by Jay Moore
Interfaith Grand River was the guest host of a regular event organized by the Laurier Wellbeing in Film Forum (LWIFF), a movie night at the Princess Twin Cinema on the 18th of November in Waterloo.
The place was packed with probably about a hundred people. They were there to see a movie called “One Voice,” a documentary about the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir. The music was amazing. It was so heartfelt, energetic and infectious. One of the most significant parts of the story was about the adjustments that many people had to make to participate fully or to accept the participation of others. The differences among the group culturally, racially, religiously and in areas like sexual orientation and economic status were very apparent and sometimes needed to be addressed. On the other hand, it was these elements which gave this choir its very special and unique properties. It was a very successful model of how valuing the benefits of interfaith action can make such a positive difference in the world.
The presence if IGR was evident throughout the event. Ben Chery read the Territorial Acknowledgement. Jan Hansen gave a five minute talk about the benefits of interfaith action using his own experience as a model. August Adelman helped by co-leading the discussion following the movie. We were pleased to see the IGR logo up on the screen repeatedly with information about how to sign up for the newsletter. And, finally, another highlight of the evening was the musical performance of the Inshallah Choir with some of our own IGR folks who are members.
Some of the goals of IGR are:
1) Education
2) Relationship-building
2) Visibility
We contributed to these goals through this event. We will plan to do more to spread the good word.
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