Permanent link for Greetings from Parliament! on August 17, 2023

This week, the Kaufman Team is in Chicago participating in the 2023 Parliament of the World's Religions - a week-long conference which brings together representatives from religious, spiritual, and secular traditions and organizations from around the world who are invested in cultivating a more peaceful, just, and sustainable future. There is no shortage of things to do with presentations, performances, and plenary sessions available throughout the day. The sheer number of people bustling around, engaging with others, and actively reaching out across (sometimes profound!) differences gives me great hope for our work.

This morning, we presented on "Building A Local Grassroots Interfaith Movement" on the history of Kaufman, our current ventures, and what the future might hold. Tomorrow, as a wonderful segue into a discussion of the future of interfaith engagement, eight of our Kaufman Interfaith Leadership Scholars will present on "Dispelling the Taboo of Interfaith Conversations" in front of this international audience as a culmination of their 2022-2023 Scholars cohort. We are ridiculously proud of them and what they've accomplished over the last year, and we are so glad they get the chance to present their knowledge and experiences to the Parliament!

The team has divided and conquered over the course of this week to attend a vast number of sessions, while making sure to reconvene at the end of each day to share out the wisdom of others and delight in the connections we've made. Topics have included environmental justice and indigenous sovereignty, engagement in a time of extremism, the development of campus chaplaincy programs, the intersections of race, gender, and religion, intergenerational interfaith dialogue, the importance of architecture for cultivating interreligious peace... I could go on! The breadth and depth of these presentations is amazing, and I think it's safe to say we're all grateful to have such a stellar team to help us reflect, process, and imagine how to best bring these lessons home with us.

The photos and videos below do not do justice to the excitement and enthusiasm in the air, but hopefully they will provide a sense of the immersive experience that is Parliament.

On to the next session!

Liz English

The Opening Ceremony of the Parliament, complete with Chinese dragons and bagpipers!

Most of the team at dinner (Liz not pictured!)

A brief video inside the make-shift gurdwara for langar at the Parliament.

David, Zahabia, and Kyle presenting on Principled Pluralism in West Michigan.

Posted on Permanent link for Greetings from Parliament! on August 17, 2023.