MONTVILLE, NJ – About 75 people gathered for the interfaith Iftar dinner that the Montville United Methodist Church hosted on March 20, sponsored by Peace Islands Institute, its fourth time holding the event.

“We had representation from the two churches I serve (Montville UMC & Boonton UMC), Peace Islands Institute, and many others from the surrounding community,” said Pastor Donald Kirschner of the event. “We had 75 people who gathered with us to learn together, grow in our understanding of one another, and share in meaningful dialogue over a delicious meal.”

During the first half of the evening, before the meal, Kirschner spoke from the Christian perspective on fasting and about the season of Lent, which overlaps with Ramadan this year.

Adam Ozdemir, executive director of PII, shared about the mission of Peace Islands Institute and what they have been doing and continue to do.

Rabbi Mark Finkel from the Pine Brook Jewish Center spoke from the Jewish perspective and closed with a chant from his tradition.

Aishe Kaplan, a representative from PII, spoke from the Muslim perspective on fasting and about Ramadan.

Imam Mesut led the call to prayer in Arabic.

Following that, for the second half of the evening, attendees enjoyed a tasty meal and had good conversation together. At each person's seat was a slip of paper with quotes related to the topic of peace to spark conversation:

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9) – Jesus

"The people of the world are like the different colored flowers of one meadow. All are beautiful. As children of the same Creator, they must live together in harmony." - Umar ibn Al-Khattab

On the slips of paper, there were also questions to spark dialogue, including the following:

1) What does peace mean to you personally? How can we work together to promote peace in our world?

2) How can we address misunderstandings/negative stereotypes that exist between different religious groups?

3) How has your family or faith community been impacted by the current wars happening in our world, and what would you like to share with those who have a different faith tradition or perspective from your own?

4) How do you think our shared values of compassion, empathy, and kindness can help bridge the gaps between different faith traditions?

Peace Islands will have done over 30 of these types of gatherings at different faith communities over the course of Ramadan; Montville UMC was just one of them. More info about them can be found at the following link: https://peaceislands.org/about-us

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Author : Pastor Donald Kirschner and TAPinto Montville Staff

Source Url : https://www.tapinto.net/towns/montville/sections/religions-and-spirituality/articles/montville-umc-hosts-interfaith-iftar-dinner

News Source : https://www.tapinto.net/towns/montville/sections/religions-and-spirituality/articles/montville-umc-hosts-interfaith-iftar-dinner