Your Conference has for several years supported a
unique effort in our region called the Christian-Muslim
Consultative Group which was formed to "work in
partnership with leaders of various streams of Southern
California Christian and Muslim communities to enhance
mutual understanding, respect, appreciation and support
of the Sacred in each other." Toward that goal,
this hard working group has produced an EXCELLENT
resource for use by Christian churches who are or who
would like to be in relationship with a neighboring
Muslim community. It is a flexible, user-friendly
notebook (plus DVD) 'curriculum' titled:
Standing Together. You can learn more, preview the
DVD and get an order form by visiting
www.TheCMCG.org.
What makes this resource
unique is that a study of existing materials tended to
have writing about Muslims by Christians or vise
versa. This resource has material about Islam by
Muslims and about Christianity by Christians. It
is also very adaptable---it could be experienced over
weeks or in a day long event.
In our
time, members of both communities are too often
stereotyped and misunderstood by the other community,
contributing to local and global tensions.
Actually meeting together in an effort to understand the
other's faith is a major step towards building
communities and a world of peace.
The
Conference owns one copy of the material. You may come
by to review it or contact Virginia in the office to
borrow it for review.
Special thanks to our
own Rev. Jerry Stinson, pastor of First Congregational
UCC, Long Beach, for representing our Conference and
taking a leadership role in this worthwhile
organization.
