Advent Lutheran Church – Murfreesboro, TN
Visit to Islamic Center of Murfreesboro on 11/17/2013
“Extending a hand of fellowship to our neighbors.”
The visit to the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro (on Sunday, November 17, 2013) was well attended. 30 of our members (along with a few friends) joined with several members and the pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Spring Hill, TN. The following is a reflection that Pastor Michael submitted to the Bishop’s office of the Southeastern Synod. This will most likely be lifted up for people to read in the first December synod e-news:
On Sunday, November 17, 2013, 35 members and friends of Advent Lutheran Church (Murfreesboro, TN) and Peace Lutheran Church (Spring Hill, TN), gathered with the hospitable members and imam of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, in Murfreesboro, TN. The imam of the Islamic Center, Dr. Ossama Bahloul, and myself (Pr. Michael Jannett, Advent LC) arranged for this 2-hour relaxed time of questions and answers and a tour of the Islamic Center. After the conversation and the tour, the imam surprised us all with a wonderful sampling of middle-Eastern cuisine (falafel, pita bread and hummus) prepared by some of the members of the Islamic Center.
I was first inspired to reach out to Dr. Bahloul when he gave a talk at the TEDx Talks in Nashville in the spring of 2013. Dr. Bahloul spoke on “The Gift of Difficulty.” Being that our places of worship are only 1 & ½ miles apart from one another, coming together for conversation seemed like the next best step forward. Dr. Bahloul and I met soon after the TED talk, and have struck up a friendly relationship since then, having met 3 or so times, for casual conversation. (By the way, back when he was in Texas, his best friend there happened to be a Lutheran.)
During our last conversation, my daughter, Ansley (7) was working very hard underneath my desk, scribbling pictures on post-it notes, just as fast as she could…rainbows, birds, trees, a cross, and even a portrait of Dr. Bahloul. He was very touched and graciously accepted all of the pictures…yes, even the picture of the cross. You see, he has 3 children of his own, all under 7 years old. We have that in common, except my 3 are all under 10 years old.
In preparation for the November 13 gathering, I shared with my people (and the world, really, since I posted it on our church’s Facebook page) some reasons about WHY we would want to visit our Muslim neighbors in the first place. Thanks to a resource of the ELCA’s team that works with Christian-Muslim relations, I found some compelling responses. The next few paragraphs are my summation of 2 basic reasons for reaching out:
Visit to Islamic Center of Murfreesboro on 11/17/2013
“Extending a hand of fellowship to our neighbors.”
The visit to the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro (on Sunday, November 17, 2013) was well attended. 30 of our members (along with a few friends) joined with several members and the pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Spring Hill, TN. The following is a reflection that Pastor Michael submitted to the Bishop’s office of the Southeastern Synod. This will most likely be lifted up for people to read in the first December synod e-news:
On Sunday, November 17, 2013, 35 members and friends of Advent Lutheran Church (Murfreesboro, TN) and Peace Lutheran Church (Spring Hill, TN), gathered with the hospitable members and imam of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, in Murfreesboro, TN. The imam of the Islamic Center, Dr. Ossama Bahloul, and myself (Pr. Michael Jannett, Advent LC) arranged for this 2-hour relaxed time of questions and answers and a tour of the Islamic Center. After the conversation and the tour, the imam surprised us all with a wonderful sampling of middle-Eastern cuisine (falafel, pita bread and hummus) prepared by some of the members of the Islamic Center.
I was first inspired to reach out to Dr. Bahloul when he gave a talk at the TEDx Talks in Nashville in the spring of 2013. Dr. Bahloul spoke on “The Gift of Difficulty.” Being that our places of worship are only 1 & ½ miles apart from one another, coming together for conversation seemed like the next best step forward. Dr. Bahloul and I met soon after the TED talk, and have struck up a friendly relationship since then, having met 3 or so times, for casual conversation. (By the way, back when he was in Texas, his best friend there happened to be a Lutheran.)
During our last conversation, my daughter, Ansley (7) was working very hard underneath my desk, scribbling pictures on post-it notes, just as fast as she could…rainbows, birds, trees, a cross, and even a portrait of Dr. Bahloul. He was very touched and graciously accepted all of the pictures…yes, even the picture of the cross. You see, he has 3 children of his own, all under 7 years old. We have that in common, except my 3 are all under 10 years old.
In preparation for the November 13 gathering, I shared with my people (and the world, really, since I posted it on our church’s Facebook page) some reasons about WHY we would want to visit our Muslim neighbors in the first place. Thanks to a resource of the ELCA’s team that works with Christian-Muslim relations, I found some compelling responses. The next few paragraphs are my summation of 2 basic reasons for reaching out:
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Why should Christians be interested in an encounter and conversation with Muslims? Reasons for this fall into 2 categories: practical and spiritual.
Practical responses include: Encountering and conversing with Muslims is simply a reality of everyday life; Muslims are neighbors, colleagues, professionals in the community, even relatives by marriage. Spiritual responses include: Christians hearken to the words of Jesus. There they discover that constructive coexistence between people, including those from differing backgrounds and faith traditions, is commanded and expected. Jesus challenges his followers to love their neighbors, and even their enemies (Matthew 5:43-44). Jesus excluded no one. Christians are exhorted to love the neighbor, and even the enemy. As many will bear witness, however, as people give and receive hospitality, again and again they will find not enemies, but friends. ************************************************************************** |
Besides the inspiration from the Holy Spirit to strike up a conversation with our Muslim neighbors, Advent Lutheran Church has begun a program made popular by several other churches…and it goes by the title: Theology on Tap. This is a Roman Catholic movement that has been adapted and adopted my many other denominations. Advent LC has done the same.
I gathered with 5 members from Advent and discussed: Christianity & Islam – Where do they overlap and where do they collide? The result from a 2-hour conversation over beer & wings was this idea to actually setup a meeting with our Muslim neighbors, essentially extending a hand of fellowship. Soon after that outing, I was asked to invite Dr. Bahloul to our monthly meeting of the Nashville cluster of ELCA pastors. Dr. Bahloul accepted the invitation, and spoke with us at Advent at our September pastor’s gathering.
So this movement, which began as an individual endeavor led by the breath of the Holy Spirit, turned into a small group conversation, which led to Dr. Bahloul being a guest at our Nasvhille pastor’s meeting, which led to a coming together of 2 ELCA congregations with the Muslim community in Murfreesboro.
Dr. Bahloul suggested that we consider a larger, more formalized gathering of Lutherans in Nashville in the near future, in which we can come together for an inter-faith conversation. We hope this will come to fruition.
And yes…I have gained a new friend.
Peace, Pr. Michael Jannett
For more information on the ongoing with Lutheran-Muslim Relations, please visit:
ELCA website – Muslim Relations (Consultative Panel on Lutheran-Muslim Relations)
http://www.elca.org/en/Faith/Ecumenical-and-Inter-Religious-Relations/Inter-Religious-Relations/Muslim-Relations
I gathered with 5 members from Advent and discussed: Christianity & Islam – Where do they overlap and where do they collide? The result from a 2-hour conversation over beer & wings was this idea to actually setup a meeting with our Muslim neighbors, essentially extending a hand of fellowship. Soon after that outing, I was asked to invite Dr. Bahloul to our monthly meeting of the Nashville cluster of ELCA pastors. Dr. Bahloul accepted the invitation, and spoke with us at Advent at our September pastor’s gathering.
So this movement, which began as an individual endeavor led by the breath of the Holy Spirit, turned into a small group conversation, which led to Dr. Bahloul being a guest at our Nasvhille pastor’s meeting, which led to a coming together of 2 ELCA congregations with the Muslim community in Murfreesboro.
Dr. Bahloul suggested that we consider a larger, more formalized gathering of Lutherans in Nashville in the near future, in which we can come together for an inter-faith conversation. We hope this will come to fruition.
And yes…I have gained a new friend.
Peace, Pr. Michael Jannett
For more information on the ongoing with Lutheran-Muslim Relations, please visit:
ELCA website – Muslim Relations (Consultative Panel on Lutheran-Muslim Relations)
http://www.elca.org/en/Faith/Ecumenical-and-Inter-Religious-Relations/Inter-Religious-Relations/Muslim-Relations
| Reflection on Visit to Islamic Center |
