wfn.org | Sikh Community Participates in Gathering of Religious Leaders

[World Sikh Council - America Region <contact@worldsikhcouncil.org>]

Sikh Community Participates in National Gathering
of Religious Leaders in Chicago;
Meeting Calls for Building Deeper Relationships
Among Senior Religious Leadership

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 26, 2006
(Photos suitable for publication are available
upon request from interfaith@worldsikhcouncil.org.)

Contact: Manmohan Singh, Secretary General, World
Sikh Council - America Region, 972-684-4638, contact@worldsikhcouncil.org

The World Sikh Council ? America Region (WSC-AR)
participated in the first National Gathering of
Religious Leaders held January 23 ? 25, 2006 in Chicago.

The meeting was organized by Religions for Peace
(RFP) ? USA for the primary purpose of bringing
together senior leaders representing national
religious organizations to build relationships
amongst them and their communities for fostering societal progress.

The highlight of the national event was the
langar (Sikh community meal) served on the
evening of January 24 by the Sikh Religious
Society of Chicago at Palatine (member
organization of WSC-AR since 1996). Volunteers
from the Palatine Gurdwara Sahib prepared the
langar meal and served it with utmost reverence
to the religious leaders in attendance who sat
cross-legged on white sheets on the floor with
their heads covered with scarves. The langar
served at the gathering emphasized the inherent
equality of all human beings irrespective of
religious affiliation, creed, race, ethnicity, gender, etc.

Mr. Surinderpal Singh, Vice-Chairperson of
WSC-AR, who led the Sikh delegation at the
meeting reflected, ?This landmark gathering was
an opportunity to build deep and long-lasting
relationships among the senior representatives of
national religious organizations so that we can
work towards developing closer collaborations
among our diverse national religious organizations.

Dr. Anahat Kaur, Chair of the WSC-AR Education
Committee, facilitated a discussion group
focusing on concerns and priorities of religious
leaders in the US. Dr. Kaur remarked, ?The beauty
of the event was the sincere attitude of
collaboration expressed by so many religious
representatives. We prayed and laughed together.
This first gathering has helped us to get to know
each other better and work towards building
bridges for healing this imperfect world of
ours.? She further added that ?without justice the world will not know peace.

Dr. Tarunjit Singh, Chair of the WSC-AR
Interfaith Committee and a member of RFP-USA?s
Executive Council was a panelist on the evening
session of Jan 24 after the langar on the theme
of ?Role of US Religious Leaders in the 21st
Century.? Other fellow panelists were Rev.
Clifton Kirkpatrick (Stated Clerk, Presbyterian
Church ? USA), Rev. William Sinkford (President,
Unitarian Universalist Association), and Dr.
David Elcott (US Director, American Jewish
Committee). Dr. Singh emphasized in his remarks
that ?our roles as faith representatives are
complimentary to one another and not in
competition with each other? and challenged the
religious leaders of the present and future to be
?more transformational and less transactional.

About 50 organizational representatives from
nearly a dozen faith traditions participated in
the gathering. More than a dozen of these were
the most senior religious leaders of their
traditions / organizations. Some of the
organizations represented at the conference
included the National Council of Churches, US
Conference of Catholic Bishops, Presbyterian
Church ? USA, Armenian Church in America,
Unitarian Universalist Association, Orthodox
Church in America, Focolare Movement, Union for
Reform Judaism, American Jewish Committee,
Islamic Society of North America, The Mosque
Cares, American Muslim Alliance, American Muslim
Council, Sokka Gakkai International, Rissho
Kosei-kai, Buddha Light International
Association, International Society of Krishna
Consciousness, Federation of Jain Associations in
North America, National Spiritual Assembly of
Bahai?s, and World Sikh Council ? America Region, among others.

The World Sikh Council ? America Region has been
a member organization of Religion for Peace ?USA
since 2003. During the conference, Faith and
Values Media showcased a publicity commercial for
RFP-USA which includes Mr. Harpreet Singh, a
member of the WSC-AR governing board from 2003 to
2005. The commercial will be broadcast repeatedly
in the next few months on the Hallmark Cable Channel.

Religions for Peace (RFP) - USA is a coalition
comprised of leaders from over 50 U.S. religious
communities and is one of 55 national chapters of
Religions for Peace International. RFP-USA
operates on the conviction that multi-religious
cooperation and common action can be powerful
instruments in the quest for constructive social
development, justice, reconciliation, and peace.

The World Sikh Council ? America Region (WSC-AR)
is a representative and elected body of Sikh
Gurdwaras and institutions in the United States.
Its members include 40 Gurdwaras (Sikh places of
worship) and other Sikh institutions across the
nation. WSC-AR works to promote Sikh interests at
the national and international level focusing on
issues of advocacy, education, and well-being of humankind.

---
The following photos in jpeg format, suitable for
publication, can be obtained by e-mailing <interfaith@worldsikhcouncil.org>:

Photo 1 Caption: Mr. Surinderpal Singh of WSC-AR
leads the attendees in Ardaas (Sikh supplication)
before the langar (Sikh community meal) (Photo courtesy of WSC-AR)

Photo 2 Caption: Langar being served by Sikh
volunteers of Sikh Religious Society of Chicago (Photo courtesy of WSC-AR)

Photo 3 Caption: Dr. Tarunjit Singh of WSC-AR
serving langar to Very Reverend Leonid
Kishkovsky, Moderator of Religions for Peace ? USA (Photo courtesy of WSC-AR)

Photo 4 Caption: Rev. Bud Heckman, Executive
Director of Religions for Peace ? USA and Rev.
William Sinkford, President of Unitarian
Universalist Association eat langar being served
by Sikh volunteers (Photo courtesy of WSC-AR)

Photo 5 Caption: Dr. Anahat Kaur, Chair of WSC-AR
Education Committee shares thoughts with Bishop
Vicken Aykazian, President Elect of the National
Council of Churches (Photo courtesy of WSC-AR)

Photo 6 Caption: Dr. David Elcott of American
Jewish Committee, Father Franics Tiso of the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and
Dr. Anahat Kaur of World Sikh Council ? America
Region discuss the bridges that need to be built
between religious communities (Photo courtesy of WSC-AR)

Photo 7 Caption: Father Francis Tiso, Associate
Director of US Catholic Conference of Bishops and
Mr. Surinderpal Singh, Vice-Chairperson of WSC-AR
discuss the lighter aspects of Sikh ? Catholic
relations (Photo courtesy of WSC-AR)

Photo 8 Caption: Dr. Danny Nagashima (General
Director of Sokka Gakkai International ? USA),
Dr. Tarunjit Singh (past Secretary General of
World Sikh Council ? America Region), Bishop
Vicken Aykazian (President Elect of the National
Council of Churches), and Rev. John Pawlikowski
(President of International Council of Christian
and Jews) discuss the role of US religious
leaders in building a pluralist society that
promotes peacemaking. (Photo courtesy of WSC-AR)

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Member Gurdwaras of WSC-AR:
1. Gurdwara Sahib Fremont, Fremont, CA
2. Guru Nanak Sikh Mission, Livingston, CA
3. Sikh Gurdwara of LA, North Hollywood, CA
4. Sikh Gurdwara Riverside, Riverside, CA
5. Colorado Singh Sabha, Denver, CO
6. Guru Singh Sabha of Augusta, Augusta, GA
7. Sikh Study Circle of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
8. Sikh Religious Society of Chicago, Palatine, IL
9. Sikh Society of South, New Orleans, LA
10. Sikh Gurdwara of Michigan, Rochester Hills, MI
11. Sikh Society of Michigan, Madison Heights, MI
12. Guru Nanak Foundation of Jackson, MS
13. Sikh Gurdwara of North Carolina, Durham, NC
14. Garden State Sikh Association, Bridgewater, NJ
15. Guru Nanak Sikh Society of Delaware Valley, Sewell, NJ
16. Siri Guru Singh Sabha, Glenrock, NJ
17. Sikh Sabha of New Jersey, Lawrenceville, NJ
18. Gurdwara Baba Deep Singh, Las Vegas, NV
19. Sikh Cultural Society Inc., Richmond Hills, NY
20. Sikh Cultural & Edu. Society of Western NY, Buffalo, NY
21. Sikh Religious Society of Dayton, Dayton, OH
22. Guru Nanak Found. of Greater Cleveland, Richfield, OH
23. Guru Gobind Singh Sikh Society, Bedford, OH
24. Guru Nanak Religious Soc. of Central Ohio, Columbus, OH
25. Sikh Sadh Sangat, Easton, PA
26. Philadelphia Sikh Society, Millbourne, PA
27. Tristate Sikh Cultural Society, Monroeville, PA
28. Mid South Sikh Sabha, Memphis, TN
29. Sikh Center of Gulf Coast, Houston, TX
30. Siri Guru Singh Sabha, Richardson, TX
31. Sikh Gurdwara of North Texas, Garland, TX
32. Singh Sabha Gurdwara, Fairfax, VA
33. Sikh Association of Central Virginia, VA
34. Sikh Religious Society of Wisconsin, Brookfield, WI

Other Sikh Institution Members of WSC-AR:
1. Siri Guru Granth Sahib Found., Anaheim, CA
2. Sikhs Serving America, Topeka, KS
3. Sikh Youth Federation of North America, White Plains, NY
4. Sikh Educational & Religious Foundation, Dublin, OH
5. Sikh Youth Federation of USA, Toledo, OH
6. Academy of Guru Granth Studies, Arlington, TX

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World Sikh Council ? America Region (WSC-AR)
P.O. Box 3635, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA
Phone: 614-210-0591
E-mail: contact@worldsikhcouncil.org
Website: www.worldsikhcouncil.org
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