FAITH HOUSE Manhattan

Launch Date!

~ by Lauralea Banks

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel said more than forty years ago in an address to Protestant students and faculty at the Union Theological Seminary in New York,

Parochialism has become untenable... The religions of the world are no more self-sufficient, no more independent, no more isolated than individuals or nations... Energies, experiences, and ideas that come to life outside the boundaries of a particular religion or all religions continue to challenge and to affect every religion.  Horizons are wider, dangers are greater... No religion is an island.

For my generation, these words have only been growing in importance. We are in a dire need of an opportunity to learn to live interdependently and therefore more faithfully.

And that's why the news I have for you is so great! After over a year of dreaming, networking, fundraising, and sometimes wondering if we were crazy for thinking this could work, it's really going to happen! WE HAVE A LAUNCH DATE!!!!!!  After  much discussion and consultation with our Jewish and Muslim mentors we've decided that on SEPTEMBER 27, Faith House will officially leave the realm of ideas and become a physical, tangible community that will meet on a weekly basis! 

In order to prepare for the grand event, we will be holding preview gatherings once a month (June 14, July 26, and August 23). These meetings will be examples of what Faith House gatherings will look like. Leading to September 27, we will use these three sessions to assess and adjust our ministry. Stay tuned as we finalize our location, announce our three co-founders, and develop our programs.

This is a great time to send your contribution for the three co-founders and help us move into a new phase of our project and help us create an interdependent world! Why not do it right now?

Thank you for your support!

In Their Own Words: A Talk With Samir (AUDIO)

There’s something about hearing it firsthand – without the barrier of ink and paper (or a computer screen) and a need to wonder about tone and meaning. And with the delicate first steps of Faith House Manhattan, and it’s commitment to listening deeply and speaking authentically, people associated with Faith House here in New York have a desire to build the dialogue in clear tones. In Their Own Words seeks to hear from voices on all sides of the issue; those looking on, those deeply involved, those unsure of where all this is taking us. Every voice is important and we invite you to join in by leaving a comment or contacting us directly at info@faithhousemanhattan.org.

Length of the interview: app. 20 minutes

Click here to LISTEN "A Talk With Samir" ...

Click here to DOWNLOAD "A Talk With Samir" …

Interview conducted by Stacey Antoine Savariau, JD, CHHC, AADP, a Certified Holistic Health Counselor, creativity coach, workshop leader and an evolved attorney. After working for years as a litigator she retired from the courtroom to pursue her other passions. Stacey is devoted to coaching, teaching & facilitating workshops & women’s wisdom circles for creating vibrant health, awakening creativity, restoring passionate and balanced living & discovering the work we were born to do. She reaches a global audience through her site, www.OneWorldWellness.com. Stacey lives in a brownstone on a tree-lined street in Brooklyn, N.Y. Where else?

Four Stories of God

~ by Samir Selmanovic

For more than 20 years since my baptism (a ritual by which one signals publicly that one has become a follower), people have often given me the opportunity to “tell my story”—to “give a testimony,” as we Christians like to call it. Despite the fact that my life with God was not only passionate but also conflicted and complicated, the story itself was easy to tell. It was all one story. One life. One song. 

But it is not that easy anymore. Today, as early Hasidic Rav Kook did long ago, I find myself wondering which song I should sing. Should I look into my own soul and sing the song of the struggles and joys I encounter within? Or should I move beyond myself and sing the song of my people, my religion? Or maybe I should rise above my Christian story and sing a song of all songs of humanity? Or should I spread my heart still wider and sing a song with all creation?

Is the story of God a story of my own soul, a story of my religion, a story of humanity or a story of all that is? To accept all these stories as the stories of God is to imply that my religion then becomes only a part of the ultimate story of the world, not the ultimate story itself.

Orthodox rabbi David Hartman, concerned with the perennial conflict in Jerusalem, insists that different melodies of one God must be cherished: “Each group feels that its way is the only way: there is one God, therefore there has to be one truth. Christians build their story on the Jewish story and therefore feel they are inheritors of Judaism. Muslims built their story on the Bible, and therefore they feel that they are the perfect expression of monotheism. Now, we’ve got to get out of each other’s story. We can’t feel that in order for me to tell my story, your story has to end. . . . In other words, affirmation [of my story] does not require that I demonise those who are different from me. I don’t have to build conviction out of hate and fear.” If my identity depends on annihilation of other stories, I cannot really sing all four songs of God.

What if God measures our religion by the way it contributes to stories other than one’s own? What if our religions will be judged by the good they bring to their non-adherents? Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel says this succinctly: “When in the afterglow of religious insight I can see a way that is good for all humans as it is for me—I will know it is His way.”

In the same vein, The Quran reads, “Had God willed He would have made you into one religious community; but it was his will to test you in what He gave you. So compete with each other in doing good works” (Quran 5:48). Seyyed Hossein Nasr of George Washington University contends that “there’s no more crucial problem for our day than to be able to cross religious frontiers while preserving our own integrity. In fact, I think this the only exciting intellectual adventure of our times.”

So I find it hard to “give a testimony” today without offending people of my own religion whose identity depends on a divided and conflicted world. As a follower of Christ, I have grown to believe in a world that is larger than Christianity. Jesus called this larger world the kingdom of God. It is the symphony made of all stories, individual and communal, our magnanimous God is involved with in this world.

Only God is God. And Christianity is not. Nor Judaism. Nor Islam. Paradoxically, this realization about the greatness of God is a deeply Christian, Jewish and Muslim teaching.

When I pray the Lord’s Prayer, I begin with the first word, “Our . . .” (see Matthew 6:9) and I stop and ask myself, “Who do I include in this Our?” I remind myself that the story of God is bigger than my personal story, bigger than the story of my religion, bigger than the story of all humanity, and bigger than the story of all creation. In the kingdom of God, these four stories are all really my stories—all at the same time—woven together, giving meaning and life to each other.

(from Signs of the Times, Australia, September 2007, adapted by the author)

Highlights 2007

This past year has been a tipping point in finding the courage to act on what many of us have been carrying inside for a long time. Now we find ourselves on an unfamiliar territory. And it is not a fun experience. Like Israel in the desert, Joseph in the pit, or Jonah in the belly of the fish, we have often felt we would like to be anywhere but where God brought us.

At the same time, standing on the threshold of a new world, we listen to God more carefully. Hard inner work is under way. It is a pregnant time. We should not hurry our journey through this sacred space, surrender our difficulties too quickly, or rush to answers we don't have.

To celebrate our survival so far, here are some highlights from 2007:

1. Formation of the Support Team. The Faith House project would never have begun without 44 families and individuals around the country, and internationally, who have committed to steady, long-term support. Thank you!!! (To learn more about the importance and functions of Selmanovic Family Support Team, click HERE)

2. Transition to "big bad city." Samir switched his employment from working for a large and supportive church organization to a self-supporting ministry with all of its challenges of needing salary, benefits, health insurance etc. Vesna has found a part-time job and their two daughters have adjusted to their new schools in New York.

3. Launch Team. Responsibility for the launch team is to prepare for the first series of public meetings of Faith House. The team meets once a month and is currently comprised of 35 people. This group of people has bright minds, open hearts, and a major capacity for the delay of gratification!

4. Lauralea Banks. Lauralea has joined Samir in leading the effort of networking in the city, recruiting founders from Jewish and Muslim traditions, and contacting organizations with whom Faith House can develop partnerships. She does this on a small stipend and some additional money she has been raising herself.  (To learn more about Lauralea click HERE, to learn more about Lauralea's Support Team click HERE.)

5. Network development.  We have participated in different events where we have met amazing people from whom we can learn. One of the venues was the Urgent Conversations after the play Masked in New York. Samir has been a panelist on two occasions and has facilitated one of the panel discussions.

6. Talking, talking, and more talking. We have made progress in addressing an endless stream of questions and challenges. We have revamped the website and posted more than fifty articles; distributed more than 600 business cards in the city, nationally, and internationally; and grown our newsletter subscriptions from 300 in August to 700 in December.  Visits to our website have doubled in the second part of the year, totaling 22,000 for 2007. These are small numbers but wonderful just the same!

7. House Rule. We have been working on a set of 16 principles that would help us, over time, establish the DNA of Faith House. It has taken much time and energy and is being reviewed by our mentors. In the process we have consulted other interfaith initiatives seeking to avoid pitfalls and nurture good will.

8. Board of Directors. We have our first two members!  And we hope to add three more this coming year. This board will eventually be comprised of 10-12 people, meet quarterly, supervise Faith House leadership, ask hard questions, offer guidance, and give blessing.

9.  A major turn in strategy. The Launch Team along with our mentors have decided to postpone our launch date to the Fall of 2008 in order to find and engage founders from Muslim and Jewish tradition in making decisions about Faith House from the start, thus making decisions "with them" and not "for them." (See our employment opportunity ad below and help us spread the word!)

10.  Timeline for 2008. We have decided to have our first single public event in April/May 2008, start our pre-view gatherings once a month in Summer and launch our first weekly meeting in the Fall. 

William Bridges writes: "When we are ready to make a beginning ... we are given subtle hints--inner signals--that alert us to the proximity of new beginnings. We get faint intimations; we hear a subtle breeze, and soon we begin to discern the shape of the next step." 

Our deepest gratitude to those of you who have supported us and taken this difficult and sacred journey with us. We are looking forward to a subtle breeze on our faces this coming year!

Faith House team from New York

Faith House Writing Awarded

~ by Nathan Brown

An article written for the Faith House website has been awarded by a Christian publication in Australia. "A Letter to the Three Friends I Wish I Had" by Roy Naden was awarded the Hindson Award for "Best devotional article" in Record in 2007. The article was originally posted on the Faith House web site on March 6, 2007, and was reprinted in Record with permission of Dr Naden and Faith House.

The Record editors' comments with the award read as follows:

"As one of our editorial team commented after reading this article at the time of its publication, 'That article made me want to become a better person.' Now retired, Dr Naden reflected on his working years, both professionally and personally, and expressed regrets for some of the opportunities and friendships missed, before committing to using his remaining years to make the world a better place and support younger people who are now trying to live in a different way."

Dr Naden is originally from Australia, but in retirement lives in Seattle area, Washington. Record is the weekly news magazine of Adventist Church for the South Pacific region, based in Melbourne, Australia.

NOTE: To read "A Letter to the Three Friends I Wish I Had" click HERE.

A Revolution of Hope

~ by Samir Selmanovic

After working on ideas and designs for the last twelve months, we are finally going public.  Here is our logo!  (See at the top of the blog).

A number of you have set down with me over a meal or a drink and listened to my half-hour explanation of a drawing like this on a napkin. You asked questions, shared your excitement and worries, which all added to it.  After this year-long process, special thanks to Steve Hatzman from Seattle for propelling this design process forward, to Tim Gilman from Portland for final touches, to Justin Kim from Washington D.C. and Katharine Loving from New York for their advice on legal issues.

Why house?  Why these religious symbols?  Why separate circles?  What is the fourth circle about?  Why are they horizontally positioned?  What about the roof?  What about the foundations?  Where are the walls? . . .  Oh, so much to talk about.  We would love to hear some of your comments or answer your questions. 

I have never seen these three religious symbols displayed together, until someone sent me a video from a U2 concert where daring Bono wore a bandana with the three on his forehead.  He is convinced of the potential for good that has been stored in them.

Most people find the idea of Faith House either impossible or dangerous.  On the first account, I have become like most of you, a passionate post-cynic. On the second account, I think we will either learn to live together on this newly small planet, or there will be no planet.

Next week, we will begin two months of fundraising campaign to bring an Imam, a Rabbi, and a Pastor to work together for two years, building a different kind of community.  Imagine that!  I wonder if you can.

We believe that our main source of support will be you, the readers of our newsletter/website.  I hope that in the weeks to come, regardless of where you live in the world, you will make a step from being an observer to being a full participant in this revolution of hope.

God has his hopes high.  Why shouldn't we?

Looking for Each Other

~by Samir Selmanovic

Those of us working locally to prepare for the launch of Faith House public meetings had an important conversation recently and decided that in order to live up to our mission, we need to make a turn in our strategy. We realized that starting Faith House as a predominantly Christian community would create a group with an owned-by-Christians DNA. No matter how open we would be to others, we would be in the position of power. Which we believe would not be in accordance with Christian faith as we have come to understand it. We believe we don't need to be in charge in order to fully live out our convictions.

We therefore decided to have at least two more "founders" added from the start, one Imam, one Rabbi, endorsed by their respective traditions/networks plus myself representing the Christian community. We want to make our initial decisions about Faith House with the future stakeholders not for them. Here is how one of our wise Christian advisors from London put it:

This seems to me like a very thoughtful way forward. I believe that it will be much easier to achieve the vision you have by including the other voices from the start. Rather than trying to invite them into a homogenous house where they are red and everyone else is blue and convince them it is their home too. If Faith House is really to be a community, it is best that key stakeholders each get to cement the walls - or in this case posts, or bridges instead of walls, that will hold you together.

I once heard theologian Dallas Willard say, "You will know what the Kingdom of God is when you do things you know will not work, ... and they do!" I hope that those of you who are our Christian supporters approve of this act of "letting go." We have become tired of our own religions constantly clinging to a position of privilege and power. Now, we want to follow our Teacher who said, "Do to others what you want others to do to you." 

And we believe that a number of our Jewish and Muslim brothers and sisters are doing the same right now, loving their faith, disarming themselves, and looking for us.  Let's take time to seek and find each other.

Seven Questions

~ by Samir Selmanovic

Faith House website readers have been asking questions that require far more wisdom than I have. And those planning and praying for this project don't want to define boundaries and outcomes with too much specificity at this early stage to resolve the tensions many of us feel. We want to live our way into the answers, holding space open for the many people we have not yet met. We want them to help us craft the answers we need. So at this time, we are spending our energy examining our motives and learning to live with hope.

However, here are some initial answers to seven of those questions. We invite you to help us answer these questions better with your constructive comments. Thank you, friends!

1. Who do you seek to include into this new fellowship, and to what end?

At this early stage, we have four groups in mind: Jews, Christians, Muslims, and “the Other.” (“The other” is a term taken from philosophy to describe those perceived as distinct and different from “us.”) The three great Abrahamic religions have serious problems functioning together, so we want to start at the point of this hurting. We envision a place where Muslims learn to be better Muslims, Jews learn to be better Jews, and Christians learn to be better Christians as we all learn to live our faiths in close proximity with and for the benefit of “the other.” This last group includes atheists and Buddhists among others. They will all have a full place at the table.

2. What can be accomplished with this diverse group?

Faith House members will come to understand the story, the values, and the treasure of each others’ spiritualities. Those who believe in one God will also learn to live with and hear Buddhists and others who have alternative views, as well as atheistic arguments challenging religion (of which the Bible has aplenty) and against God (which is always someone’s interpretation of God, a.k.a. as an idol). When atheists witness people of faith serving something greater than the expansion of their own religions in an atmosphere of open dialogue, love, and service to others, we believe they will come, contribute, and join the conversation. For those who seek vibrant congregations made up exclusively of people from their own tradition/religion, the Faith House will point them to the churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples in New York City. Faith House will also support some of their community ministries both financially and with volunteers.

3. What is the goal of this endeavor from the Christian standpoint?

The goal of Christians in the group is not only to go beyond the Christian monologue with which we are accustomed, but also beyond mere dialogue with others. Dialogue is not enough. We want to, in the name of Christ and for the sake of the world that God so loved, learn to live on the same planet, in the same cities, streets, or families with those who are different from us. We have one world, and we dare not forget that. We Christians want to do this by imitating the love, humility, and hope of Jesus Christ. We believe that the Faith House will be an incarnation of “the way of Christ” for our time and place. And we believe that Christ is cosmic and that God, grace, and goodness are embedded in the texture of life itself. Because of that, we want to be students of God, grace, and goodness from others. We believe that when we love others, we will not fear them. Others will need to dig deeper into their traditions to be a part of this. They will need to grow into their answers too.

A Caravan of Hope

~ by Samir Selmanovic

Hello friends. We are finally public! I am exhausted and ecstatic. Many thanks to those of you who have already signed up to help in different ways, and welcome to those of you who are just arriving to the conversation.

At the beginning of this journey I have more fears and questions than I can count, but I do have some answers for myself. Sages from Christian tradition have taught me the following truth: "You can't contain God. You can find God's footsteps in every life and every community." In the last several years, I have come to realize that if the first order of my life on earth is to seek God, then I must know "the other" and let myself be blessed by God that is in "the other."

I am a follower of Christ. But at times I also find myself to be a Muslim, a Jew, and even an atheist. This is because I have been blessed by the love, care, and wisdom from sojourners in other religions. In fact, I don't know if I would be walking with Christ today if it was not for their help.

I envision our paths toward God being woven together, not in order to morph into one religion, but to coexist together for the good of the world. When the treasures of different spiritual traditions open up to you and me, let's not hesitate to learn. In the matters of God, only by being a student at all times can qualify you to be a teacher some of the time. If you keep on learning, sooner or later, the treasures of your spiritual tradition will be needed by all and give light to many.

The world is troubled by religion, including yours and mine. We are on a journey towards a different kind of faith. Encourage us, critique us, or if you prefer, simply listen in. If you want to be our partner, friend, or cheerleader, let us know. Welcome to our caravan of hope!