Plans of Participating Congregations, 2007

Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, MI, is conducting a study group leading up to Pluralism Sunday, focusing on the book, “The Faith Club”, about three women, a Muslim, a Christian, and a Jew, who seek to find bridges between their religious traditions.

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Penn Yann, NY, will have a Jewish, Muslim, Bahai  and Christian "dialogue" sermon. The Hebrew Scriptures will be read in Hebrew and the cantor will also lead some singing during the service.  There will be a reading from the Qur'an and from the Bahai writings.  The Prayers of the People will include prayers from these other religious traditions.  After church there will be a discussion forum with the guests and the rector doing a panel discussion on pluralism.

The United Church of Christ in Richmond Beach, WA, will conduct its worship in its social hall with a feast of food from many cultures around the world, as a Pentecost “birthday party” for the Christian church, integrating the theme of religious pluralism. Its pastor, Rev. Joy Haertig, says “we can celebrate and give thanks without being better or more right or true than others.”

Pluralism Sunday worship at Paradise Hills United Church of Christ in San Diego, CA, will include a presentation from a Buddhist, an overview of recent church field trips to a Buddhist Sangha and Jewish temple, and a Jewish liturgy and (hopefully) a Muslim Iman.

The Congregational Church of Fullerton, CA, has invited a local Muslim leader to be part of their worship service and to speak at a luncheon to follow.

High Street Presbyterian in Oakland, CA, has invited Primera Iglesia Presbiteriana to do a joint service.  The pastor of High Street Church, Sally Juarez, is writing a children's play about pluralism for the worship service, based on the Parable of the Elephant.

Spirit of Peace UCC Church of San Antonio, TX, is  inviting its fellow members of PRO San Antonio, a faith-based community organizing group, to a special Pluralism Sunday event from 5-6 pm.  Members of different faith traditions will be invited to say a few words about their traditions, offer a prayer, and provide visual symbols of their faith.

Rev. Jerry Stinson, pastor of First Congregational UCC in Long Beach, CA, will preach on religious pluralism, and the worship service will include elements from other religious traditions.

Robert Abdul Hayy Darr, a Muslim and a translator of the mystical poetry of Rumi and Hafiz, will be the preacher at Sausalito (CA) Presbyterian Church. Chants from the religions of the world will be sung by the congregation in worship.

University Place Christian Church in Enid, OK, will participate in Pluralism Sunday with a liturgy conducted in multiple languages and readings from various world religions. Its pastor, Rev. Jerry Ray Galbreath, teaches comparative religion at Northern Oklahoma College.

Mitzpah United Church of Christ will have a pulpit exchange with the Bet Shalom Reform Jewish congregation, also in West Metro Minneapolis.

Evangelical United Church of Christ in St. Louis, MO, will focus its worship on the book “Does God Have a Big Toe?” by a Jewish rabbi, Marc Gellman.

Rabbi Julie Pelc will be preaching at Fairview Community Church in Costa Mesa, CA.

At Plymouth Congregational Church in Plymouth, NH, Dr. Joan Roughgarden, evolutionary biologist at Stanford University, will preach about Christianity and science. “The tensions between scientist and theologians (people of faith and people who research life) is also a form of pluralistic understanding that is needed in this polarized culture of ours,” says the church’s pastor, Rev. Judith Gooch.

St. John's Episcopal Church in Williamstown, MA., will welcome to its pulpit Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser, spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Israel in North Adams, MA, and he will be the special guest at a forum afterward.