 |
“Religion is perhaps the most powerful force
in the modern world.”
-- Political scientist, Samuel Huntington, in his ground-breaking book
“The Clash of Civilizations”
The Festival of Faiths was created to foster relationship building, dialogue and understanding among people of wide-ranging religious and spiritual traditions. The Festival was born when several members of our leadership committee realized that:
- The Kansas City community includes an amazing wealth of various religions, spiritual practices and interfaith activities
- Religion is a major theme in our current local, national and international society
- Many people are struggling to understand their own faiths and people of faiths which differ from their own.
Our volunteer committee began a process in Fall 2005 to identify an appropriate program to further the successful practice of religious pluralism in our community, drawing on local, national and global resources. We engaged in approximately six months of relationship building and exploration, which included attending interfaith activities and events in Kansas City and meeting with community and religious leaders. In meeting with Dr. Diana Eck, Harvard professor of religious pluralism, we were urged to look at Louisville, Kentucky’s successful model of a Festival of Faiths and explore how we might bring that model to Kansas City. We then developed a plan to launch the first annual Festival of Faiths in Kansas City in November 2007 and seed funding was provided by the Village Presbyterian Church Endowment Trust.
Collaborating partnerships have been formed with the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council, Harmony, the Crescent Peace Society, the National Council of Jewish Women, and Open Circle. Additional support and participation for the 2007 Festival of Faiths has been provided by the Jewish Community Foundation, the Jewish Community Relations Bureau/American Jewish Committee and the Jewish Book Fair of the Jewish Community Center.
Mission Statement
Our mission statement is “to discover, recognize, celebrate and promote the reality of pluralism in our community through listening, learning, understanding and experience—the exercise of acceptance.”
Committees
We are organized by a volunteer interfaith Leadership Planning Committee, which includes the chairs of each Festival event committee. Leadership Planning Committee members include:
Janet Burton, Co-Chair
Priscilla Wilson, Co-Chair
Marilyn Brewster, Keynote Speaker Event Chair
Hussain Haideri, President of the Crescent Peace Society
Meridee Jordan, Logistics Committee Chair
David Nelson, Vital Conversations Chair
Judy Press, Jewish Community Relations Bureau
Jamie Rich, Director, Open Circle
Sheila Sonnenschein, Table of Faiths Chair
Donna Ziegenhorn, Arts Event Chair
Josef Walker, Youth Activities Chair
Keynote Speaker Event Committee
Marilyn Brewster, chair
Iftekar Ahmed
Shaheen Ahmed
Peggy Augustine
Judy Baird
Michael Bay
Margaret Boomer
Janet Burton
Hussain Haideri
Caryl Herman
Pat Jackard
Sandi Lerner
Judy McEachen
Meg McLaughlin
Nadia Nazir
Ellen Portnoy
Arlene Raudenbush
Krista Rogers
Priscilla Wilson
Table of Faiths Steering Committee
Anab Abdulahi
Allan Abrams
Melanie Allmayer
Doug Alpert
Nick Awad
Rev. Dr. Vern Barnet
Robert Bacic
Caroline Baughman
Janet Burton
Cathy Cazares
Mike Cazares
Dr. Ed Chasteen
Susan Choucroun
Dianne Cleaver
Laura Conley
Joan DeMerchant
Barbara Dolci
Alan Edelman
Sr. Rosemary Flanigan
Mayor Mark Funkhouser
Peter Griggs
Rev. Dr. Kara Hawkins
Diane Hershberger
Rev. Bob Hill
Singh Sahib Karta Purkh S. Khalsa
Cathy Knight
Eliyahu Krigel
Gayle Krigel
Kris Krishna
Rev. Patricia Longstroth
Diane Marshall
Barb McAtee
Greg McCoy
Mary McCoy
Jeff Menefee
Rev. Dr. Robert Meneilly
Jill Minkoff
Rev. Dr. David Nelson
Fran Otto
Pam Peck
Elaine Polsky
Linda Prugh (uma)
Kathy Riegelman
Nadia Saeed
Rev. Dr. Karrin Scapple
Fred Schuele
Mahnaz Shabbir
Lynn Turner Sousley
Lama Chuck Stanford
Jarene Stanford
Josef Walker
Lisa Waterman Gray
Andrea Whitmore
Priscilla Wilson
Nigar Zaidi |
