wfn.org | Commission to arrange United Methodist-Muslim dialogue

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Sept. 30, 2002	News media contact: Linda Bloom7(212) 870-38037New York
10-21-71B{438}

NOTE: This report may be used as a sidebar to UMNS story #437.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (UMNS) - A national four-year dialogue between United
Methodists and the Muslim community is set to begin next year.

Establishment of such a dialogue was approved by the United Methodist
Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns during its Sept.
26-29 meeting in Daytona Beach.

Following the format of current dialogues with the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America and the Roman Catholic Church, eight-member dialogue teams
of United Methodists and Muslims would meet twice a year for four years,
beginning in 2003. Goals and issues to be discussed would be set at the
first meeting.

The idea grew from a visit that commission members made last October to the
Islamic Center of Southern California in an effort to show solidarity in the
face of anti-Muslim sentiment following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"We were the first (non-Muslim) group they had ever invited into their
space," reported Anne Marshall, a commission staff executive who worked with
representatives of the Islamic Center and the Muslim Public Affairs Council
to arrange the visit. 

Marshall, who has maintained contact with the Muslims and visited Los
Angeles again in July to explore the possibility of dialogue, said the
groups have praised the United Methodists for initially engaging them in
attempts at interfaith understanding. They have since developed more
resources for non-Muslims, particularly for those who visit the mosque. 

The Muslim Public Affairs Council would be involved in arranging the
dialogue with the United Methodists.

Approval of the dialogue affirms a top priority adopted by commission
members to "recognize our common humanity with Muslim people while exploring
a deeper understanding of Islam." 
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United Methodist News Service
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