Contributed by Laura Minor
A series of special video messages created locally for the occasion will be featured on the Bristol Interfaith Coalition’s Facebook page to commemorate the United Nations World Interfaith Harmony Week held the first week of February.
The Bristol Interfaith Coalition recruited its supporters to submit brief videos showing their congregations’ worship spaces and inviting others to come and worship together or just visit. This year, the theme is introducing local congregations which participate in interfaith efforts and whose members are part of the coalition.
These brief videos will be posted on Feb. 1 and 2, on the group’s Facebook page https://facebook.com/bristolinterfaithcoalition. This event is posted on the United Nations calendar for World Interfaith Harmony Week celebrations around the world.
In Bristol, over the past five years, the local coalition has provided programs including a live panel discussion at the library in conjunction with the Diversity Council, video messages about our faiths’ commonalities and other interfaith messages.
Since 2010, the World Interfaith Harmony Week has been recognized during the first week of February as a time “when all interfaith groups and other groups of goodwill can show the world what a powerful movement they are,” according to its website at https://worldinterfaithharmonyweek.com.
In addition, the World Interfaith Harmony website states that “It is hoped that this initiative will provide a focal point from which all people of goodwill can recognize that the common values they hold far outweigh the differences they have, and thus provide a strong dosage of peace and harmony to their communities.”
Bristol Interfaith Coalition has been working to do this locally. The Coalition has been formally meeting and organizing events since 2017. It arranges the annual citywide Interfaith Thanksgiving service and has offered events including Taste of Ramadan, a healing service and last summer, a tree-planting ceremony recognizing the obligation throughout most religions to be stewards of the Earth.
The Facebook page features information about many religious traditions, festivals and holy days.
The next event will be a peace celebration and march on May 18 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. More information will be available on the coalition’s Facebook page.
Those interested in learning more about different faiths or who would like to join the coalition itself are invited to message them through their Facebook page or email Bristolinterfaith@gmail.com.
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