Welcome to the 2nd Annual Festival of Faiths

2008 Festival Events

• What Is Sacred? A First Friday exhibit featuring works of area artists, teen arts and an interfaith slide show was enjoyed by over 250 people at the Rime Buddhist Center on November 7
• Voicing the Spiritual Self: The Interfaith Language of Doubt and Belief  was heard by over 100 people as writers read from their work at The Writers Place on November 11
• Vital Conversations, discussion conducted by David Nelson opened the door to greater understanding of Islam for twenty people at the Mid Continent Public Library Antioch Branch on November 12
• Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council’s Table of Faiths annual luncheon enabled 500 people to view exhibits, hear prayers from fifteen faiths, and enjoy conversation with many new and old friends at the Hyatt Regency Hotel November 13.
• The Kansas City Star FYI Book Club discussion of Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson featured an interfaith panel of eight people at The Writer's Place on November 16.
• The Harmony Interfaith Choir Concert at Concord Fortress of Hope on November 16 featured the Harmony Interfaith Choir, the Shireinu, the Concord Fortress of Hope Youth Choir and the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church Choir plus the Kansas Brass Quintet.
• The Hindu and the Cowboy based on interviews with Kansas Citians of diverse faith traditions was performed to a capacity crowd at the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre on November 17.
• November 23 – CRES 24th annual interfaith Thanksgiving meal, a program with celebration and ritual for the entire family; St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 40th and Main, 6:00 p.m. Reservations required at www.cres.org.
• January 26, 2009 - The culminating event of the Festival of Faiths is a lecture by Jon Meacham, the editor of Newsweek. This event will be held at Yardley Hall on the campus of Johnson County Community College.
  

Participate in our interfaith service project at Books for the Planet or read more about the project at: questliving.org/booksfortheplanet.

Books for the Planet Pictures

The Greater Kansas City Community is emerging as a leader in the recognition and celebration of religious and spiritual pluralism.

The festival celebrates that process by:

• Building relationships that foster interfaith dialogue
• Increasing leadership through innovative program collaborations
• Identifying commonly held beliefs while deepening one’s own faith
• Widening the circle of interfaith participation

Keynote Speaker Event:

January 26, 2009 The culminating event of the Festival of Faiths is a lecture by Jon Meacham, the editor of Newsweek. This event will be held at Yardley Hall on the campus of Johnson County Community College. Meacham is the author of American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation, a historical portrait of the spiritual foundation of America. He has also written and spoken extensively about religion, politics and the role of the media. He brings historical authority and a sense of hope to the issue.

Tickets for Jon Meacham lecture maybe purchased for $20.00 at the following events:
November 17 – The Hindu and the Cowboy.
November 23 – CRES 24th annual interfaith Thanksgiving meal.

Tickets for this event may also be purchased online at Purchase.Tickets.com ($25.50) or by calling the Carlsen Center Box Office ($21.00) at 913-469-4445 between the hours of 10:00 and 5:00 pm. Student tickets ($10.00) are available at the Carlsen Center Box Office.

Along with Meacham’s presentation, three or four interfaith dialogue events are being planned during the week to ten days following his appearance. These opportunities will provide facilitated conversation to explore the concepts and ideas that Meacham has presented…and their relationship to our lives in Kansas City. Times and locations will be posted on this web site.

The Mission of the Festival of Faiths

Festival of Faiths . . . a community collaboration creating energy and understanding through interfaith dialogue.

To engage local partners, and national and international religious leaders to enhance the recognition and acceptance of religious pluralism and inter-religious understanding.

To create opportunities for our community members to listen, understand and experience deepened faith experiences while building bridges within and across religious faiths.