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NEWS and NOTES
Vol. I No. 3
Given the events on and since September 11th we are devoting this issue of News and Notes to material related to research about Interfaith Relations and Islam.
RESEARCH REMARKS: Interfaith Relations
Two recent national research projects by Hartford Institute uncovered information about congregational involvement with groups outside their faith tradition. Nancy Ammerman
writes for an upcoming Quick Question that the 1997-98 Organizing Religious Work project found through indirect means, the interfaith question was not explicitly asked, that 21 of the 549 congregations (3.8%) either belonged to an interfaith coalition (10) or had specific interfaith congregational partnerships (11). Eight of the eleven
congregation-to-congregation partnerships were Jewish to Christian, one was Muslim-Christian, one Buddhist-Christian, and one Bah’ai-Christian. Just 3% of Christian churches, but 30% of Jewish and other non-Christian congregations, mentioned an interfaith tie.
In the recent Faith Communities Today study the question of Interfaith involvement was asked directly. Although 45% of Christian congregations share ecumenical worship, far fewer (7%) share interfaith worship experiences. Slightly more congregations are involved in interfaith social outreach (8%). A much more interesting pattern emerges when the Interfaith involvement is examined by religious groupings.
Interfaith Involvement by Denominational Family
| |
Liberal
Protestant |
Moderate
Protestant |
Conservative
Protestant |
Catholic &
Orthodox |
Other |
| Worship |
12.3% |
8.0% |
4.0% |
13.5% |
7.3% |
Social
Outreach |
11.3% |
7.9% |
4.1% |
21.3% |
14.5% |
Overall, these data do not show a large amount of interfaith interaction between congregations taking place, but that is bound to change in the coming months as all the diverse faithful persons and communities seek each other out to come to terms with the events of the past month.
SUGGESTED SITES:
Faith Communities Today -The Mosque in America Report
This report is the most recent information gathered on 416 Mosques out of the over 1200 Mosques in the United States. The full report is available online at the Council on
American-Islamic Relations site.
Beliefnet Islam pages
Beliefnet has gathered a wide selection of material regarding Islam and reactions to the tragedies of September 11, 2001. This site allows you to read what national leaders, ministers of all faith, and common people are saying and writing about these events. Especially interesting are the online courses “Dialogue Groups on Understanding Islam” being taught by Hartford Seminary faculty. There are also courses being offered on Interfaith Dialogue.
Yale University Page of Near East/Islamic Resources
This section of Yale’s web site is an exception collection of resources about Islam and Near Eastern Countries.
The North American Interfaith Network
This link offers a listing of sites dealing with Interfaith matters.
WHAT'S NEW ON OUR SITE:
Read our latest Quick Question on the changes of Catholic practices.
Our latest review of the dynamic web site for Crossroads Church in California has been posted. Read what we have to say!
Hartford Seminary has added important articles, links, and additional information to their Duncan Black Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations web site. Visit this important department and read what our faculty has been doing to assist in the understanding of Islam.
The listing of Sociology of Religion articles continues to grow covering a wide range of topics and interests.
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