Living Interfaith Church

Living Interfaith Church is a religious unity founded by Steven Greenebaum and based in Lynnwood, Washington, United States, which embraces the teachings of all spiritual paths that lead people to seek a life of compassionate action.[1]

Interfaith, as a faith, does not seek to discover which religion or spiritual path is "right". Rather, it recognizes that everyone is brother and sister, and that at different times and different places we have encountered the sacred differently.[1]

Overview

Living Interfaith Church celebrates differing spiritual paths. They claim that what is the same in every religion is the call to compassion, the call to think beyond ourselves, and to recognize that we are all connected. Interfaith "calls upon us not to ignore our differences, but to rather to respect them, and to realize that each of our paths, in their own special and different way, call us to love and to be loving".[2]

The church views Interfaith as a faith that celebrates humanity's differing spiritual paths. It believes that a person's actions in this world are what count and that humanity is called to engage the world, both with compassion and with love. A stated tenet of the church is to respect all faith traditions and not to ignore their importance or their differences. Christianity is acknowledged as different from Buddhism. Islam is acknowledged as different from Humanism, and so forth. According to the movement, the claim of Interfaith as a faith is that what is the same within all of humanity’s spiritual paths is the call to compassion, to thinking beyond ourselves, and to recognizing that we are all connected.[2]

Greenebaum stated that "interfaith, as a spiritual practice, can serve as a new model for how we deal with each other and a new vision for how we act on our religious beliefs to live compassionate lives and share the world in harmony."[3]

The founder

Reverend Steven Greenebaum, the founder of the Living Interfaith Church, grew up as a Reform Jew in suburban Los Angeles.[4][5]

He has a Master's degree in Mythology, Music, and Pastoral Studies. His experiences directing Jewish, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Interfaith choirs have helped him to understand the profound wisdom of many spiritual traditions. He has dedicated his life to working for social and environmental justice through a multitude of forums. When asked about his entity, he explained: “My faith is Interfaith. My spiritual path is Judaism. My tribe is Humanity. I’m also a minister, choir director, and vegetarian.”

In 2012 he published his first book The Interfaith Alternative: Embracing Spiritual Diversity through New Society Publishers.[6] His second book, Practical Interfaith, was published by Skylight Paths in 2014.

References
  1. "A Church That Embraces All Religions and Rejects 'Us' vs. 'Them'". The New York Times. Jul 12, 2013. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  2. "Living Interfaith Church FAQ's". Living Interfaith Church. July 13, 2013. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  3. Swift, Diana (December 3, 2013). "Why Faith is Better Than Religion". Anglican Journal.
  4. Samuel G. Freedman (July 12, 2013). "A Church That Embraces All Religions and Rejects 'Us' vs. 'Them'".
  5. Thompson, Evan (October 20, 2019). "This Lynnwood man walked the path to a faith of inclusiveness". HeraldNet.com. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  6. "Meet Reverend Steven Greenebaum". Retrieved January 5, 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.