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!

Meet Our Advisory Council!

From the beginning of our journey, we have been convinced we could only succeed with the wisdom of people who are on a similar journey, who have a reservoir of experience and an extensive web of connections. After hundreds of emails, phone calls, and passionate conversations in coffee shops, Manhattan delis, offices, and places of worship, we have developed a network of more than thirty such people. We are ready to report that six months of hard work has paid off!

We chose our eight best candidates to form our first Advisory Council, sent them a letter, and sat tight, praying. We imagined their answers, "I believe in what you are doing, but I have to live a balanced life. I am learning to say No. I really support you, but I am overcommitted, too involved to do anything more. I hope you understand." At times we wondered why anyone with such influence would get involved with grassroots dreamers like us. Each of these individuals has already been working on their own mission to make a difference in the world. 

This past week we received answers from all eight with words like these. Yes, this is an idea whose time has come. Yes, I am impressed by how well thought through this project is. Yes, I would be honored to be a part of this. Yes, I am ready!

We are elated!  Hallelujah!

For the definition and the introductions click HERE.

Each of these wonderful people in their own way will help build our house! Can you help us too? Encourage us. Critique us. Pray for us. Support us.

Lots of love from New York!

My Neighbors—Down Under

~ by Roy Naden, an author and Professor Emeritus (Andrews University, MI) who lives, gardens, and writes in Seattle area

A few days before Christmas, I watched two emails drop into my Inbox in quick succession.  Each time, I imagined a good friend pressing the SEND icon seconds before.  Then with the press of a key on my PC, their letters were on my screen!  What pleasure it brought to read those messages and open the attached pictures of their families!

I sent messages right back.  It all happened faster than the time it once took to get up from my desk and walk down the hall to their offices in the same building where we worked together in Australia 40 years ago.  Both John and Russ seemed not so far away after all. 

Over the years the geography of my community has radically changed.  In fact I have more contact with friends far away than with most of the neighbors that live on the same street in Seattle! I used to think that “real relationships” happened with people you look in the eye and give a greeting hug.  But my world has been transformed.  Doomsayers dismiss the new technologies and chant a mantra about the good old days.  Well, in my eighth decade of life, I’ve known lots of those good ol’ times, and agree with my friend George Knight that some of those good old times were nothing short of terrible!  So instead of bemoaning the distance of far-away places where some very special friends live, I appreciate the new ways to keep in touch with electronic bridges that span land and sea.

In The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman summarizes it well:  we can now communicate “from anywhere to anywhere.”   Distance is not what it used to be.  The definition of “neighbor” is now more connected with intentionality than distance.  We no longer connect just informationally, we do it emotionally, spontaneously in the white heat of a moment as we share the excitement of a dream, the memories of an anniversary, the sadness of a time of loss.

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?

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

On Her Way

~ by Samir Selmanovic

Couple of days ago the New York Post newspaper had a front-page report titled PEACE TRAIN: Muslim rescues Jews from subway thugs.

Someone on the train said, "Merry Christmas," and when Walter Adler, 23, and his friends responded, "Happy Hanukkah" one of the men pulled up his sleeve, showed a tattoo of Christ, and said "Hanukkah, that's when the Jews killed Jesus." An angry scrum ensued. Passengers watched, waiting to see what would happen. But Muslim New Yorker, Hassan Askari, 20, intervened and rescued the group from being completely pummeled. Ten people were arrested. The following night, the two new pals, Adler with a broken nose and a fat lip, Hassan with two black eyes, broke bread together and laughed off the bruises, celebrating Festival of Lights (for video report, click HERE).

Cynics say "the hope of Faith House is a crazy hope," or "this foolishness of Faith House shouldn't happen," or "people are much less interested in pleasing God than in being right."

Well, we humans have tried just about everything to make our religions live together, like a power struggle, indifference, parallel existence, avoidance of the problem. In fact, everything except showing love to each another.  Not from a distance, but in a community. Really close. Closer than a subway train. And longer than today's news.

In Faith House we will seek to live as sojourners not competitors, where our religious identities won't depend on diminishing the other.  So, we invite you to join us as we take the well-meaning advice from the critics of this dream and then respond in these words:

Another world is possible.
Another world is necessary.
Another world is on her way.

Help us bring together an Imam, a Priest, and a Rabbi by making a contribution today!  Don't wait for others to do it.  The future of the world depends on people with "a crazy hope" acting on it. Cynics have given up, and are now free to do nothing. Don't be a cynic. It seems, at times, that only God still has hopes in humanity. It is up to us, regular people like you and me, who are invited to act on this "crazy hope of God." Thank you for joining us with your support.

Salaam, Shalom, and Peace of Christ from New York

An Imam, Priest, and Rabbi together?No joke.Join the adventure.

To help us move this heart across the city, make a
tax-deductible contribution today, click HERE!

Become a Peace Instigator

~ by Samir Selmanovic

Recently, we came a across this painting by William (Bill) Papas and have obtained the permission from the artist's foundation to use this painting. The original sketch for this watercolor was drawn quickly on the streets of Jerusalem more than 25 years ago.

There they go, an Imam, a Priest, and a Rabbi, moving forward together.  My daughter Ena (12) looked at the painting and exclaimed, “Look at them, three friends prancing!”  And it looks as though they are neither walking nor dancing, but something in between, moving confidently, displaying affection for and trust in one another.  Where are they going?  To celebrate a transitional event in life?  To stop a fight?  To assist someone in need?  It could be any of them.

I imagine they know there are people in the city whose identity depends on a divided humanity.  They know their joy in “prancing” together will be needed to match the hatred of the warmongers that live around them.  But they have no fear.  There is too much joy, truth, and beauty among them, and too much at stake to be afraid. The best periods of world history that advanced culture, science, and sheer goodness happened at times when different communities decided not to live as competitors but as sojourners, competing only in doing good for each other.

There is a growing number of wonderfully hopeful Muslims, Jews, and Christians who believe (more deeply and passionately than extremists ever can) that their faith can be a source of wisdom and inspiration for turning the world around.  But who is standing in their corner?  Who is helping them?  In times past, too many of us have been “peace wishers,” waiting for the world to change.  It’s time to push back against the dark side of all religious traditions. Let’s find, protect, and support the peacemakers among “us,” and among “them.”

So much money and effort has been squandered on weaponry and propaganda, we must push back.  Join us and become a “peace instigator.”  Along with others, we can become an unstoppable force.  Instead of simply watching violent sections of world communities jerk humanity around, we can pray for, bless, and finance new communities of peace—courageous, resilient, thoughtful, patient, replicable.

Faith House will be such a community. 

Can you imagine an Imam, a Priest, and a Rabi working harmoniously together?  Well, it is going to happen at Faith House Manhattan!  While remaining faithful to the best of their own traditions, these three spiritual nurturing individuals will break the rules that have made people enemies over the centuries.  We are asking them to join us, and we want to support them for two years as they work hard to create a new kind of urban progressive community together.  Such an ambitious goal is not for the fainthearted, so we thought you would like to join us in making it happen!

You can help by financing one of these clergy.

    Each Month will cost $1000
    Each Week will cost $250
    Each Day will cost $50

From interested parties in New York, across America, and internationally, we need to fund at least two years of stipends for three dedicated and gifted clergy.  Our goal is to raise $72,000 by the end of the year.  This money will be matched by churches, mosques, synagogues, and other institutions, and by the three clergy’s network of supporters.  Thus, for every dollar you give, two dollars will be added.

Securing this funding will propel us into the networks of three monotheistic religions giving us leverage and opportunity to show a vision of peace and cooperation, a dream that too many have come to think can never become a reality.   

My family decided to do its part.  As Christians waiting for Christmas, we want to live out the blessing uttered by angels that announced the birth of Christ in these words: “Peace on earth and goodwill among people!”  What could be a better way to celebrate our holy days than by empowering the peacemakers living with communities we sometimes think of as our enemies!  Whether Christian, Jew, Muslim, or atheist, we are all meant to be the receivers of the blessing of peace and goodwill among all people.

Wherever you live on this shrinking planet, we need your help now as we face our first public challenge.   You can choose to help make this happen by making a tax-deductible contribution:

1. By writing a check to: 

Faith House Manhattan
P.O. Box 552
New York, NY 10028
payable to: Faith House - The Adventure

2. Contributing online (through AMM) by clicking HERE.  In the comment area, please write "for Faith House - The Adventure."

With gratitude from all of us here in New York!

A Call to New Yorkers!

~ by Samir Selmanovic

On June 26, our family moved into a two-bedroom apartment.  The girls have bunk beds in their room.  Vesna’s and my bedroom doubles as my office, our living room doubles as a guest room, and, best of all, we have a covered patio to accommodate more guests!  And that’s where you come in. 

School for our daughters begins the first week of September, so before the new routine begins, we want to connect with our old friends and meet some new ones.  So, if you are reading this blog and you live in New York City or in the vicinity, and you want to help Faith House become a wholistic community, please come to a party at our home! 

We have come a long way since the group we call “prime movers,” or Family Support Team formed, and we were blessed by receiving endorsements from a variety of advisors as they wrote and published articles on this blog to help us grapple with a multitude of issues, which all culminated in us actually coming to this city. 

But this is only just a beginning.  The next step is to build a Faith House Launch Team, a group of people that will assist us in launching this new congregation.  There are countless questions to be answered, tasks to be accomplished, and prayers to be said.  We cannot start this without you.

So please join us for the birth of this great adventure!  We would love to have you be an integral part from the very beginning.

When? Saturday, August 18, 2007, 4pm and into the evening.

Where?  Our apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan (86th St. and 2nd Ave).  Please email to RSVP or if you need directions by clicking HERE .

What to bring?  Love, courage, curiosity, wisdom, and peace (dinner will be provided along with a sweet movie in the evening).

Whom to bring?  Your friends and family that would be interested to help launch this venture of faith.  (Of course, your children are welcome too!)

Just recently I heard a song on my daughter’s iPod by John Mayer titled “Waiting On the World to Change”.  The poet is troubled.  Here’s how he starts:

Me and all my friends
We're all misunderstood
They say we stand for nothing and
There's no way we ever could

Now we see everything that's going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it

So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change
…

Well, there’s no more waiting for us!  Faith House is an exercise in impatience!  And this month we’re going to establish the dates and the tasks that will take us to the launch date!   

Those of you who live around here but can’t make it on August 18, please contact me.  I would love to meet with you some other time.

Those of you who are far away, all around the world, and thus can’t come to our home later this month, please stay in touch.  Pray, support, and keep telling us if we are making sense, or if we are not!  We have never felt so dependent on God, and God’s people, in our whole lives.  We brace ourselves as we face the immediate unknown future. 

PRIME MOVERS

~ by Samir Selmanovic

During the day it seems that the move to New York is working out. I’m working on it. I don’t have time to worry. It’s at 3 o’clock in the morning that I find myself thinking, “What in the world am I doing?” I stay awake alternating between prayer and an inner argument between hope and despair.

“What Can I Do About It?”

~ by Rosemary Poblacion

Watching the television and reading the newspaper about what is going on in the world can make us feel helpless. We find ourselves thinking, “Is this happening on our planet? What can I do? How can I make a difference?”

Faith House will be a place where our disagreements can be acknowledged, our commonalities enjoyed, and our common humanity re-discovered. I believe that supporting this unprecedented effort in building an interfaith life might be the most direct way to make a difference.

Those of you who live driving distance from Redlands, California can join us for an event where you can hear a progress report of the Faith House project, meet people who will be relocating to New York, and find friends who have the same hope.

3000 Miles East

 ~ by Alvin Poblacion (Alvin and Rosemary have decided to move to New York in July 2007. They will commit three years to love the city, to learn about God from those who are different from them, and to help the Faith House project in the process.)

So, how do two simple southern California suburbanites come to a decision to pick up their lives and move 3000 miles to a wild, glorious, and strange place that is New York City? How does anyone decide to move from any place for that matter?

I guess you have to start by weighing the best and the worst about where you are now, against your greatest hopes and fears for the place that is yet a mystery. It is this scale of "this vs. that" that imposes itself on you. Rosemary and I had been struggling with it during the winter months.

It’s not that life here in sunny San Bernardino has been miserable or unfulfilling. It's not that we have been particularly bored or have skeletons in our closet to escape. Actually quite the opposite is true. We have created a home here, often filled with the dear voices of many friends and family. We have steady jobs that have meaning and connections here that ensure future security. We are a couple of simpletons who enjoy hobbies like cycling that have opened up small but wonderful worlds to us. We have desert bike trails that meander in all directions for miles and miles. We are fond of life here. Our love for this place has substance.  

Manhattan, on the other hand, represents the great unknown to us, a mysterious jungle filled with great potential for pain. In many ways New York City means letting go of what we feel we have control of here in the comfort of home and reaching for something hazy in the distance. You might say that we are up for an unforeseen adventure, that we are a little reckless and perhaps too naive. By all accounts, you would probably be right. But we also have a hope that New York holds for us promise. There is abundance of culture, history, art, and ideas that stimulate our curiosity. We look forward to concerts and movies in Central Park interesting people that will guide us and challenge us, and food--lots and lots of good food.  

Then there is the hope of Faith House, a foggy dream shared by many weary yet hopeful travelers who seek a new kind of faith and a more holistic community that aims to bring people together. This dream has been articulated by our dear friend, Samir, and shared among us and many others. Our role in this adventure is still not clear to us, but God will provide the answers in right time. 

There are times when the gravity of it all comes crashing down on us like a cold wave, and we are sure that we’re in over our heads! Still, we feel up to the adventure. Even if all we end up doing is being there with our dear friends, growing with them, and encouraging them--reminding them that they are not losing their mind, that we too hope, and that we too dream the same dream. Somehow, for now, that seems enough for us to make this first step and go. 

We invite you, our friends, our family, and those of you who are following this project from a distance to support Faith House and make a step closer towards healing of the world. 

Hope With Us

God blesses our religions, at the center and at the margins. But it’s at the margins, where we all touch the world and each other, that God changes us and the world.

Historically, everything good began at the margins. So, if you want a good future, choose to support the edges! If you are already supporting God’s work at the margins, keep it up. If not, start today and become a part of Faith House. Invest with us, so you can hope with us.

People like you have already moved the dream of Faith House to a point close to realization. They have pledged initial funds to make this project viable over a long term and now the Selmanovic family is committed to go! For the project to be born, however, for this new life to have a chance of healthy arrival and long-term survival, we need to raise funds for a number of transitional expenses—including half of the first year’s salary, move, space rental, administrative assistance, and online communication equipment.

In Faith House many will learn to be at home with God and with one another. Build it with us. Choose one of the options (left column) to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you for making this project possible.