A True Tapestry of Song!

Sunday is the day!  Join us tomorrow, April 22, at First Lutheran Church, to hear the Triad Tapestry Children's Chorus in concert.  Not only that, but they will be joined by alumni and friends for the second half.

Celebrate two decades of gathering the Triad's children to sing together songs of hope and fellowship!

Listen to a Joyful Noise!

"Joyful Voices: A Tapestry of Song"

A Community Concert featuring the Triad Tapestry Children's Chorus, joined by alumni and friends.

Sunday, April 22, 2012
3:00 p.m.
First Lutheran Church, 4600 W. Friendly Avenue, Greensboro NC

This concert is free and open to the public. Join us as we celebrate two decades of the Chorus and the opportunities for friendship and understanding that it builds among children of all backgrounds.

PIC Board Members in the news--part 2!

We're also proud of Mustafa Abdullah, and here's why:

Personal Hijrah: Mustafa Abdullah from Richard Cassidy on Vimeo.

PIC Board Members in the news!

We're so proud of Jeff Thigpen, and honored that he's part of our work.
Here's why:

World Religion Day Observance in Greensboro

World Religion Day in Greensboro
Sunday, January 15, 2012
3:00-4:00 p.m.
Beth David Synagogue

When I Find Myself in Times of Trouble:
How My Faith Offers Comfort and Teaches Me to Serve Others

Music, readings, and reflections from members of several faith traditions--learn about your neighbors and about beliefs we hold in common.

Join us for refreshments and a service project following the presentations!
Bring granola bars, packaged crackers, instant breakfast mix and we'll pack them up for the children served by the Out of the Garden Project.

Sponsored by Piedmont Interfaith Council and FaithAction International House.

Music and Dance

Sinai Mountain Ramblers






Billy Two Rivers






















Classical Indian Dance

Triad Tapestry Children's Chorus at Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving Celebration--more!

2012 Ecumenical Celebration of Thanksgiving!

World Religion Day Observance in Greensboro

World Religion Day in Greensboro

Sunday January 15
3:00-4:00
Beth David Synagogue

Celebrate the tremendous religious diversity in our region!

Meet new neighbors and learn about other faith traditions!
Participate in an interfaith service project after the service to help children in need! Please bring instant breakfast packets, granola bars, lunch-box size packs of crackers.


For more information contact
Rev. David Fraccaro - dfraccaro@faihouse.org,
Mary Pendergraft - pender@wfu.edu,
or Beth Socol - BSocol@bethdavidsynagogue.org

A Collaboration of Piedmont Interfaith Council and FaithAction International House.

Yes! Weekly Interview with Mustafa Abdullah

"Mustafa Abdullah: An Egyptian-American community organizer looks to his roots"

http://npaper-wehaa.com/yes-weekly/2011/02/23/#?article=1177801

Religious Pluralism and the Egyptian Revolution

In addition to myself speaking, Zachary Bailes (a WFU Divinity School Student) will join me in my shaping a thought provoking talk on Egypt's Revolution, Religious Pluralism, and the Promise of peace using an interfaith framework.

Caring For Our Dead : Muslim & Jewish Perspectives

Caring For Our Dead
Muslim & Jewish Perspectives
Thursday, February 10th
7:00 – 8:30 pm Beth David Chapel

Panel Members
Imam Khalid Griggs, Community Mosque of Winston-Salem
Rabbi Eliezer Havivi, Beth David Synagogue
Beth David & Temple Emanuel Chevra Kadisha Societies

Muslim and Jewish Practices
Burial
Preparing the body for burial
Laws regarding organ donations, autopsies, and more
Funeral services and burials customs
Significant prayers
Customs that vary between different communities

Mourning
Mourners & Mourning rituals
The community’s role in response to death and the comforting of mourners

All Are Welcome!

804 Winview Drive ~ Greensboro ~ 336.294.0007 ~ www.bethdavidsynagogue.org

A Prayer from Pax Christi USA

By Dom Helder Camara



I will not believe in the law of the strongest,

In the language of guns,

In the power of the powerful.



I want to believe in the right of all,

In the open hand,

In the strength of the non-violent.



I will not believe in race or riches.

In privileges,

In the established order.



I want to believe that all human beings

Are human beings

And that the order of force and of injustice

Is a disorder.



I will not believe that I don't have to concern myself

With what happens far from here.



I want to believe that the whole world

Is my home, the field that I sow,

And that all reap what all have sown.



I will not believe that I can combat oppression out there

If I tolerate injustice here.



I want to believe that what is right

Is the same here and there

And that I will not be free

While even one human being is excluded.



I will not believe that war and hunger are inevitable

And that peace is inaccessible.



I want to believe in the love of bare hands,

In peace on earth.



I will not believe that any effort is in vain.

I will not believe that the dream of human beings

Continues being only a dream

And that death is the end.



But I dare to believe in the dream of God:

A new heaven, a new earth

Where justice reigns.

From Selma to Montgomery; From Alexandria to Cairo

PIC Board Member Mustafa Abdullah shares with us his perspectives on the situation in Egypt:

Observing World Religion Day--January 16

Sunday, January 16th at 3 p.m.
New Garden Friends Meeting

"What do you value about your faith that enhances your feeling of kinship with everyone?"

Representatives from the Baha’í, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions in our community will share their answers to this question.

Music from One Human Family, Triad Tapestry Children’s Chorus, and Hinshaw United Methodist Choir.

Reception to follow.

Our partner in sponsoring this observance is FaithAction International House.

Upcoming Events

The Triad Tapestry Children's Chorus will begin rehearsals for the new year on January 4. Open to all children ages seven to eleven, the Chorus charges no fees and has no auditions. Rehearsals are held Tuesday evenings at 7:00, at First Baptist Church of Greensboro. The Chorus accepts invitations from the community to sing, usually three times a semester.

It's Not Us!

The News and Record recently published a notice that the Triad Interfaith Council is having a fundraising sale--of pork butts!

We know that pork is forbidden to both Jews and Muslims, and that many Buddhists and Hindus, as well as all Jains, are vegetarians. We would never sponsor such an event.

At the same, we depend on your generosity to support our activities in the community, and would welcome a donation!

Looking toward September 11

The PIC Board of Directors has submitted the following letter to the Editor of the News and Record. We invite you to join us as we call for respect and understanding of our neighbors.

The Piedmont Interfaith Council deplores the rising tide of religious prejudice, currently directed against Muslims, but directed at other groups at different times in our history. As persons of faith and as Americans we publicly and emphatically affirm the value of respect for the diverse members of our community and for the faith traditions that support and nourish them.

Millions of Americans—many of our ancestors—came to this country seeking freedom from religious persecution, and our nation's First Amendment guarantees the right of each person to worship freely.  As Sept.11 approaches we call on all of us to honor those who died and their families by affirming this American heritage, and working to replace hatred with understanding, distrust with respect, bigotry with knowledge, and division with connection.

When church and state collide Conference to examine how faith and law connect in a multicultural society

By Kim McGrath
Office of Communications and External Relations
Published March 20, 2010

Window on Wake Forest

Home to more than 30 Islamic centers and the longest-serving Muslim elected official in the U.S. (state Senator Larry Shaw), North Carolina is a microcosm of the challenges faced by the 300 million Muslims worldwide who live in countries where Islam is not the majority religion.

Although those challenges have become even greater in the wake of the September 11 attacks and the Iraq War, Muslims are not the only religious group coping with the complicated relationship between law and religion. To some extent, all Western societies are struggling to find ways to accommodate non-Christian cultural practices.

Religious and legal scholars, along with a policy advisor from the Department of Homeland Security, will address the conflicts that can sometimes arise between religion and law during a conference on campus on March 23. "The Rule of Law and the Rule of God: A Symposium on Ethics, Religion & Law" will be held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Benson University Center's Pugh Auditorium. The conference is free and open to the public, although advance registration is suggested through the conference Web site.

"It is important for people to understand that religion and state are not disconnected and to fruitfully engage in discussions about how law and religion can make distinct contributions to the welfare of humanity," says Simeon Ilesanmi, Washington M. Wingate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Religion, who organized the conference.

"That the United States is immune to issues of religious fanaticism is untrue," Ilesanmi added. "We need to cultivate an attitude of tolerance and speak honestly about how religious texts can be exploited by extremists of all faiths for political gain."

The conference also will explore how other countries are grappling with issues of church and state. For example, in France and Germany, head coverings have brought Islamic gender issues and terrorism fears to the forefront. Meanwhile, Britain is struggling with allowing traditional Islamic Shari's law to coexist with secular law.