As I mentioned in my sermon last week, recently I was contacted by representatives of the Dialogue institute of Dallas. The goal of this organization is to promote mutual understanding, respect, and cooperation among people of diverse faiths and cultures by creating opportunities for direct communication and meaningful experiences. Those who are members have a vision of a society where every person views and treats each other with dignity. This is such an important vision for our world today for so many reasons.
I was pleased to welcome Emrah Aktepe, who is the Executive Director, and his colleague, Yusuf Tamer, to St. Thomas on April 25th for a time of conversation and a tour of our church. It was during this conversation that Emrah and Yusuf explained that Ramadan is coming up which is a month-long period of fasting, prayer, reflection and good works for Muslims. The period of fasting lasts from sunup to sundown at which time the fast is broken with a dinner. We have been given the opportunity to host one of these dinners on Tuesday, May 29th during which we will be given a brief explanation about Ramadan, have an opportunity for questions and answers and share a meal with our Muslim brothers and sisters.
I am very excited about this opportunity for connection and collaboration. To get an idea about what to expect, please look at this brief video >
The schedule for the evening of May 29th will be:
7:30 pm – Welcome by the host & Intro
7:45 pm – Ramadan Presentation & Q&A
8:00 pm – Start getting food
8:29 pm – Call to Prayer & Fast Breaking
9:15 pm – Closing
I have also reached out to some of our neighbor churches to invite others to share in this experience. If you would like to participate, please sign up on the sheet in the Narthex so we will know how much food to order. I hope to see you there.
The Rev’d Joy A. Daley
