Interfaith Group Hosts 20th Anniversary Celebration at St. Julia

October 23, 2008

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Wayland Town Crier/Metrowest Daily News

http://www.wickedlocal.com/wayland/news/x398375288/News-briefs

In 1988, swastikas appeared on the bathroom walls at Weston High School. In response, the Weston PTO sponsored a workshop about discrimination and prejudice. Following the workshop, several attendees met to determine how to improve relationships among people of different faiths.

The result was the formation of the Weston Interfaith Action Group. Its mission was to "build community by developing a better understanding, acceptance and appreciation of our individual, cultural and religious differences through education, dialogue and action."

Over the last 20 years, WIAG, and later WWIAG, when the group expanded to include members from Wayland, has provided two to three public education programs annually. The first program, "Facing History and Ourselves" used the history of the Holocaust to explore universal issues of prejudice. In 1995, the first joint Muslim-Christian-Jewish undertaking was a reading of Karen Armstong’s book "A History of God." Today, WWIAG includes members of Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Baha’i faiths.

This year, to celebrate its 20 years in the community, WWIAG will present an evening with Dr. Diana Eck, professor of comparative religion and Indian studies at Harvard University. She will address "The Local and the Global: Interfaith Movements and the Future of Pluralism." Dr. Eck is a leading authority on religious pluralism and world religions.

Please join us for the 20th anniversary celebration of WWIAG on Sunday, Nov. 16 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at St. Julia Church, 374 Boston Post Road, Weston. Admission is $20 per person and includes a full dinner, a panel discussion led by longtime WWIAG members and Dr. Eck’s keynote address.

To RSVP contact Lynn Retik at "20thAnniversary@wwiag.org"