Three Years of Interfaith Café  Events

After the events of September 11, 2001, the Milwaukee Interfaith Youth Forum was started, with his purpose:

• To strengthen interfaith understanding
• To reduce misinformation
• To promote peaceful relationship among all people.

We have held several events since then… “Sons and Daughters of Abraham” and our “Interfaith Peace Wall Retreat” were the largest events, gathering youth of several different religious communities for interfaith dialog and friendship.

On September 11, 2005, we began a series of Interfaith Youth Café events – causal settings, with music and food, where teens could gather and build relationships while discussing the similarities and differences among their faith traditions.

In three years, we have had a dozen events…

and we have enjoyed warm hospitality at every congregation who has hosted a café. Here is the list of congregations who have hosted us:

11 September 2005 -- Immanuel Presbyterian Church

22 January 2006 -- Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

19 February 2006 -- Islamic Society of Milwaukee

21 May 2006 -- Plymouth United Church of Christ  (evaluation meeting)

19 November 2006 -- Congregation Emanu-el B'Ne Jeshurun (Jewish)

21 January 2007-- Plymouth United Church of Christ -- with Labyrinth Prayer

18 February 2007-- Mother of Good Counsel (Catholic) -- with Mardi Gras celebration

22 April 2007 -- Urban Ecology Center -- Earth Day

18 November 2007 --    Phuoc-Hau Buddist Temple of Milwaukee -- Theme: Food and Hospitality

27 January 2008 -- Islamic Society of Milwaukee -- Theme: The Holiness of the Body

2 March 2008 --  Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) -- Theme: Discernment and Making Choices

13 April 2008 -- Urban Ecology Center -- Theme: Earth Day

The faith groups who have attended include these:

Roman Catholics                        Hindus

Jews                                         Christian Scientists

Bahá’í                                       Quakers

Unitarian Universalists                Sikhs

Muslims                                    United Church of Christ

Lutherans                                  Baptists

Presbyterians

On March 2, 2008 after our café at the Quaker Meeting House, we asked the congregations to spend some time reflecting on what brings them to these cafés, and how they benefit the participants. Here is a summary of their insights:

What do you like the most about these café events?

• Being able to discuss issues that are faith-based, and getting insights to life from a variety of religions.
• Learning about different beliefs
• Eating different foods
• The suggestions of topics, but the freedom to let the discussions evolve to the what meets the needs of the people talking.
• Sharing personal experiences, thoughts and ideas.
• Hearing a wide variety of perspectives that makes us think more deeply.
• The diversity of age.
• Visiting the different worship spaces
• Drawing on the tables – it helps us with the learning, but it’s a fun form of self-expression, too!
• Meeting new people – especially people you might otherwise get to talk with.

What have you learned?

• New things about different faith groups we haven’t had experiences with
• That there are lots of similarities among the different faiths
• How different congregations want peace, despite the outward differences.
• That many religions have similar core values.
• An understanding of the diversity of beliefs – and the kind of respect that might not always be present in the rest of the world.
• How people of different faiths still have a lot of common views, even if the specifics are different.
• People are really willing to talk about their religious traditions and share their beliefs in this setting.

A Look Back

“Sons and Daughters of Abraham,” our first event,  involved a team of 18 young people meeting monthly from June to November, in order to emcee, present, and lead discussion at an all-day forum. It was a gathering that required enormous effort. The comments of three youth from that first year are still relevant today:

“We’re all humans under one God. It’s just nice knowing that you have friends in a different community, so that all of us can become one community.”  

 --- Quote from a Catholic youth participant

“We need more unity now, especially with everything that has happened in the last year (referring to September 11th). We see that young people who are going to be leaders tomorrow are already taking that step and doing things now. It’s important that adults see that we really care about our future.”    

--- Quote from a Muslim youth participant

“Here, we take it for granted that a group of Jews, Christians, and Muslims can get together without hostility.  But you know that’s not the case in many parts of the world. So if for nothing else, we are here today so that our children don’t hate to grow up in a world as violent as ours and with as much hatred as ours.”              

--- Quote from a Jewish youth participant.