In a recent Religion News Service article, Piet Levy reports that interfaith worship services have doubled in the decade following 09.11.01. Specifically, he writes about a survey conducted by an interfaith team of over 11,000 houses of worship that ” found that about 14 percent of U.S. congregations surveyed in 2010 said they have engaged in a joint religious celebration with another faith tradition, up from 6.8 percent in 2000.” During the same time frame, numbers for interfaith community service grew more significantly from 7.7 percent to 20.4 percent.
So What?
The overall number tells only part of the story. It suggests progress is being made, however the following remark shows how uneven the progress actually is:
The study implies that the more liberal a congregation, the greater likelihood for interfaith activity. Approximately half of Unitarian Universalist congregations held interfaith worship services, and three in four participated in interfaith community service. By contrast, among Southern Baptist churches, only 10 percent participated in interfaith community service and 5 percent in interfaith worship.
Think about your own experience:
- Would you classify your congregation as progressive (liberal), conservative, or somewhere in between?
- Did your congregation participate in one or more interfaith worship services last year? one or more interfaith community service projects?
- Does your congregation participate in interfaith endeavors more often than was the case a decade ago?
- How have you grown as a result of your own interfaith experiences over the past decade?
- Do you expect the growth in interfaith activity will continue over the next decade at a similar pace, slow or accelerate? Why?