World Faith Pakistan on the Culture of Peace News Network 17 September , 2012

Greetings from Lahore, Pakistan!! Interfaith Youth in Action (IYA), a network of diverse faith youth and a project of Youth Development Foundation (YDF) with Separate leadership and local chapter of World Faith USA, is a non-profit, non-government and secular organization led by young people from diverse faiths and backgrounds in Pakistan. IYA serves as a network of diverse youth to promote pluralism and mutual respect for religious diversity and bridge building among youth of different faiths through interfaith dialogues, friendly relationship and human based coexistent.

 

Our purpose is to provide opportunity and safe spaces for the youth of each faith to come together to build understanding, reduce misconceptions and develop healthy relationship through social activities, exposures visits, interfaith celebrations, sports gathering and community service activities to promote interfaith dialogues and relationship building by interaction and practical action for peace and harmony in Pakistani context.

We have been implementing our various peace advocacy projects mainly in post conflicts areas like Lahore, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi; Solidarity has been one of the focal themes in promoting and advocating peace as a way of life.

Originally posted on CPNN: http://cpnn-world.org/cgi-bin/read/articlepage.cgi?ViewArticle=932

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Time to Speak Out – Libya and “Innocence of Muslims” Film 14 September , 2012

Dear Alliance Supporters,

With all that has happened this week in Libya and across the Middle East, many of us are left feeling that those on the fringe are speaking for all of us. Whether it is the group who made a film that denigrates the Prophet of Islam or those behind the brutal killing of 4 people at a consulate in Benghazi, they do not represent us.

While the media focuses only on the most extreme views, the rest of us don’t get a fair hearing. Many of our leaders aren’t listening either. In fact, some are using this as an opportunity to divide all of us along religious lines. That’s not responsible leadership.

While we stand for freedom of speech, using our freedom to humiliate others is not the way forward. And, while we all believe in peaceful protest, violence is unacceptable. The sanctity of human life must always be respected.

So, we’re calling on all of you now to join us on Twitter under the hashtag #RepresentYourself and speak out, so the rest of the world can hear. In the words of President Sampaio, “You are the Alliance.”

Represent yourself to the world so your voice isn’t drowned out by a vocal and violent minority.  Write blog posts, take pictures, film vlogs, and post them all with the hasthag #RepresentYourself.  Encourage others to do the same.  Call for responsible leadership and responsible citizenship.

United Nations Alliance of Civilizations

The Chrysler Building

405 Lexington Ave, Fifth Floor

New York NY 10174

Tel:  +1-212-457-1751

Fax: +1-212-457-4032

www.unaoc.org

www.twitter.com/UNAOC

Joint Religious Leadership Coordination for the G8 and G20 Summits 21 May , 2012

National and international religious leaders gathered in DC on May 17, 2012 to speak to G8 and G20 leaders about moral concerns and priorities for their respective summits.  The religious leaders made personal and community commitments and offered recommendations to address economic justice; food, health, and human security; and poverty issues.

Following a tradition of religious leaders speaking together during such G summits, representatives from every major religious tradition met at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs at Georgetown University to discuss critical issues, interact with scholars and government officials, and issue a statement.

The final statement and supporting information for the event will be posted at http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/g8 on Friday, May 18.  Presently the statement is available here.  It is available for immediate release.

Meeting participants at the event will be given until Monday, May 21 to review and accept/decline their name and organization being included in the statement’s final signatories. Those not at the meeting may also request to add their name.  No further edits will be made to the document, except upon special request to correct grammar, spelling, verifiable inaccuracies, or disruptive redundancies.

We encourage you to blog, tweet, and post this statement (referencing the Berkley Center’s site where signatories will be added) and to add your own creative spin on sharing the document with other circles/networks.  An example of a blog which was tweeted and posted during the event is a Reuters Faithworld blog now available at What They Are Not Talking About At Camp David’s G8.

Photographs from the event will be available shortly, courtesy of The Mosque Cares, at: http://themosquecares.smugmug.com.

Thank you for your time and consideration of this request.

Special thanks to Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton, Dr. Sherrie Steiner, and Dr. Katherine Marshall for their kind assistance in facilitating this meeting and to the members of the Joint Religious Leadership Coordination for the G8 and G20 Summits for their perseverance and kind support.

Interfaith Social Media: Interfaith Leadership in the Digital World 14 May , 2012

RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY LEADERSHIP WORKSHOP 2012 1 May , 2012

Sunday, June 3 through Friday, June 8

Applications now being accepted

Hartford Seminary is seeking a diverse circle of participants in its RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY LEADERSHIP WORKSHOP, to be held Sunday evening, June 3 through Friday noon, June 8,on the Hartford Seminary campus. Made possible by generous assistance from the Shinnyo-en Foundation, this workshop will combine aspects of “training the trainers” with instruction about religious diversity and leadership per se. In addition to models and methods of leadership generally, the workshop will address such topics as leading youth in the multifaith context and in interfaith activities, formation of emerging young leaders, meeting the challenge of bullying, theologies and philosophies of religious difference, philosophies and models of dialogue, and multifaith efforts for the common good.

Guest presenters will include Janet Penn (Executive Director, Youth LEAD); Nancy Raines (Hospice Chaplain; formerly chaplain, Massachusetts General Hospital); Rev. Danny Fisher (Director, Buddhist Chaplaincy Program, University of the West); Joshua Stanton (founding editor, The Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue); and members of the Hartford Seminary faculty.

The week will include field trips to houses of worship illustrative of the changing religious landscape of Connecticut and New York. Seminar pedagogy will make use of large-group and small-group discussion, case-study method, and documentaries, guest speakers, and panel presentations. Participants will have opportunity to strategize, with input from colleagues, for their specific contexts and needs. Opportunity will also be provided for the group as a whole to share resources for multifaith education, ritual, dialogue, counseling, advocacy, and encouragement of productive dialogue and collaboration between religious groups at the intersection of religious and public life – thus improved ability to build community around common concerns.

The participation fee (which includes most meals) is $575. Applicants should email Tina Demo, Recruitment Officer (tdemo@hartsem.edu) by May 1, providing contact information and a brief description of the nature of their religious leadership or involvement in interreligious matters. Modest resources are available for financial assistance to help defray expenses (housing, transportation, tuition) for qualified applicants.

Questions about the workshop content should be addressed to Dr. Lucinda Mosher, Faculty Associate in Interfaith Studies, who will be the workshop’s coordinator and lead instructor (lmosher@hartsem.edu).

World Faith Cairo Leadership Opportunity! 26 April , 2011

We’re Looking for Leaders!

Apply to become the leader(s) of World Faith Cairo

We are looking for active and empowered leaders to lead World Faith Cairo and develop and lead interfaith volunteer projects/initiatives. The commitment can be as much or as little as the person makes it, but we are looking for a dedicated individual who is enthusiastic about volunteering in Cairo (or beyond!).

 

Potential leaders should:

• Be interested in building community
• Have a passion for interfaith work or service learning (or both!)
• Can commit a consistent amount of time every week
• Are willing to plan at least a few events (or more!) per year
• Want to have a connection to an international NGO

Egypt has undergone major change and is truly an inspiration for the world. Now more than ever is it vital to create community as Egypt moves forward into the next chapter of its history. Leading World Faith Cairo is a unique opportunity for young leaders to lead and establish a group dedicated towards fostering this type of interfaith community.  

APPLY NOW 

Board Member Imam Khalid Latif on Salon.com 17 May , 2010

Imam Khalid Latif, a World Faith board member, as well as the chaplain at the New York University’s Islamic Center, was featured in Salon.com’s story about Muslim leadership’s difficulties in addressing the needs of an American-born generation of Muslims.  To read about it, please see the article.