Bainbridge Island/North Kitsap
INTERFAITH Council 

‘Occupy,’ Advent have their similarities  Interfaith Column | Dec. 16

2011—By Jennifer Merrill, office manager and a member of Eagle Harbor Congregational Church

Sometimes doesn’t it just seem like things are coming together?
Maybe that sounds odd in the face of all the gloom and doom pervading our nation and world.

There certainly are good reasons for the pessimism – vast income disparity, war, environmental calamity and on and on.

Still, I’m struck by the perhaps faint, but certainly persistent signs of hope I see in the strong connections between the Occupy movement and the coming of Christmas. MORE…

Whatever color, Christmas light keeps shining | Interfaith | Dec. 9

2011—By The Rev. Dr. Dennis S. Tierney, pastor of  Saint Barnabas Episcopal Church

Christmas comes in many colors. There is Black Friday for shopping. We will sing about silver bells and red-nosed reindeers, and white Christmas snows.

Many of us are meant to be green with envy over possible gifts we could receive or purchase and all are urged to take our credit cards into the red to make it a Jolly Christmas. But others will be mostly blue for Christmas… MORE…

Water unites and empowers us

Interfaith | Nov. 11

2011 — By Paul Stumme-Diers, pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church

Last May, 40 men from Bethany Lutheran Church spent our retreat weekend at the Elwha River, immersing ourselves in the power of water. There we were reminded of the capacity of water to create habitat, drive turbines, move mountains and stir our souls. Water power!

In June, 12 high school youth ventured to Holden Village to do trail work high in the North Cascades, and there discovered the power of water, to create electricity, shape mountain lakes for fishing, provide refreshing water for drinking and bathing after a long, hot day. And its ability to stir our souls. MORE...

Christian Science has a long history on island |Interfaith | Sept. 16

2011 — By Susan Anderson, of the Assistant Committee on Publication for the local Christian Science Church

What do a jar of mayonnaise and a weekly international news magazine have in common? On the surface not much, but a woman stopped by the Christian Science Reading Room on Winslow Way recently to tell us that there were only two things she couldn’t live without – Best Foods mayonnaise and The Christian Science Monitor.

The pairing of the words Christian and Science may seem as puzzling as finding common ground between a jar of mayonnaise and an international news magazine. MORE…

‘Flowers from and to the heart’
Interfaith Caregivers | July 22

2011 — By Dick Goff, board member of  Bainbridge Island Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers

A surprise gift of flowers is a delight – especially for someone who is lonely or down-hearted.

“Flowers From the Heart” is a special way in which, at this time of year, many such people in our community receive gifts of joy and kindness from generous gardeners with help from volunteers with Interfaith Caregiver Volunteers (IVC).

Here’s how it works. MORE…

Peace walk to focus on nuclear disaster
Interfaith | July 1

2011 — By Senji Kanaeda, Buddhist monk living on Bainbridge Island.

The catastrophic damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan continues to be an earth-changing event.

We know that there was a partial meltdown in three of the reactors, radiation emissions have affected the immediate area, and many people are still living in emergency shelters.

The 9.0 earthquake, subsequent aftershocks and tsunami were natural disasters. The nuclear industry experts said nuclear reactors were safe and meltdowns and release of radioactive emissions were never supposed to happen. MORE

Spring helps renew our faith in changing lives
Interfaith|Mar. 25

2011 — By Rev. Dr. Barbara W. ten Hove, co-minister of Cedars Unitarian Universalist Church

In the Pacific Northwest, signs of spring come early, as crocuses and other nascent flowers emerge in late February and March. But it usually begins to really feel like spring as the lovely month of April unfolds. April is a month of hope, when life bursts forth in color, fragrance and blossom.

For religious people, spring is certainly a time of hope as well. In the deep Jewish tradition, Passover is a reverent celebration of freedom from bondage. For Christians, Easter brings the promise that comes from the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

My faith, Unitarian Universalism, draws strength from both Jewish and Christian teachings. In the spring, we, too, delight in the power of religion to make a difference in our lives. MORE

As need grows, more IVC volunteers sought
Column|Feb. 11

2011 — By Dick Goff, member of the Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers Board of Directors

Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers (IVC) recently received a call from a widowed woman in her 80s asking for help.

The woman, who uses a walker and wants to remain in her own home, requested an IVC volunteer to: visit her and take her out occasionally; transport her to physical therapy; and take her grocery shopping. All three requests were granted.

Another example of IVC helping a family in need involved a woman who works while her grandmother lives in her home… MORE

February 2011

“Lift Every Voice and Sing (Out)”

by Pastor Paul Stumme-Diers, Bethany Lutheran Church

Winter on Bainbridge Island is a time when the community yearns to break out in song.  There is something in the damp, cold, darkness that calls for the warmth and light generated by people singing, in harmony.  Christmas carols and holiday programs address this need in December, and in January we celebrate the full-throated chorus of “Sing Out,” echoing through song the hopes and dreams of Martin Luther King, Jr. arising from a challenging time.  While summer must settle for a “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” there is something about winter that speaks to “Praising God in spirit and in truth” (from Sing Out), something raw and real.

Mid-December, the Liveaboard community and their advocates gathered at the waterfront, and there was singing, from sea shanties to folk music.  It gave expression to the concerns that day, the deadline for their eviction, even as we gathered in the hope that this community might find a way to maintain this historic community that moves to the rhythms of the harbor.  In the undertones, one could hear a longing for mutual understanding and reconciliation.

The island as a singing community might be a helpful image as we strive for the common good, as we attend to the needs of the marginalized, and as we coalesce our energies in living as responsible island stewards.  Singing has a way of bringing people together, of joining their voices in harmony, while allowing for individual voices to maintain beauty in their differences.  Ask any music therapist:  it produces healing.

This is the work and the spirit of the Interfaith Council, where we honor that each faith community sings out its hope and joy each week in its own language, but then listen for the harmonizing of these voices.  Sheikh Jamal Rahman, speaking at St. Cecilia’s last month, suggested that it takes a strong faith to be able to enter into such dialogue and to listen to the other, but in doing so we become better Christians (in my case) and better human beings.  It makes us better community singers.

This also has application for our civic life.  Pete Seeger once said that those involved in civic discourse should be required to sing their speeches, because, he asserts, it is virtually impossible to be nasty when you are singing.  As a community ever seeking harmony and constructive engagement, perhaps our council meetings and letters to the editor, our sermons and our teaching, should require people to sing out their opinions, and in doing so  blend our voices in constructive and community-enhancing harmonies.

I once attended a concert of the St. Olaf College Choir, and noticed how the choir members entered the venue holding hands.  Then, upon taking their places on the risers, they would continue to hold hands as they sang.  I mentioned this practice to the St. Olaf official sitting next to me, who told me they hold hands for two reasons.  First, it helps when singing to hold hands so as to keep the tempo and maintain the unity of the voices.  But they also hold hands, she said, so that they are able to gently give correction to one another, with subtle gestures, indicating they are flat or sharp.  They can do so without the audience knowing.  (I told her that with my voice I would have bruises up and down my wrist for all the correction required)

Sing Out, rather than a once a year event, might describe that to which the Bainbridge Island community, with its great passion and wonderful diversity, aspires.  In the midst of current challenges, we sing out; in the cold, dark days, we find our voice, together.  When we disagree, we lower the volume and discover a common melody, or develop a new song in which all can participate.

Interfaith Council is all about community
Interfaith | Jan. 21

2011 -  By Patricia Lahtinen, member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and current president of the Interfaith Council

I was raised in Bremerton, went to school at the University of Washington and, apart from the two years my husband and I lived and taught in Japan, I’ve lived most of my life in this area. My family and I moved to Bainbridge Island from Seattle eight years ago.

This is home to me. I really love it here and feel blessed to be able to live in such a beautiful part of the world... MORE

Interfaith Reflections

These articles, written almost monthly by members of various IFC faith groups, appear in the Bainbridge Island Review, linked from this web site. They offer spiritual and faith-inspired perspectives on matters and issues that touch our lives and our society. Click on the blued title (or "MORE") to read full piece.