Interfaith is an acknowledgement that there exists a Power greater than us; that this Power has an intelligence and consciousness that is responsible for existence, and somehow plays a vital role in our common human experience and in the lives of all sentient (conscious) and non-sentient beings and is found both in the miraculous and mundane.

It also acknowledges and accepts that everyone has unique ‘ways’ of perceiving, experiencing and connecting to this. Each of these ‘ways’, that holds the central message of Unity and Unconditionally Love for all, is respected, accepted and embraced.

Interfaith is often seen as the inclusion of people from different religions but it actually reaches out further than this, involving people certainly from different faith traditions and religions, as well as people whose beliefs may not necessarily fit into a traditional religious practice.

Wikipedia comes the closet to defining ‘interfaith’ stating that:

“Interfaith… refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e., “faiths”) and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is distinct from… alternative religion, in that…[interfaith] involves promoting understanding between different religions or beliefs to increase acceptance of others, rather than to synthesize new beliefs.”

There are as many spiritual beliefs as there are people in the world, each coming from unique perspective and experience. These beliefs can be expressed in as many ways as there are beliefs and the ‘Power’ is known by many names including, for instance, Love and Compassion, God, Allah, Life, Jehovah, Father, Mother, Krishna, Great Spirit, Supreme Consciousness, I Am.

It is understood that at many times in our human history, across different cultures, languages and so on, Wisdom teachers, such as Buddha or Jesus, have come to increase our understanding of the Oneness of all life.

The Interfaith gatherings are a meeting point of some of these unique beliefs, The gatherings offer a spaciousness to deepen connection and so encourage and promote spiritual growth and emotional maturity. A time of fellowship. A time to celebrate, to give thanks, express love and devotion and to intercede on the behalf of others. A time to learn the truths of the sacred wisdoms taken from many sources, to learn new tools to help with the inner work. A time to rekindle the art of gathering in shared community, to acknowledge our shared journey of finding our way home to our hearts and longing for love.

“The world’s religions and faith traditions gift us different tools to dig the one well of Holy Waters.” Rev Michele

We are so fortunate to live in a time and place where we can safely explore our unique spirituality. Let us not take this for granted. Come celebrate the peace and equanimity that is our birthright.