There has always been a movement to unite the world’s religions, either by stamping them out or co-opting into a ‘new world religion’. Mohammed tried to do it by mixing Christianity, Judaism and Arab tradition. Hitler tried to impose himself as the object of worship. The Soviets tried to get people to worship the state. The Romans worshiped Caesar.
Well there’s this new movement out there that bothers me, and it tries to meld religions together. It’s called Faith Shared, and it’s a project of the Interfaith Alliance.
Here’s a description of what they are trying to do:
Faith Shared asks houses of worship across the country to organize events involving clergy reading from each other’s sacred texts. An example would be a Christian Minister, Jewish Rabbi and Muslim Imam participating in a worship service or other event. Suggested readings will be provided from the Torah, the Gospels, and the Qur’an, but communities are encouraged to choose readings that will resonate with their congregations. Involvement of members from the Muslim community is key. We will also provide suggestions on how to incorporate this program into your regular worship services. And we will assist local congregations in their media and communications efforts.
While there is a strong preference for all of the events to happen on the same day, a number of congregations held interfaith services in January and February giving us wonderful examples of how communities can come together in support and fellowship. We will be posting photos, sample programs and audio files from theses services.
Faith Shared will collect images and videos from these events to use in our efforts to spread this message of respect and understanding from America.
Does this sound like a good idea to you?
Well, not to me either.
Here is a list of religious institutions participating in this program:
Anchorage First Christian | Anchorage | AK |
University Presbyterian Church | Tuscaloosa | AL |
Federated Community Church | Flagstaff | AZ |
First UMC Phoenix | Phoenix | AZ |
All Saints Cathedral | Pasadena | CA |
First United Lutheran, | San Francisco | CA |
Light of ChristEcumenical Catholic Church | Longmont | CO |
Park Hill Congregational | Denver | CO |
Union Congregational | Nucla | CO |
Temple Micah | Denver | CO |
Riverfront Family Church | Hartford | CT |
The National Cathedral | Washington | DC |
Seekers Church | Washington | DC |
North American Old Catholic Church | Washington | DC |
National City Christian Church | Washington | DC |
New Ark United Church of Christ | Newark | DE |
Faith United Church of Christ | Clearwater | FL |
Unitarian Universalist Church of Pensacola | Pensacola | FL |
United Church of Christ at The Villages | The Villages | FL |
Virginia Highland Church | Atlanta | GA |
Decatur United Church of Christ | Decatur | GA |
The Episcopal Church of St. John the Evangelist | College Park | GA |
Cathedral of St. Andrew, the Episcopal Diocese of HI | Honolulu | HI |
Collegiate United Methodist Church and Wesley Foundation | Ames | IA |
Congregational United Church of Christ | Iowa City | IA |
Urbandale UCC Church | Urbndale | IA |
Hillview United Methodist | Boise | ID |
Boise First United Methodist Church, Cathedral of the Rockies | Boise | ID |
First United of Oak Park | Chicago | IL |
St Thomas Mission | Chicago | IL |
The Chicago Temple First UMC | Chicago | IL |
First Presbyterian Church of Fort Wayne | Fort Wayne | IN |
Northminster Baptist Church | Monroe | LA |
The Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst | Amherst | MA |
Grace Episcopal | Amherst | MA |
Church of Our Savior | Arlington | MA |
St Paul’s Cathedral | Boston | MA |
Old Cambridge Baptist Church | Cambridge | MA |
Hadwen Park Congregational Church | Worcester | MA |
Veritas United Church of Christ | Hagerstown | MD |
Trinity United Methodist | Mountain Grove | MO |
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church | Ely | MN |
First Congregational | Great Falls | MT |
MtView/Trinity UM Parish | Butte | MT |
Unitarian Universalist Ocean County Congregation, | Toms River | NJ |
Christ Episcopal Church | Toms River | NJ |
Zion Methodist Church | Las Vegas | NV |
The Sacred Center of New York | New York | NY |
Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine | New York | NY |
All Souls Bethelehem Church | Brooklyn | NY |
Mayflower Church | Oklahoma City | OK |
First Congregational UCC | Corvalis | OR |
Spirit of Peace United Church of Christ | Sioux Falls | SD |
Baha’i Faith Community Center | Nashville | TN |
Saint John’s United Methodist Church | Austin | TX |
Hope for Peace & Justice Interfaith Peace Chapel | Dallas | TX |
Cathedral of Hope | Dallas | TX |
Wasatch Presbyterian Church of Salt Lake City | Salt Lake City | UT |
Grace Episcopal Church | St George | UT |
United Church of Bellows Falls | Bellow Falls | VT |
Cathedral of the Diocese of Vermont | Burlington | VT |
Vermont Ecumenical Council & Bible Society | Burlington | VT |
Dummerston Congregational Church UCC | Drummersto | VT |
Memorial United Church of Christ | Fitchburg | WI |
Trinity Episcopal Church | Janesville | WI |
First Congregational Church UCC Casper | Casper | WY |
Did you, by any chance notice any mosques listed? Any Muslim worship centers, or such-like?
Me neither.
Hey John I appreciate you many blogs. I’m surprised there aren’t any comments on this one.
I don’t believe a New World Religion is coming. There really isn’t any scriptures that imply such a thing. Islam is no doubt the prophesied evil religion of the last days.
I’m also against the ‘inter-faith movement. My church is involved in it and I will soon become history at this church because of it and their newly acquired “open and affirming” status.
I tried searching you beliefs on the trinity but nothing came up. I’m non-trinitarian.
God bless what you do. I
Part of the reason why there are so few comments, is that I was a bit distracted this week. As for what the religion of the Antichrist is… we will hafta see, Jim. – JL