review. Bowie Snodgrass is executive director of Faith House Manhattan and a member of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City. Previously she worked in the Office of Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations and the Office of Communication at the Episcopal Church Center.
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