Members of the Jewish and Christian communities gathered at Sanibel’s Congregational United Church of Christ recently for an annual interfaith program designed to strengthen relationships across faiths on the islands.
Now in its 30th year, the Shared Scholar Program unites congregations from Sanibel and Captiva to promote spiritual unity.
“God is definitely here,” said Pat Boris, co-chair of Interfaith Outreach of SanCap. “God is in the air; God is in your breath. God is here.”
Participating congregations include Bat Yam Temple of the Islands, Captiva Chapel by the Sea, Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, and the Congregational United Church of Christ. Each congregation contributed financially based on their means, collectively raising between $3,000 and $4,000 annually to host a featured speaker, Boris explained.
This year’s speaker, author and activist Brian D. McLaren, generously donated his honorarium back to the outreach. Additional offerings collected during the service benefited FISH of Sanibel-Captiva, a nonprofit providing essential social services to island residents.
Rabbi Sunny Schnitzer of Bat Yam Temple of the Islands noted that organizers strive to select topics that address local community concerns.
“Every year, we try to come up with something of interest, but also something that is critical to how we relate to each other,” Schnitzer said. “Today, we were talking about the environment and the island, it's one of the reasons why people move to Sanibel Captiva, is to be more in touch with the natural world.”
Outside of a single Sunday service, Schnitzer hopes the impact stretches further.
“You start inviting each other’s pastors [and] rabbis to each other’s pulpits. You start breaking bread together,” he said. “We begin to think of not just our own congregation, but we begin to think of an ‘us.’"
Following the service, attendees shared conversations over a reception dinner.
“It’s by modeling these interfaith relationships that people can be inspired to do the same in all their endeavors,” Schnitzer said. “That’s how change starts - - it’s on the micro level.”
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