Click the cover to visit the book’s Amazon page.

A courageous woman became a peacemaker

And now—an opportunity to participate in-person in Michigan in December 2024

By DAVID CRUMM
Editor of ReadTheSpirit magazine

Forty years ago, the tiny Jewish community in Muskegon, Michigan, dreamed of showcasing the potential of interfaith cooperation. They floated the almost impossible idea of having the region’s schools, churches, cultural centers and nonprofits agree to host dozens of events to celebrate the upcoming Jewish centennial in this Lake Michigan shoreline community. Even though the vast majority of their partners weren’t Jewish, they dared to tell the world: We’re going to do this! We’re going to bring some of the most famous Jewish scholars and creative professionals to our small town. Let’s show the world what interfaith cooperation can achieve!

And they pulled it off!

In the fall of 1988, I reported the story nationwide for the Knight-Ridder wire service, which began: “They used to joke about having world-renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman play a solo to open the Jewish centennial celebration in Muskegon. … But after Perlman was, indeed, booked for the centennial’s opening night—the 1,800 seats for his performance were sold out and more than 50 other programs were scheduled. And, those visionary planners knew they had the makings of a major success on their hands.”

Now, 40 years after those initial, optimistic plans were laid—Muskegon remains one of the world’s most unlikely centers of interfaith cooperation.

An Opportunity to Take Part in December 2024

ON DECEMBER 5, 2024, you—and your friends, perhaps a group from your congregation or community—are welcome to attend “The Challenge of Power, Morality, and Religion.” That’s a link to the program overview. And, from that opening page, you can click to sign up to attend at this second page.

WHEN: Thursday, December 5, 2024, 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM

WHERE: Eberhard Center, 301 Fulton St W, Grand Rapids, MI 49504—which is part of Grand Valley State University.

WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT NOW? Organizers of the event explain it this way: “Divisions have often led to violence and religion is not immune. National power and nationalism can obscure the ethical issues in times of division. We see this in our country as well as internationally. This can be observed currently as well as throughout history. Join us for The Challenge of Power, Morality, and Religion, featuring three leaders from the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities.”

HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO SYLVIA KAUFMAN’S LEGACY? Again, the organizers summarize it nicely: “West Michigan has a rich history of engagement in interfaith dialogue, largely because of the organizations Sylvia Kaufman, a respected community leader, has founded. Sylvia initiated the first community dialogue on interfaith issues through the former West Shore Committee for Jewish/Christian Dialogue. Since that time, hundreds of premier scholars, clergy, citizens, and students from the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths have come together every three years for a conference, now known as the Jewish/Christian/Muslim Triennial Interfaith Dialogue.”

WHO ARE THE THREE HEADLINERS?

As a journalist who has covered religious diversity for half a century—I can tell you this is a rare opportunity to hear three of the world’s leading lights in interfaith dialogue—at a time when there is less constructive interaction between the faiths because of ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. This trio is truly remarkable:

ELAINE PAGELS, who is now 81, has been a leading scholarly voice in pushing Christians to expand their awareness of religious diversity in our world—since the 1970s, when she became famous for her landmark study, The Gnostic Gospels.

RABBI DONNIEL HARTMAN, 66, is now world renowned in his own right for carrying on work begun by his father, the late Rabbi David Hartman, (1938-2013). This is a bittersweet return to west Michigan for the younger Rabbi Hartman because his father participated in the inaugural event in this long-running dialogue series, which was held at that time in Muskegon. This was before Muslim scholars were a part of these interfaith gatherings and the elder Rabbi Hartman was in dialogue on that first occasion with the late Bishop Krister Stendahl (1921-2008). In his prime, Stendahl also was ranked among the world’s top interfaith scholars.

MUSTAFA AKYOL, 52, has emerged as a leading figure in progressive Islam. Until the last few years, Akyol regularly wrote opinion pieces for The New York Times. He is generally respected as a journalist and author, although he also has been entangled in various public debates about his viewpoints on a range of issues.

AGAIN—the main gateway to learn more and sign up to attend is “The Challenge of Power, Morality, and Religion”

Learn More about Sylvia Kaufman, the true pioneer of interfaith relations in west Michigan

Since the mid 1980s, Charles Honey has been a top religion newswriter. He was based in west Michigan at The Grand Rapids Press during all the years Sylvia Kaufman—and her many friends—launched and developed an ongoing interfaith legacy in the region. So, he naturally was tapped to help prepare the illustrated biography of Kaufman, called Sylvia’s Story and now available on Kindle.

In reviewing Charles’ book about Sylvia Kaufman for Goodreads, I described the importance of this book as a must-have for anyone interested in religious diversity in America. I also described the book as unique and inspirational because it shares the true story of “a visionary woman who changed the religious world from her home in a small Midwestern town.”

To learn more, either click on the book’s cover at the top of this story, or visit my Goodreads review of the book, headlined: “The Power of One Woman to Bring the World’s Faith Leaders Together” You can get to the book’s Amazon Kindle page either from that cover, above, or from my review on Goodreads. And, please: Do so. This is a story that more people need to read—especially right now.

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Care to learn even more?

ReadTheSpirit magazine’s staff and writers are active supporters of interfaith dialogue and, even in this week’s issue of our online magazine, we have a fresh report from our partner at the Michigan State University School, Joe Grimm. Working with Joe and his MSU Bias Busters project, we have helped to publish dozens of “100-question-and-answer” guides about American diversity, which you can find listed on Amazon as well.