Last month Pastor Kelly graciously asked for three cheers and some prayer for me in my new role as chair of the cabinet of The Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee. I greatly appreciated both her words and especially her continued prayers…as well as yours! I thought I should share a little bit about this organization and why I’ve committed my time to it.
Forty-seven years ago, Milwaukee was still recovering from the racial unrest that plagued almost every city in our country. At that time a group of clergy and like-minded individuals felt the need to come together in a very public way that would highlight our commonalities rather than our differences. From that initial gathering was born The Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee.
Our United Methodist Conference was one of the first organizations to get on board and continues to be supportive, not only financially, but also by the presence currently on the cabinet of our District Superintendent, Rev. Deborah Thompson, Nancy Lanman – a United Methodist deacon, and myself.
Today the Interfaith Conference includes representation from seventeen different faith traditions and the cabinet which I chair includes some forty-five members. As an organization, one of the best things we’ve done in recent years has been the Amazing Faith Dinner Dialogue series. I know a number of you have participated in these dinners and everyone came away excited by what they experienced. This is an ongoing program and I encourage you to learn more by following this link: http://j.tinyurl.com/hrk4lwu
So why do I give my time to this?
It’s because I believe we are ALL God’s children. We might call God by different names but I believe there is but one God over us ALL; and so it only makes sense to me that I reach out to my brothers and sisters, especially to those who have known persecution and been the victims of hate crimes, such as the murder of six people at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek some five years ago. Plus, it feeds my spirit to be with people who are committed, not only to their respective faith traditions, but to our greater community. After all, we’re ALL in this together, are we not?
Pastor Andy