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Fayetteville UMC hosts interfaith service

By CAROLYN CARY
ccary@TheCitizen.com

In what has become an annual event, and in remembrance of 9/11, representatives of the Christian, Muslim and Jewish faiths came together in commemoration. Fayetteville First United Methodist Church hosted this year’s event.

The Fayette Interfaith Community Network consists of Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church, Congregation B’nai Israel, Episcopal Church of the Nativity, Fayetteville First United Methodist Church, Islamic Speakers Bureau of Atlanta, and the Muslim Community Center of Atlanta.

The term ”compassion” was addressed by all three faiths.

Huma Faruqi of the Islamic Speakers Bureau of Atlanta said, “Goodness does not consist in turning your face towards the East or the West. The truly good are those who believe in God and the Last Day, in the angles, the Scripture, and the prophets. Those who compassionately give away their wealth, out of love for Him, to their relatives, to the orphans, the needs, the wayfarers and beggars, and to liberate those in bondage. Those who keep up the prayer, and pay the poor, rate. These are the ones who are true, and it is they who are aware of God.”

Fayetteville Methodist church member Jack Wheeler read from Luke concerning the Samaritan who stopped to help an injured man laying at the side of a road. Even though the two were technically enemies, the traveler took the injured man to an inn, and paid his room and board.

The Rev. Miriam Beecher, associate pastor of Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church, gave a reflection on the comfort received from the Christian tradition.

Father Bob Hudak of Episcopal Church of the Nativity said, “We build relationships one by one. We are slowly building a circle in Fayette County and it grows each year.”

The Interfaith Network meets several times throughout the year.

Each visiting organization brought snack foods that reflected their particular faith. Over 140 people were on hand for the event.

The group had never before taken up a collection, but one was held this year with all funds going to the Fayette County Department of Family and Children’s Services to help with the Katrina hurricane evacuees.