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News8 - November 19, 2007
Texas church refuses to host
interfaith Thanksgiving service
Organizers of an Austin interfaith Thanksgiving celebration scrambled to find a new location for the annual event after an evangelical Baptist megachurch objected to Muslims worshipping on its property.
Hyde Park Baptist Church notified Austin Area Interreligious Ministries this week that it would not allow the event scheduled for Sunday at Hyde Park's sports complex, known as the Quarries.
The Thanksgiving event is in its 23rd year and invites Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Baha'is and others to worship together.
"The event is an expression of gratitude through worship and is co-hosted by a different congregation of faith tradition every year," Simone Flowers of Austin Area Interreligious Ministries said.
Austin's largest synagogue, Congregation Beth Israel, has now offered to host the celebration.
This year, Muslim groups will co-host the event, and there will even be time allowed for a Muslim prayer.
Hyde Park Baptist at first agreed to the service, but then changed their minds, claiming the service was not "Christian oriented."
"It brought forth how much work we still have left," Shams Siddiqi of the Forum of Muslims for Unity said.
Siddiqi said planning this event, that is inclusive of all faiths, has also illuminated the differences between them.
A statement from Hyde Park Baptist Church said, "although individuals from all faiths are welcome to worship with us, we cannot provide space for the practice of these non-Christian religions on church property."
With no other venue set in stone, the Interreligious Ministries were running out options, until Congregation Beth Israel intervened.
"Sometimes you have to work very hard for the chance to do some good, and sometimes it just falls into your lap," Steven Folberg, Senior Rabbi said. "If we want the kind of world we say we want we have to be open in our hearts and minds."
http://www.news8austin.com/content/your_news/default.asp?ArID=195448
American-Statesman - November 19, 2007
Texas Muslims host interfaith
Thanksgiving service at synagogue
By Patrick George
For 23 years, Thanksgiving in Austin has come with huge crowds of people in saris, hijabs, clerical robes and yarmulkes, celebrating their similarities. Sunday's 23rd annual Austin Area Interreligious Ministries Interfaith Thanksgiving Celebration marked the first time the service was hosted by Muslims — and it was at a Jewish temple, no less.
But the service wasn't without some controversy. Last week, Hyde Park Baptist Church, on whose property the event was originally going to be held, backed out because it objected to non-Christians — particularly Muslims — worshipping at its Quarries location.
Congregation Beth Israel stepped up, and the standing-room-only service was held there.
"On Wednesday morning, we got the call from one of our congregants who works at Austin Area Interreligious Ministries' building about the issue," said Jennifer Smith, executive director at Beth Israel. "We made some calls and realized we had plenty of room for everyone."
Smith said that although the temple served as the location for the service, it was Central Texas Muslimaat that ran the show Sunday. Austin's Muslim community lacks a space big enough to hold the worshippers. Simone Talma Flowers, Austin Interreligious Ministries' interim director, said Muslims have always been involved with the service but were most heavily engaged this year.
"There are a lot of stereotypes about how far apart Muslims and Jews are, and I don't think it's true," Smith said. "This shows that Muslims and Jews can work together."
The event featured a Jewish shofar — a trumpet typically made of a ram's horn — a Muslim song calling for prayer and Christian bell music. Religious leaders from several faiths and denominations, including Methodists, Bahais and Buddhists, took part. At sundown, the Maghrib, the fourth of five daily Muslim prayers, was also held there.
"This is a very good concept," said Ahsan Chowdhury, a Muslim who worships at the North Austin mosque. "This country is a country of immigrants. We should be breaking our boundaries of religion, culture and heritage as part of this great American holiday."
As for Hyde Park Baptist Church's decision not to allow the event on its property, "it shouldn't have happened," Chowdhury said. "But these types of things slowly improve. In the future, we will see less and less of it."
An evangelical megachurch at West 39th Street and Speedway, Hyde Park is not a member of Interreligious Ministries. Last week, church leaders issued a statement that said, "Although individuals from all faiths are welcome to worship with us at Hyde Park Baptist Church, the church cannot provide space for the practice of these non-Christian religions on church property."…
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/11/19/1119interfaith.html
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