Cornwall Interfaith Partnership

A couple of weeks ago eleven people sat down around a table at Cafe Connectionz in Cornwall, Ontario, to have a conversation about an interfaith dialogue initiative in Cornwall. We had people from the Baha'i community, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Hindu.

The Canadian Council of Churches along with other groups, like the United Church of Canada, have asked that where possible people try to join in dialogue with federal government representatives in preparation for the G8/G20 Summit in Winnipeg in June. This was the impetus for the meeting.

We have had an other meeting since then, as well as a small streering committee, and plans are underway for a small group to meet with our MP, Guy Lauzon and his wife Francis and express our interfaith concerns for poverty, environment, and peace, especially emphasizing peace as a starting place for us. We are also contacting representatives from the Sihk community as well as a spiritual leader of the First Nations' aboriginal religion.

We have a name - The Cornwall Interfaith Partnership. And, we have a website. http://www.cornwallinterfaith.blogspot.com/ This is more a working website for now, but a special thanks to Gary Friedman for his work on it.

I am glad we can see ourselves as being part of this initiative, and look forward to the event after the immediate one that gave rise to our being, when we can gather a wider audience of interested people. Everyone who has come to this table has been a committed adherent of their world religion. This is not just a group of people seeking new religious experience, or trying to convert anyone.

Stay tuned.