By Matthew Brown, Deseret News
On
the second Thursday of every month, Abby Stamelman Hocky drives to a stone
Quaker meetinghouse in the suburbs of Philadelphia to meet a group of women who
share her passion for inter-religious dialogue. They sit on couches around a
fireplace, enjoying tea and other refreshments while sharing their Christian,
Jewish, Hindu, Muslim and other faith perspectives on a particular topic. Hocky has made a career of getting people of diverse faith backgrounds working together. As executive director of the Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia, she lives out her vision of building mutual trust, understanding and cooperation among faith communities, providing a way they can work together for the common good.
But these monthly meetings, which take place away from the office, represent the interfaith experience she values most.
It isn't just talking about beliefs and practices that gives these gatherings added meaning for Hocky. It's hearing how prayer pulled someone through a personal crisis or finding herself reflecting on her own faith when she listens to expressions of commitment or doubt.
"I have a lot of things I could be doing, but once a month I feel this strong pull to meet with these women," she said. "For me it's a personal source of interfaith nourishment and grounding in my own spiritual world and Jewish life."
Researchers have found that interfaith activity has been gaining momentum since 9/11, when one deadly and violent religious expression prompted people to get familiar with the increasingly diverse landscape of faith in their communities. Scholars who study and work in inter-religious relations have observed that when people grounded in their own faith express their beliefs on a personal level, these interfaith encounters often evolve from one-time events to ongoing, meaningful relationships that foster understanding, bridge differences and enable diverse communities to work together.
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