{"id":31723,"date":"2014-10-10T19:59:14","date_gmt":"2014-10-11T00:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/students_of_diverse_faiths_10_10_2014_1259\/"},"modified":"2014-10-10T19:59:14","modified_gmt":"2014-10-11T00:59:14","slug":"students_of_diverse_faiths_10_10_2014_1259","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/students_of_diverse_faiths_10_10_2014_1259\/","title":{"rendered":"Students of diverse faiths seek understanding at Bossey"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cReligions as instruments of peace\u201d is the subtitle of a 2011 summer course on \u201cBuilding an interfaith community\u201d. Twenty-three students from more than a dozen nations have assembled at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland for the course which runs from 4 to 29 July.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

One of the early lecturers admitted that many observers today see religions not as instruments of peace but as reasons for conflict. \u201cOur hands as religious leaders are not clean,\u201d said Rabbi Richard Marker of the International Jewish Committee on Inter-religious Consultations. <\/span><\/p>\n

The experience of too many nations and their governments, he added, \u201cis that religion is a cause of divisiveness that works against shared values.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Now in its fifth year, the institute\u2019s summer course on interfaith relations brings together students of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions for a time of study, shared experience of one another\u2019s sacred spaces and reflection on their own cultures, spiritualities and worldviews. <\/span><\/p>\n

The student body is made up of nine men and fourteen women. Ten are Christian, seven are Muslim and six are Jewish. <\/span><\/p>\n

They have come from Latin America, western and eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. Three are sisters from religious orders in Colombia, Guatemala and Romania. Three students have come from Israel, and three are Palestinians. <\/span><\/p>\n

Danielle Antebi of Israel, whose academic background is in criminology and international politics, was eager to join the course after her brother\u2019s positive experience as a student last summer. \u201cHe is an archaeologist who gives presentations on Israel in various places,\u201d she says, \u201cand he wanted an opportunity to meet people from different countries and hear their opinions of Israel and of the relationships between people of differing religions.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

She concluded that a month at Bossey, overlooking Lake Geneva, would provide her \u201ca great opportunity to meet and interact with people representing a number of cultures.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Charlotte Lindh\u00e9 heard of the course from her pastor in the Church of Sweden. Following her graduation from secondary school, she began an ambitious programme of travel and backpacking that has taken her to China, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Future destinations include Greece, India and North America. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI hope to learn more about my own religion in relation to the beliefs of others,\u201d she explains, \u201cand I hope to be able to share what I learn with my own parish and others when I return to Sweden.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

She says that her interest in inter-religious activity was awakened while visiting Israel and Palestine where she saw \u201creligions existing side by side, yet not really living together.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Move beyond tolerance of differences to appreciation<\/span><\/h4>\n

Mohammed Azhari of Australia, who pursued studies in Islamic teaching and inter-religious dialogue during his graduate work in Damascus, sees the course at Bossey as \u201ca brilliant opportunity to come and encounter people of other faiths. Here, we will begin by building community among ourselves, hoping that this will be a first step toward some greater achievement.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Azhari sees the students asking themselves, \u201cHow do people attain peace through prayer, through their beliefs? In coming to know one another as persons, we will learn to respect each other. In this way we can move beyond mere tolerance to appreciation, to acceptance even of what makes us different. And this is for the best, since it is ignorance that leads to conflict.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

During the first week of classes, Rabbi Marker was joined in discussing Judaism by Grand Rabbi Marc Rapha\u00ebl Guedj, president of the Fondation Racines et Sources (Roots and Sources Foundation). <\/span><\/p>\n

Professor Fawzia Al-Ahmawi of the University of Geneva and Hafid Ouardiri, president of the Ta’aruf (Interknowing) Foundation, are offering their expertise on Islam, and Christianity is to be interpreted by several staff members of the World Council of Churches (WCC) as well as by Professor S. Wesley Ariarajah of Drew University in the United States of America. <\/span><\/p>\n

Professor Odair Pedroso Mateus of the Ecumenical Institute, academic coordinator for the 2011 summer course, champions this opportunity for \u201cpromoting encounter, not provoking conflict\u201d, for asking hard questions and exploring the possibility of \u201cdialogue as a means of peaceful change\u201d in the world, for \u201cencouraging community among civilizations, rather than a clash.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The Ecumenical Institute administration is sensitive to the variety of dietary practices among the students, and spaces for worship have been arranged appropriate to each of the religious traditions represented. <\/span><\/p>\n

Founded in 1946, the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey is the international centre for encounter, dialogue and formation of the WCC. It is related to the University of Geneva through a covenant agreement with the university\u2019s autonomous faculty of Protestant theology. <\/span><\/p>\n

The summer course has been jointly organized by the Ecumenical Institute, the WCC programme on Inter-religious Dialogue and Cooperation, the Ta’aruf Foundation and the Fondation Racines et Sources. <\/span><\/p>\n

*Theodore Gill is senior editor of WCC Publications in Geneva and a minister ordained by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

WCC programme on Inter-religious Dialogue and Cooperation<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

Website of the Ecumenical Institute<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

More information on the interfaith course<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cReligions as instruments of peace\u201d is the subtitle of a 2011 summer course on \u201cBuilding an interfaith community\u201d. Twenty-three students from more than a dozen nations have assembled at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland for the course which runs … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20028,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[],"topic":[20237],"region":[20022,20071],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStudents of diverse faiths seek understanding at Bossey - Global Ministries<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/students_of_diverse_faiths_10_10_2014_1259\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Students of diverse faiths seek understanding at Bossey - Global Ministries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cReligions as instruments of peace\u201d is the subtitle of a 2011 summer course on \u201cBuilding an interfaith community\u201d. Twenty-three students from more than a dozen nations have assembled at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland for the course which runs … Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/students_of_diverse_faiths_10_10_2014_1259\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Global Ministries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-10-11T00:59:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Global Ministries\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Global Ministries\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/students_of_diverse_faiths_10_10_2014_1259\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/students_of_diverse_faiths_10_10_2014_1259\/\",\"name\":\"Students of diverse faiths seek understanding at Bossey - Global Ministries\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-11T00:59:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-10-11T00:59:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#\/schema\/person\/7c86e9e8c57388e51d2f71f91268878f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/students_of_diverse_faiths_10_10_2014_1259\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/students_of_diverse_faiths_10_10_2014_1259\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/students_of_diverse_faiths_10_10_2014_1259\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Students of diverse faiths seek understanding at Bossey\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/\",\"name\":\"Global Ministries\",\"description\":\"Global Ministries is a common missional witness of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ. Global Ministries works with approximately 290 faith-based international partners in close to 90 countries. Our Vision: That all of God\u2019s people and creation share in God\u2019s abundant life. Our Mission: To receive and share the Good News of Jesus Christ by joining with global and local partners to work for justice, reconciliation, and peace.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#\/schema\/person\/7c86e9e8c57388e51d2f71f91268878f\",\"name\":\"Global Ministries\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4adfa2b3ca68844c1c619457500aa15?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4adfa2b3ca68844c1c619457500aa15?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Global Ministries\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/author\/globalministries\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Students of diverse faiths seek understanding at Bossey - Global Ministries","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/students_of_diverse_faiths_10_10_2014_1259\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Students of diverse faiths seek understanding at Bossey - Global Ministries","og_description":"\u201cReligions as instruments of peace\u201d is the subtitle of a 2011 summer course on \u201cBuilding an interfaith community\u201d. Twenty-three students from more than a dozen nations have assembled at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland for the course which runs … Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/students_of_diverse_faiths_10_10_2014_1259\/","og_site_name":"Global Ministries","article_published_time":"2014-10-11T00:59:14+00:00","author":"Global Ministries","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Global Ministries","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/students_of_diverse_faiths_10_10_2014_1259\/","url":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/students_of_diverse_faiths_10_10_2014_1259\/","name":"Students of diverse faiths seek understanding at Bossey - Global Ministries","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-10-11T00:59:14+00:00","dateModified":"2014-10-11T00:59:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#\/schema\/person\/7c86e9e8c57388e51d2f71f91268878f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/students_of_diverse_faiths_10_10_2014_1259\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/students_of_diverse_faiths_10_10_2014_1259\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/students_of_diverse_faiths_10_10_2014_1259\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Students of diverse faiths seek understanding at Bossey"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/","name":"Global Ministries","description":"Global Ministries is a common missional witness of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ. Global Ministries works with approximately 290 faith-based international partners in close to 90 countries. Our Vision: That all of God\u2019s people and creation share in God\u2019s abundant life. Our Mission: To receive and share the Good News of Jesus Christ by joining with global and local partners to work for justice, reconciliation, and peace.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#\/schema\/person\/7c86e9e8c57388e51d2f71f91268878f","name":"Global Ministries","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4adfa2b3ca68844c1c619457500aa15?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4adfa2b3ca68844c1c619457500aa15?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Global Ministries"},"url":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/author\/globalministries\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31723"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20028"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31723\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31723"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=31723"},{"taxonomy":"region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/region?post=31723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}