On September 21st, representatives from URI, as well as many other groups and individuals, participated in International Day of Peace (IDP) events held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Monica Willard (URI Rep at the UN) and Deborah Moldow (Global Council Vice Chair) helped organize these events at the UN and write in with a report on the day.
North American representatives to the Interim Global Council 1999-2002
by Susanna McIlwaine
URI is officially only seven years old, but our early development goes back to the mid-nineties. Some of our North American CC members were present at or near the beginning, but most of us are newbies. We thought it would be helpful to reflect upon some of our history, especially that of the Global Council during the Trustee Selection process. This article looks back at the Charter-writing and Interim Global Council period, from 1996-2002. In future newsletters, we will look at the first two terms of the Global Council, and ahead to changes and hopes for the future.
I recently ran across a posting about the “interfaith pray for peace gatherings” held by the Central Virginia Interfaith Cooperation Circle and thought I would pose a couple of questions to the organizers:
The latest issue of the URI North American Regional Update is now available at http://www.uri-na.org/wp/newsletters/regional-update-issue-10/. While all of the articles therein are already included in this website, the newsletter provides a beautiful and easily-downloadable way of reading and sharing regional URI news.
In February 2007, Global Council Trustees, P.K. McCary and Kathy Sandoval participated in a dialogue introduced by the URI at the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery in Northern California. The purpose of the dialogue was to reflect upon religious experiences leading to interfaith work and to discuss the future of URI. Part 2: P.K. McCary.
These interviews with Kathy Sandoval, P.K. McCary, Rev. Heng Sure, and Stephen Fuqua, can be watched in two installments on YouTube: Reflections on Faithful Experiences Leading to Interfaith Work and Reflections on Strengths and Hopes of the United Religions Initiative.
In February 2007, Global Council Trustees, P.K. McCary and Kathy Sandoval participated in a dialogue introduced by the URI at the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery in Northern California. The purpose of the dialogue was to reflect upon religious experiences leading to interfaith work and to discuss the future of URI. Part 1: Kathy Sandoval.
These interviews with Kathy Sandoval, P.K. McCary, Rev. Heng Sure, and Stephen Fuqua, can be watched in two installments on YouTube: Reflections on Faithful Experiences Leading to Interfaith Work and Reflections on Strengths and Hopes of the United Religions Initiative.
Wondering what your group can do to support action in response to the incipient dangers of global change? One model to look at is that offered by the new CC Orange County Interfaith Coalition for the Environment. The Orange County Register in April has a brief write up on a march they participated in to support local climate change legislation, with additional photos available courtesy of Step It Up!
URI Cooperation Circle Unity-and-Diversity Council has been working for peace for over fourty years. Now they’re working on developing a “Global Assembly” web application as a tool for wide-scale consensus-building.
URI-DC has been actively engaging Washington, D.C. area residents in interfaith programs large and small since the official URI founding in 2007. Lately they’ve begun a series of Interfaith TeaHouses providing a dialogue in art and word.
A few days ago I received an e-mail from an early URI supporter and member of one of our North American Cooperation Circles. He asked about the continuing role “a San Francisco based URI has… to play,” especially in light of other established interfaith groups. I thought this was an excellent question and it seems worth sharing my response here.