Imam Yahya Hendi told attendees of the GBCS 9/11 remembrance service about his upcoming “Caravan of Reconciliation.” (Photo credit: Clergy Beyond Borders) |
The United Methodist General Board of Church and Society (GBCS) recently held an interfaith “service of remembrance” for the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 in the chapel of the Methodist Building on Capitol Hill. The lunch time gathering featured representatives from each of the three “Abrahamic” religions. About 25 people attended. This time of “healing, hope, and inspiration” was also trilingual, as prayers were said in English, Hebrew, and Arabic, encouraging the congregation to embrace diversity and “overcome differences.”
Retired United Methodism’s Bishop Forrest Stith, who delivered the sermon, titled “In the Hand of God,” encouraged the congregation to take comfort in God because “the souls of the righteous … are in the hand of God.” Stith said that the events of 9/11 affected him deeply because he served as an episcopal leader in New York.
Bishop Stith abruptly retired in 1995, citing “extreme stress” and a 1984 “grievance filed against” him that apparently related to sexual misconduct and abuse of power. In a 1996 ruling, the Judicial Council effectively dismissed the charges, citing statute of limitations issues, while offering “no opinion on the truth of the allegations. Stith has long been a champion of liberal theological, sexual and political causes. Currently he is bishop in residence at Asbury United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C.
Though the 9-11 service was in memory of those who perished ten years ago, Bishop Stith said it was “also about we who have survived.” He continued, saying “we today surrender them to the rock of ages,” and that “we gather to find hope and meaning among it all.”
Despite the injustice in the world, Stith encouraged the congregation to trust God, and said that ultimately righteousness comes from completely trusting God. He then explained how Americans often fall short of complete trust in our response to 9/11, because we attempt to eliminate threats out of fear. Stith said many Americans think “if we can just get rid of [enemies], peace will be possible,” and out of fear, the U.S. looks “to eliminate enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
In closing, Stith bemoaned “our tendency to look for and separate life into good and bad” after 9/11. This tendency, he said, leads to prejudice, which is rooted in fear. Fear, Stith explained, “turns to hate.” He said this tendency is apparent in how some Americans treat President Obama “poorly,” out of racial prejudice and hatred. Trusting God goes beyond Christianity, he said, as “trust and righteousness permeates the heart of all major religions.”
Representing Islam in the Methodist Building chapel was Imam Yahya Hendi, a Muslim chaplain at Georgetown University, and the first full time Muslim chaplain in the United States. Hendi read in Arabic from the Qu’ran, and followed with a communal reading in English. Hendi used the opportunity to tell the congregation about the “Caravan of Reconciliaton” that his organization, Clergy Beyond Borders has planned. Hendi is the founder and president of Clergy Beyond Borders, which is driven by “the conviction that all religions contain a message of commitment to improving the world.” The “caravan” will make a journey through the United States beginning Sunday, September 11, 2011 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The tour intends “to spread the message that religious diversity is an essential value in Christianity, Judaism and Islam,” and will stop in various cities such as Atlanta, Louisville, Detroit, and will conclude in Annapolis, MD on September 25.
The caravan will also include Christian and Jewish clergy. The program is scheduled to vary by city, and “will present and teach resources for use by community members, clergy and divinity students so that they can respond to attacks on faith communities within the U.S., including anti-Islam sentiment.” Specifically, in Tennessee and some other cities, the discussion “will focus on discouraging current anti-Shari’ah legislative efforts.”
In addition to Stith and Hendi, Rabbi Henry Weiner represented Judaism at the GBCS remembrance service. Weiner is a retired rabbi of Temple Shalom in New Jersey. After reading Psalm 23 and the Mourner’s Kaddish in Hebrew, Weiner asked the congregation to hold hands during the English reading of the Mourner’s Kaddish. He explained that joining hands is tradition, as the Kaddish is a communal prayer.
The remembrance service concluded with a “Stones of Remembrance” ritual, based on a Jewish tradition of placing stones on a deceased loved one’s grave site. The congregation walked to the front of the chapel in silence, took a stone, and was encouraged to place the stone on the sign on the front lawn of the GBCS building. After everyone returned to their seats, the congregation joined hands again, raised them in the air, and sang “We Shall Overcome.”
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