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Zachary Cole is the Values in Action Fellow for the Humanist Community at Harvard. The VIA Fellowship is partially funded by a grant from Foundation Beyond Belief. The purpose of this partnership is to develop humanist service and interfaith resources for Beyond Belief Network projects, promote humanist civic engagement nationally, and develop the VIA Fellowship into a national model for humanist service.

In my previous post, I discussed strategies for locating, and reaching out to, local religious communities to partner with on service programs. The Values in Action (VIA) program at the Humanist Community at Harvard (HCH) recognizes the importance of service and social action programs in order to better the conditions of life for others, and we believe that partnering with religious communities plays a big role in that.

At many of these events where we partner with local religious communities, there is usually a dialogue component. Interfaith dialogue can seem intimidating, but it is important to remember that the goal of these conversations is not to come to an agreement on the world’s problems or whether or not there is a God. Instead, the goal is to build alliances between religious and nonreligious communities in order to achieve mutual understanding and tolerance between those with different viewpoints.

Below are some tips for groups interested in starting to engage in interfaith dialogue at their service events. Start simple and remember that the initial focus should be on getting to know each other, listening, and striving to understand why different people decided to participate in the service project at hand. Here are a couple of starting tips on how to facilitate interfaith conversations at service events:

• Use simple dialogue prompts: A common criticism of interfaith dialogue is that differences are ignored or glossed over. It is important to note that the goal of interfaith service is not to debate metaphysical beliefs, but instead to create a positive space for people to discuss why they get involved in service. The goal is to start simple and let people share their stories. Toward that end, it can be helpful to guide conversation using dialogue prompts posted at the event. You can make a PowerPoint presentation to cycle through prompts or print them out to post or hand out. Here are some examples:
  • Why are you here?
  • What in your religious/nonreligious tradition inspires you to do service?
  • How does your religious/nonreligious tradition address this (hunger, homelessness, etc.)?
     
• Set the Tone: Depending on the type of service project, it may be difficult to have sustained conversation throughout the event. One strategy for getting around this is to bring everyone together before and/or after the service event in order to communicate that discussion and interfaith dialogue are priorities of the event. You can also encourage people to engage in conversation with new people throughout the event and make time afterward for people to share something they learned from someone else volunteering that day. Just be clear about when and where you want to bring the group back together. For example, before park clean-ups, HCH brings all participants together to briefly share why they chose to serve that day, so participants get a sense of who is involved and what inspired them.

Try these techniques as you begin to plan interfaith service events. Once you start to develop these relationships, you can build up to having events with a more substantial and developed dialogue session. Good luck, and remember to keep an open mind to the experiences of others.

Zachary Cole is the Values in Action Fellow for the Humanist Community at Harvard. The VIA Fellowship is partially funded by a grant from Foundation Beyond Belief. The purpose of this partnership is to develop humanist service and interfaith resources for Beyond Belief Network projects, promote humanist civic engagement nationally, and develop the VIA Fellowship into a national model for humanist service.

Over the last four years, the Values in Action (VIA) program at the Humanist Community at Harvard (HCH) has mobilized thousands of volunteers through our meal packing events to fundraise more than $30,000, package more than 120,000 meals, and write hundreds of letters in support of hunger relief sent to elected officials. Our success is largely due to planning and executing these events in collaboration with local religious communities and individuals.

Not only does interfaith collaboration help achieve a greater impact by bringing together more people, but these events also increase understanding and tolerance between those with different viewpoints. Although there are certainly challenges, interfaith service can be meaningful in many ways.

One of these challenges can be locating interfaith partners. The VIA program has utilized several strategies to set up successful relationships with religious individuals and communities. A great place to start looking for interfaith partners is colleges and universities. There are often student groups that organize around service, religion, philosophy, and even interfaith work. In addition to student groups, many campuses have offices dedicated to service, social justice, and religious life. Reaching out to student life administrators on campus can be a great way to engage a diverse range of students who may be interested in participating in service events. For example, at HCH we work closely with the Harvard Chaplains, who support religious and nonreligious students. We rely on their networks for volunteers and financial support. We also work with student groups at other nearby universities.

Another strategy for locating interfaith partners is reaching out to groups that organize around volunteering rather than religion or philosophy. These groups often include diverse religious backgrounds and are particularly open to working with atheist and humanist groups because their focus is on service. They can also introduce your group to additional organizations and avenues for event promotion. For example, HCH recently partnered with the Boston Volunteers, a local volunteer organization that helps connect community members with local volunteer opportunities. The Boston Volunteers sent over 30 people to our meal-packing event and also promoted HCH beyond our normal advertising channels.

If your local humanist or atheist group is interested in interfaith volunteering, join Beyond Belief Network. We’re happy to help our member groups find volunteering opportunities in their area. We welcome inexperienced groups looking for assistance setting up service activities as well as veteran groups looking for new ideas or recognition for the work they already do. Join our network by January 1, and you’ll be able to tell us about all the great work you did in 2013 and earn perks such as grants, free logo t-shirts, and awards. Questions about the Humanist Community at Harvard and VIA can be directed to Zachary Cole.

This post is part of our Humanist Perspectives series. In this series, we invite guest contributors to explore active humanism and what it means to be a thoughtful, engaged member of society. As a counterpoint to recent voices in this series, Free Inquiry editor Tom Flynn offers his thoughts on why secularists should not engage in interfaith work. Please share your thoughts in the comments!

White House Errs with “Interfaith Service Challenge”
By Tom Flynn

In March, the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships announced the President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge. This initiative encourages colleges and universities to design one-year service projects on which students and student groups of every faith perspective—and none—can collaborate. The White House announcement notes that “since his inauguration, President Obama has emphasized interfaith cooperation and community service,” then blends the two into something called “interfaith service.”

That’s one bold stroke of hybridization.

As The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart likes to observe, when you bring two things together, sometimes you get peanut butter and jelly, and sometimes you get Baconnaise. The White House announcement veered far into Baconnaise territory when it declared: “Interfaith service involves people from different religious and non-religious backgrounds tackling community challenges together—for example, Protestants and Catholics, Hindus and Jews, and Muslims and non-believers—building a Habitat for Humanity house together.”

That shout-out to nonbelievers is no fluke—Campus Challenge materials are relentlessly inclusive toward the nonreligious. At first glance, this may seem hugely positive: the Obama administration is delivering on its promise of fairness toward Americans of all faiths and none. On that basis, some of my religious humanist friends are (pardon the expression) rapturous about this project. “Nonreligious Must Embrace White House’s Interfaith Service Challenge,” runs the headline of Harvard University humanist chaplain Greg Epstein’s March 18 blog post at washingtonpost.com.

I won’t be joining in the cheering for this initiative. I think secular people and organizations ought to steer clear of the Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge and be unyielding in their criticism of it. Why?

First, it comes from the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, the current iteration of George W. Bush’s “Faith-Based Initiative,” which longtime readers will recall as a full-frontal assault on the separation of church and state. In the view of most expert secularists, the very existence of this office is probably unconstitutional—though in the present climate, it’s unlikely that any court will declare it so. If you’re a strict separationist, the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships is one of those quarters from which, presumptively, no good can come.

Read the whole article here.