{"id":199,"date":"2013-10-30T11:27:09","date_gmt":"2013-10-30T16:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/old.maryology.com\/?p=199"},"modified":"2013-10-30T11:27:09","modified_gmt":"2013-10-30T16:27:09","slug":"the-why-of-interfaith-and-ecumenical-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maryology.com\/?p=199","title":{"rendered":"The “Why” of Interfaith and Ecumenical Work"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Norman Rockwell, 1961<\/p><\/div>\n

Recently, I have had the great, good fortune of being asked to join a committee on Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations. No, seriously, for me this is great! And I mean that both about being on a committee and about the issue we\u2019ll be working on.<\/p>\n

Among other topics that engage us in ecumenism and interfaith work, is the big one about why we do it. Some people in my Christian tribe (not the committee members) think this work waters down their faith or should only be done with the goal of converting others to their faith tradition.\u00a0 Others worry when they engage in this work that they are being judged for either being too Christian (or a particular kind of Christian) or not Christian enough\u2014and sometimes both at the same time. Does ecumenical and interfaith work distract us from working within our own traditions, or is it something our tradition expects of us?<\/p>\n

No matter how much I enjoy it, for me interfaith and interdenominational work is an obligation. It is a work of faith that springs directly from my baptism, the sacrament that made me a Christian. In other words, given the world I live in right now, I cannot be a Christian without also reaching across the divides of faith traditions.<\/p>\n

In the vows taken on my behalf when I was a baby, and that I have renewed hundreds of times since, I have agreed to:<\/p>\n