NAINConnect 2008 Workshops

Theme: Multifaith Challenges We Face
WHO IS NOT HERE & WHY? BUILDING INCLUSIVITY IN INTERFAITH COMMUNITIES

WORKSHOP SUMMARY
Who is not at the interfaith table and we wish they were? Who are we blind to, and who do we exclude? This workshop will explore the terms we use for 'the other' and move on to think about how we can build bridges to a more inclusive interreligious community. Our presenters come from different faith tradition, but each of them has been an important voice in enlarging the interreligious community and doing what it takes to build healthy relation-ships. P.K. McCary will be a presenter as well as serve as moderator.

PRESENTERS
Grove Harris, P.K. McCary, Gerry O'Rourke, and Ranbir Singh Sandhu

Grove Harris is passionate about religious freedom. She is Program Director for the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions, working towards the next Parliament, in Melbourne, Australia, December 3-9, 2009. In her prior work as Managing Director of the Pluralism Project at Harvard University, she researched many aspects of religious pluralism in the U.S.

P.K. McCary is a writer and storytellerwhose books include Black Bible Chronicles Series and What Matters to the Heart. She participated in Bill Moyer's "Genesis," a PBS roundtable special bringing together Muslims, Christians and Jews to discuss Biblical history. She founded and hosts The Peace House on Pacifica Radio in Houston. An advocate for children, she produces "Think Peace Radio," a podcast station developed for and by young people. A mother and grandmother, she resides in Houston.

Rev. P. Gerard O’Rourke was ordained a Catholic priest in 1950 and appointed Director of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the Archdiocese of San Francisco in 1990. He has helped found the San Francisco Interfaith Council, Interfaith Center at the Presidio, United Religions Initiative, and Mastery Foundation, on whose behalf he has led annual peacemaking workshops in Ireland and North Ireland since 1998. Currently he serves as President of the Interfaith Center at the Presidio.

Dr. Ranbir Singh Sandhu – concluded a distinguished career in academics as Professor Emeritus at Ohio State University. Born in British Colonial Punjab, he came to this country in 1965. He is a respected scholar of the Sikh religion and history and helped found several Sikh organizations. A Sikh by faith, he served as President of the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio, presented at the Parliament of the World’s Religions, and been a member of the World Sikh Council – America Region in several capacities, including Secretary-General. (Who Is Not Here & Why)(Who Is Not Here & Why)