You're Invited - Book Study Group

How do we maintain our own faith identity while respecting the traditions of others?

The next reading by the Interfaith Winston-Salem Book Club may help us answer that question for ourselves.  The club will be reading “The Interfaith Alternative: Embracing Spiritual Diversity” by Steven Greenebaum for discussion Tuesday, January 12 at Highland Presbyterian Church.

A review by Amazon says:

“Whatever your spiritual path, chances are that the primary tenets of your faith include universal love, acceptance, and compassion. Yet three thousand years after Moses, twenty-five hundred years after the Buddha, two thousand years after Jesus, and fifteen hundred years after Muhammad, we are still divided by our differences. Religious intolerance, discrimination, even persecution and violence make up the not-so-golden rule.
          
“The Interfaith Alternative shows us how we can celebrate each other without fear of losing our own identity. It illuminates the path to creating a nurturing spiritual community that honors and includes all religious languages—an alternative to Jews worshiping only with Jews, Christians with Christians, and Muslims with Muslims. In doing so, it demonstrates that through coming together in a mutually supportive environment we can concentrate on our shared desire to remake the world into a compassionate, loving place.”

Interested in being a part of the Interfaith Winston Salem Book Club? For more information contact: Contact Barbara Bowman bbowman2@triad.rr.com  or Linda Lewis llewis2006@bellsouth.net    

Ties That Bind: Oct. 18 - Protestants In Conversation

"Ties That Bind": Oct. 18

American religious communions are in a time of permanent transition. Traditional ways of organizing faith communities and declaring faith perspectives are changing dramatically.  What might that mean for the church's message and the church's future?

The Ties That Bind: Protestants in Conversation movement explores that and other questions at a gathering in Winston-Salem Sunday, October 18, 4-6 p.m. at United Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church, the church on the hill above U.S. 52 at Fourth Street.  The event is open to the public at no charge. 

Discussions will be led by Dr. Bill Leonard, Dunn Professor of Baptist Studies and Church History at the School of Divinity at Wake Forest University; Rev. Terrance Hawkins, associate pastor, Winston-SalemFirst Church, and community activist; Mia Sloan of St. Peter’s Church and World Outreach Center; and Rev. Emily Hull McGee, senior pastor, First Baptist Church on Fifth Street.  Their comments will be followed by 45 minutes of small-group conversations that cover questions like these:

·      What does it mean to speak of and engage with God’s New Day in the world?

·      How do we understand that most basic aspect of Jesus’ message and its implications then and now?

·      In what ways might faith communions engage in that dynamic through their own ministries and in shared ministries in the community?

·      Is the meaning, message, and action involved in recognizing that God’s New Day continues to come near an appropriate guide for renewing faith, ministry and congregational life?

Registration for tickets and childcare can be made online at https://godsnewday.eventbrite.com