Newsletter: Our First 19 Months Leaders, Programs & a Pregnancy

Faith
House launched on September 27, 2008, nineteen months ago. The world
has changed since – with a new president, the financial crisis,
recession, and now a season of renewed hope. The need for Interfaith
initiatives is in the news and public consciousness more every month
while Faith House has grown from an idea to a young organization making
an impact in New York City and beyond.

This newsletter is an
update on what’s been happening and the community of leaders at Faith
House. The people and events that have shaped Faith House
have increased inter-religious understanding, empathy, and connections,
meeting needs in our communities.

Please read on, give us your feedback, and share your ideas with us!

PROGRAMMING

Faith
House’s primary contribution is planning events to “experience your
neighbor’s faith.”  Since our launch in September 2008, we have hosted 40 Living Room events,
with five more scheduled this season, plus 10 Field Trips and 10 Serve
Together opportunities.  Together we have built real bridges of
religious literacy, compassion and a network ready for action.

Habitat for Humanity (Serve Together), 2nd Annual Interfaith
Seder (Special Event), Salat (Living Room), Chogyesa Zen Temple (Field
Trip), Queen Esther (Purim Living Room), Holy Family (Immigration
Advocacy Serve Together), Islamic Day of Dignity (Serve Together)

We have also facilitated Interfaith Prayers for Peace at Storahtelling‘s Yom Kippur
services and two Interfaith Seders hosted by St. Francis Xavier Church and led by Romemu‘s
Rabbi David Ingber (50 people attended the first year and 150 the
second!).

Visit our website and eNewsletter archive
to check out all we’ve done.Email Bowie Snodgrass bowie@faithhousemanhattan.org with what you’ve liked best and what you would like to see in our next year.

LEADERSHIP

Faith
House Manhattan has grown to have a community of leaders including our
Board of Directors, “Kitchen Table” team of volunteers, and many local
religious leaders who have served on our Advisory Council and as Living
Room guest hosts.  Faith House’s leadership has been supported by a
hard-working staff and visionary donors. 

Our mission statement says “We are an experiential inter-religious community that comes together to
deepen our personal and communal journeys, share ritual life and
devotional space, and foster a commitment to social justice and healing
the world.” 
The Faith House Community is all the people mentioned above, everyone
who has attended our events, and the 3,000+ of you reading this
newsletter.

Community of Leaders

Our Living Rooms events have
been led by a diverse range of guest hosts: Muslim, Jewish, Christian,
Hindu, Sikh, Zoastrian, Lakotan, Buddist, Atheist and leaders in the
Interfaith Movement, young adults and wise elders. Check out the long
list of Living Room Hosts and Musicians on our Leadership page.

Sundeep Sonny Singh, Amichai Lau-Lavie, Emily Scott, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, Paul Knitter, Rathi Raja, Myong Haeng Sunim & Marcia Kannry

To nurture the community and assist with hospitality at our events, we started the “Kitchen Table” team this fall.  Andy Padre, the chair of this team, also raised money for Faith House by creating and selling his original MetroCard Art at the Easter Parade this year!.

Many members of our Advisory Council
have been guest hosts at our Living Rooms, invaluable mentors, and
friends. We want to grow this community of leaders this year.  Do you
know local religious leaders who would be excited about getting
involved with Faith House?

Perhaps our most momentous step forward as a community this year came in the formation of our founding Board of Directors,
who met in November to sign our by-laws for incorporation as a
non-profit in New York State, review our budget, and begin work on
fundraising. The Board met again in March and will meet twice more this
year.

Email Samir Selmanovic samir@faithhousemanahttan.orgto:

• Learn more about the “Kitchen Table” team of volunteers who nurture community growth and hospitality
• Nominate
  a religious leader in the New York City area to join our Advisory
  Council.  Please include their contact information and basic
  biographical information.
• Learn more about becoming a
  member of our Board of Directors; we will send you the Guidelines and
  set up a time to discuss this possibility over the phone or in person.

Staff Transitions & a Pregnancy!

Faith House has been blessed with hard-working staff who deeply believe
in the vision of Faith House.

In March 2009, Bowie Snodgrass
became the Executive Director of Faith House and is now 20 weeks
pregnant with her first child!  Her primary focus for this spring and
summer is getting Faith House ready for its third year and her
maternity leave.

From June through August 2009, Leah Varsano was in invaluable summer intern, helping us prepare for our second year.  Bara Levitt
has been our Social Justice Intern during this academic year,
organizing our monthly Serve Together events and supporting Faith House
in many other ways.  Congratulations to Leah and Bara who are both
graduating from college this year!

In January 2010, our founding Islamic Co-Leader, Juliet rabia Gentile, ended her tenure with Faith House after blessing us with amazing programs and helping to shape the ethos of Faith House.

Samir Selmanovic
also transitioned into a new title this year: “Founder and President of
the Board.”  He is still integrally connected to all aspects of our
present work, vision, and operations.

Bara Levitt, Leah Varsano, Juliet rabia Gentile, Samir Selmanovic

Thank You Donors!

None
of this would be possible without our Donors!  Thank you again to
everyone who has supported Faith House since we began, our 2009 Donors, and all who have given generously in 2010!

COMMUNICATIONS

Our
website and eNewsletters got a new look this fall thanks to Mairim
Pina.  We send out Weekly UPDATES with information about our upcoming
events to people in the New York City area and periodic NEWSLETTERS to
people all over the country and globe.

3,000 people on our email lists and 287 in our Facebook Group.  Since January 1, 2010, we have had 6,300 unique visitors to our website from 6 continents and 117 countries/territories.

Samir Selmanovic’s book published in September 2009, It’s Really All About God: Reflections of a Muslim Atheist Jewish Christian, is helping to spread the larger
idea of interdependence among faiths and the work happening at Faith
House.

Finally, we’ve been getting some media mentions!  Check out our appearances In the Media and keep your eyes out for more to come.

The
world can change for the better. It is people like you who believe in
the power of ideas, relationships, and acts of service. Let us all
dream, serve, persevere, and celebrate what we can do together.

With love from New York City,

Faith House Manhattan community of communities