Teens from Regions of Conflict Gather to Learn to Use Religion for Peace
July 15th, 2004 by sfuqua
Beginning June 27, 2004, teens from several conflict-ridden areas gathered for a program
called Face to Face/Faith to Faith. The program, which runs through July 12 in
New York City, seeks to establish the a groundwork for positive inter-faith interaction
and resolution of religiously-motivated conflict. Face to Face is sponsored by
the Auburn Theological Seminary of New York and Seeking Common Ground from Denver.
June 28, 2004 — On June 27, more than 50 teens from the Middle East, Northern
Ireland, South Africa and the United State — Muslims, Christians, and Jew — will
gather in upstate New York for the fourth year of Face to Face/Faith to Faith,
an international, multifaith youth leadership program. Face to Face aims to develop
a new generation of leaders who have the capacity to negotiate the challenges and
opportunities of a multifaith global society. The program is rooted in the belief
that young people of diverse backgrounds can find common ground despite the differences
of religion and culture.
The students, ages 16-18, are participants in this program co-sponsored by New
York's Auburn Theological Seminary, a pioneer in multi-faith programming, in partnership
with Seeking Common Ground, a Denver-based peace organization which has sponsored
programs for youth in the Middle East and the United States for more than a decade.
While people of all faiths agree that violence and conflict in the name of religion
are regrettable, faith groups have often remained quiet or even suppressed those
who question the use of violence “in God's name.” The events of September 11th
and ongoing conflicts in places such as Iraq make the need for this program more
urgent than ever. For many of the participants, it will be the first trip outside
their home countries, their first experience of New York City, and — most importantly — their
first encounter with the “other.”
During their July 4th visit to New York City, the teens will put faith into action
at a service project addressing homelessness, coordinated by the Quaker nonprofit
Youth Services Opportunities Program (YSOP). They will also explore larger contexts
for peace work with scholars and activists such as South Africa's Farid Esack;
Julio Medina of the Exodus Transitional Community, and Danielle Celermajer of Columbia's
Center for the Study of Human Rights. Worship at selected “sacred spaces” — Jumma
at the 96th Street Mosque, Shabbat at Congregation Rodeph Sholom, and Sunday services
at the Brick Presbyterian Church, for example — will allow them to be “good
neighbors” in faith.
Face to Face unfolds in two phases. The intensive two-week summer curriculum
upstate combines religious study and exploration of sacred texts, communication
skills, leadership, and peace-building workshops. In this safe space, which a Northern
Ireland teen called “a little piece of heaven,” participants learn to trust themselves
and others, building friendships through group sports, arts projects, and the simple
tasks of living and working together in community. Visits from artists, storytellers,
musicians, and filmmakers encourage further self-discovery and expression. Exposure
to religious and public leaders also offers the youth a glimpse into their own
roles in shaping a more just future.
Participants are committed to the program for at least one year, and follow a
structured course back home. The on-line curriculum keeps the dialogue moving,
and email sustains relationships with new friends from around the world. A “home
group leader,” who accompanied them to the summer program, guides the development
of social action projects in education and volunteerism.
And the program's effects ripple outward. Parents of alumni from South Africa
and Israel, for example, who have witnessed their children's “voyage in human understanding,” have
even formed interfaith groups themselves for their own growth and to support their
children's efforts.
In the words of one participant, “It's hard to change the world!” Yet more than
200 teens over the past four years have found the courage to try. They are chosen
especially from areas of the world where the use of religion as a means of oppression
is all too common. Having witnessed faith and belief co-opted for destructive ends,
they learn how these can and should instead be used constructively: for making
peace. Co-founder and long-time peace activist Melodye Feldman says that through
active, intentional listening and honest dialogue, participants learn how to understand
the other and see humanity there. “We are teaching them how to tell, and listen
to, passionate points of view.” Executive Vice President of Auburn Theological
Seminary, Presbyterian minister, and fellow founder Katharine Henderson adds, “The
mission is to appreciate the other's perspective.” A New York alumnus concludes, “It
is the most powerful thing I have experienced.”
Face to Face/Faith to Faith runs June 27 through July 12 at the Presbyterian
Camp and Conference Center in Holmes, New York and in New York City. For more information
or to schedule an interview, please contact Nicole de Jesa, Development and Communications
Associate, Auburn Theological Seminary: 212.662.4315; cell: 646.244.8028; or ndj@auburnsem.org.
