An Urban Laboratory of Interdependence

Dear Friends of Faith House, In times past, strong cities were walled. Our religions developed in similar contexts of defensiveness, isolation and conflict.  The times have changed.  Today, bridges, airports, roads, cell phones and the internet help cities survive and thrive on a connected planet. Religion, one of the most potent forces to mobilize human hearts and communities, has yet to catch up in our newly interdependent world.   The world is hurt not only by the actions of religious extremist minorities but by the religious ignorance and indifference of the majority. Tolerance and appreciation between religions is simply not enough. We all must dig further into our texts, traditions, and practices to  help us experience, understand and actually learn to need one another.   Nothing happens alone.  The promises our religions make - to  love our neighbor, empower the poor, pursue justice, and care for the planet - cannot be fulfilled when our groups act alone. To fulfill the promises of our own religions, we need each other. That's why we have Faith House. This is a unique organization.  Hearts and minds change through experience, community, and sustained action. While most interfaith work happens as dialogue, Faith House provides a space where people can experience "the other" and form long-lasting relationships in a sustained "community of communities."   Faith House is an experiential urban laboratory.  Instead of believing in the self-sufficiency of our religions, we serve the city and the world with fresh ideas and expressions of interdependence, exploring possibilities for passionate belief in a pluralist world, insisting that new practices can be discovered, discussed, developed, and spread.

  In 2009, our 21 Living Room Gatherings explored topics such as:

• Banquet of Love: A Ramadan Feast
• How to Enter the Holy of Holies: Preparing for Yom Kippur 
• Om, Atman and Vedanta: Hindu Meanings and Meditations
• Mother, Prophet, Mystic: Mary In New Testament, Holy Quran, and Beyond
• Walking More Than One Path: Is Religious Multiple-Belonging Possible?
• Indigenous Peoples & Inclusive Politics
• The Song of Songs: A Ritualized Reading of the Sexiest Book in the Bible
• Homes for the Homeless: Local Religious Responses

Faith House was also found in myriad places in New York City:

• Field Trips to the Ganesh Temple in Queens, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Dergah, and Shabbat with Romemu
• Masjid at-Taqwa in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn for Islamic Relief USA's Day of Dignity
• Building homes together in Brooklyn for Habitat for Humanity
• Rabia Gentile, our Islamic co-leader, at the Global Interfaith Gathering and Call to Action to the UN Summit on Climate Change
• Paul Knitter's class on "Preparing Religious Leaders for a Multi-Religious World" at Union Theological Seminary, where students attended Faith House as a course requirement
• The steps of City Hall, where Bowie, our Executive Director, spoke at an Interfaith Prayer Vigil for Food Justice
• Bookstores selling a book, It's Really All About God
• And many many more occasions of synergy

Faith House has quickly become a place for learning how to live into our interdependent future. Our attendance has been growing steadily and has averaged 50% growth from our first year.  We have created a solid leadership team of staff, a Board of Directors and lay leaders.  We have embarked upon our second year of this journey with hope and determination.

We need you to join us and be the wind at our back.  We offer you a stake in Faith House, where we deal with what really matters: the development of practical ideas on the grassroots level -- ideas that change the world from the ground up, through perseverance and practice, driven by a community behind them. That's Faith House!
 
Your one-time tax-deductible gift of $100, $500, $1,000, more, or any amount you can contribute, will make Faith House grow and thrive.  Also, your estimated gift for 2010 will go a long way in helping us plan our operations in the next year.
    
HELP NOW: Please make a tax deductible donation, directly through our fiscal sponsor or send a check made out to "Faith House Manhattan" to P.O. Box 552, New York, NY 10028. 

We need to raise $58,000 to close our 2009 budget and continue our operations in 2010.  Check our website often to watch the ticker mark our progress.  Please share this letter with your friends and networks.  

ESTIMATE YOUR HELP FOR 2010: You can send your intention to give to Faith House in 2010 to support@faithhousemanhattan.org along with the form below.

Our Jewish intern Leah Varsano expressed the sentiment of many of us in her article, "I gained important, deeply moving lessons, spiritual and otherwise, from every tradition. I also learned where my spiritual home is."

In today's world an isolated and self-sufficient faith is neither rooted nor effective. This generation is seeking a better way. In hope that the deepest convictions of your own faith will compel you to join us on this journey of discovery and love for others,

Samir Selmanovic, Founder and Christian Co-Leader

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I want to support the work of Faith House Manhattan community and enable this urban laboratory of interdependence and service. My estimated tax-deductible contribution to Faith House in 2010: $________ per month        $________ for the year Name_________________________________________________ Phone_____________________  Email ______________________ Address _______________________________________________ I will contribute (please check one) ____ at Living Room Gatherings ____ by sending a check to PO Box 552, NY, NY 10028  ____ on our Fiscal Sponsor's Website http://www.godlovesnyc.com/support.htm Please copy, paste, and print this form and mail it to PO Box 552, NY, NY 10028 or email the content to support@faithhousemanahttan.org