Annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service

Statement of our Common Ground

We, the Summit Interfaith Council (The Interfaith) of Summit, NJ, state unequivocally that we affirm community safety and trust, the equal treatment of all of our citizens as well as the stranger among us. We denounce the rhetoric of bigotry and hatred. We call upon our elected and appointed leaders to uphold the principles of justice, fairness and equality for all. We denounce racial bias and discrimination, anti-Semitism, anti-immigrant activity, Islamophobia, hate speech, hate crimes, homophobia as well as disrespect and unequal treatment for women and people with disabilities. We call upon our elected and appointed leaders to serve all Americans, uniting our deeply divided country. We call upon our elected and appointed leaders to create jobs with livable wages and to improve the quality of life for Americans trapped in poverty. We call upon our elected and appointed leaders to renounce the language of racism, sexism, bigotry and xenophobia.  We further call upon our elected and appointed leaders to condemn groups that spread such hate.

One of the key beliefs of the Interfaith is the biblical injunction to love the stranger. In the tradition of the prophets and apostles, God calls on the faithful to speak truth to power, liberate the oppressed, care for the poor and comfort the afflicted. We are responsible to a higher calling, a higher law that takes precedent over the flawed and outdated immigration laws.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Lights of Love Vigil

On Monday, August 14, we responded to the hate exhibited in Charlottesville by coming together in love.  Click here to read more about it.

Martin Luther King Day of Service 2017

Please Join us once again as Summit observes the birthday of Dr. King on Monday, January 16th, by joining together in service culminating with the Evening Worship Service at Fountain  Baptist Church at 7:00pm.

Books That Matter – Session 2

Author Debbie Irving to Visit Summit

Summit Clergy Respond to Pope Francis

Click here for podcast.

MLK Day 2016

Books that Matter

Supporting Our Muslim Partners in Basking Ridge

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

To: The Planning Board of Bernards Township

1 Collyer Lane

Basking Ridge, NJ 07920

Members: Barbara Kleinert, Jeffrey Plaza, Jodi Alper, John Malay, Kippy Piedici, Leon Harris, Louis, Carlucci, Mary Pavlini, Paula Axt, and Randy Santoro.

Dear Planning Board Members:

I am writing to you as the President of the Interfaith Council in Summit, NJ. Our Council has been working with Ali Chaudry and the Islamic Center of Basking Ridge for many years. Many of our members also work with Mr. Chaudry on the Interfaith Council in New Providence.

Over the years, we have greatly valued the presence of Mr. Chaudry and his Islamic Center in our area. Consistently, they have been a voice for religious tolerance, interfaith engagement, and caring work in our community. They are working peacefully to help bring down the walls that have divided us as neighbors. Our relationship with the Islamic Center is a great value to our larger community, and we are invested in insuring that they remain a part of our larger interfaith community. Quite simply, they are an asset.

We understand that you are deciding tonight whether or not to allow a mosque to be built there. We want to share with you our strong support of the mosque.

In a time when the news shares more about the fear and hatred that divides us, we know that, in reality, our communities are places where people live peacefully, work together across dividing lines, and help their neighbors even when we may not necessarily understand one another. This is what we experience in relationship with Islamic Center of Basking Ridge: Friendship. Neighbors. Partners in Community.

If the mosque is denied a place, we won’t have access to relationships that change our hearts and our minds. Then, the news of fear and division will rule the day. We pray that you will have the courage to not give into fear and to allow a great community of people to become our neighbors. Please say yes.

In partnership,

The Rev. Emilie Boggis

President

Summit Interfaith Council

http://www.summitinterfaith.org