Faiths cooperate in community

By PAUL QUIRINI- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

Edward De Sanctis belongs to Christ the King parish in Westmere, but he's no stranger to other Catholic and Protestant churches in town, nor to his Jewish, Muslim and Bah'ai neighbors.

That's because he participates in the Guilderland Interfaith Council, a group with a mission "to promote interfaith understanding and cooperation, and provide collective ministries to the community that no one congregation can provide," he said.

The Council, founded about 25 years ago, has brought together Guilderland residents of many faiths through seminars, workshops, community dinners, a food pantry and pulpit exchanges. Catholic parishes involved include Christ the King, St. Madeleine Sophie and St. Lucy's in Altamont.

Cooperation

Roberta Chesebrough participates in the Council by running a food pantry at Hamilton Union Presbyterian Church, where she's a member, and by helping out with Meals on Wheels. She has met volunteers of other faiths through her work and has learned much about their beliefs.

"I think it's been very rewarding just to see how the different denominations think and worship," she said. "We're different but all aiming for the same purpose."

Providing food for Guilderland residents, especially the elderly, is one way that the Council reaches out in an interfaith spirit, she pointed out. "You know that you're helping people," she said. "They're visited once a day. We feel like we're doing a service for the individual, as well as the town, because it does keep track of the elderly."

Linking faiths

Sonya Rose, the Council's co-chairperson and a member of Congregation Beth Emeth in Albany, cited such events as a model Seder Meal, an ecumenical Thanksgiving service, and a luncheon for food pantry and Meals on Wheels volunteers as ways in which the Council has strengthened interfaith relationships in Guilderland.

"It's been a wonderful experience for everyone involved, and we're all working toward the same goal of interreligious understanding," she said. "We work together, and we don't even think about what faith community we represent individually. We don't really give it a thought openly. It's really a great group."

Mr. De Sanctis first got involved almost 20 years ago after reading in his parish bulletin about a program on liturgical music. Attending programs on everything from deacons to death and dying, Mr. De Sanctis has gotten used to being in churches other than his own.

"I've met other people and worked closely with them in an interfaith relationship," he said. "I'm comfortable going into a church or synagogue today much more so than I was 30 years ago. It's not unusual for churches, whether they're Catholic or Protestant, to work between themselves, as well as work in the group."

Neighborhood

He also has learned what it means to be a neighbor in faith to other Guilderland residents, not just members of Christ the King or another Catholic parish.

"It's important to know these neighbors," he said. "The people we serve aren't necessarily from our own congregation, but people next door who might not be Catholic."

(For more information about the Guilderland Interfaith Council, call Sonya Rose at 489-9116.)

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