Surrey Neighbouring Faiths Program December 2011 Newsletter

Greetings, What are the gifts that you bring to community and how do you like to share them? How do you connect with others? Do you connect with words and ideas? Music? Visual art? Spiritual practice? Social justice? We each have different ways of connecting. Some ways are easier for us and some are more difficult. For many of us, building connections across spiritual and religious borders can be difficult. It can sometimes make us feel vulnerable. It requires a greater level of courage and a greater level of trust. The Surrey Social Planning Advisory Committee (SPAC) is the municipal body that ... provide[s] advice to Council and [undertakes] initiatives to enhance the social well-being of the present and future residents of Surrey. It sounds like they might have something to do with fostering connections in our community. Last week Sireen and I presented to the SPAC about the work and accomplishments of the Surrey Neighbouring Faiths Program. Councillor Judy Villeneuve and the members of the SPAC expressed gratitude for the work that you do in building connections in our community, and are exploring ways of becoming more involved as a committee. It is wonderful that we have the support of influential people and offices, but real change can only happen in the community with people like you. If you are good at using your words and ideas to connect with people, why not help shape the Surrey Interfaith Council by coming out to the next dialogue session? If visual art is your thing, bring your ideas and images to the Multifaith Mural focus groups. If you are intrigued by the idea of interfaith devotionals, why not drop by and see what it looks like? If your values inspire you to do social justice work, perhaps the Homelessness Round Table will be a place for you to connect with like-minded people from other faith traditions. And finally, if you like to move and dance, well see you at Soulstice! Keep on reading for more details. A warm welcome to anyone receiving this newsletter for the first time.

Upcoming Events
December 2 Peninsula Homeless to Housing (PH2H) Round Table All faith communities are invited to send representation to the next PH2H Round Table December 2, 9:30am at the White Rock Baptist Church (1657 140th St.) The groups meets to develop strategies for responding to homelessness and food security in the South Surrey and White Rock communities. For more information, contact Peter Greenwell at petergreenwell@telus.net or view the newsletter via the link at the bottom of this newsletter. December 4 Community Interfaith Series: Ian Bushfield on Humanism What is the role of non-theistic and atheistic worldviews within interfaith dialogue? Ever wanted to find out more about Humanism? Now is your chance! Speaker Ian Bushfield is the President of the BC Humanist Association. This is the third service of the Community Interfaith Series at the

South Fraser Unitarian Congregation. The service starts at 10:30am at the Newton Seniors Centre. December 5 Interfaith Devotionals A participant of the Surrey Interfaith Council dialogue series will be hosting an evening of interfaith devotionals on Monday, December 5 from 7:30 9:00pm. The evening gathering is an opportunity to respond to some of the themes that emerged from the dialogue around building community. There is only space for 8 people, so RSVP quickly to Connie at: (604) 543-2937 or connie.waterman@gmail.com. Directions will be provided. December 9 & 10 Focus Group Meetings for Multifaith Mural Project The Multicultural Mural Community Project aims to establish a mural which represents Surreys cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity through the collaboration of community members. Focus groups take place December 9, 1-3pm at DIVERSEcity (#1113 7330 137th Street), or December 10, 1:30-3:30pm at the Newton Cultural Center (13530 72nd Ave). The project participants will develop the mural design to reflect their views of a welcoming and inclusive community through focus group sessions and a workshop. This is an important opportunity to ensure that the images of your faith tradition are represented in our community. Please let David Dalley know if you are interested in connecting with this project. December 10 Public Services Expo 2011 The Surrey Neighbouring Faiths Program will have a booth at the Surrey Public Services Expo on December 10, 1:00 4:00pm at the Surrey City Centre Library. The Expo will provide an opportunity for service providers from the federal and provincial governments, community organizations and non-profit agencies to present information about their programmes and services. Please let David Dalley know if you are interested in helping out at the information booth. We hope to see you there! December 21 Soulstice: An Interfaith Dance Party Crossroads United Church invites you to Soulstice! Soulstice is an improvisational, spirit-filled multimedia celebration of interfaith diversity and harmony. There will be many options for participants - dancing (of course!), listening and enjoying, meditation, walking the labyrinth, sharing with friends. We will celebrate the longest night of the year by exploring, through music, such universal themes as light and darkness, peace, surrender and harmony. For more information visit the website or view the poster at the bottom of this newsletter.

Opportunities to Connect

Surrey Interfaith Council A range of religious and secular community leaders have embarked on a dialogue process to explore the formation of a Surrey Interfaith Council. The dialogue process will continue on into the spring of 2012, and will define the ultimate mandate and direction of the Council. At his point, participants are gathering under the general vision of creating and maintaining a positive climate for religious diversity in Surrey. The next community dialogue will take place in January 2012. Please let David Dalley know if you are interested in connecting with this project. Early Years Workshops

The SNFP offers an educational outreach workshop titled Honouring the Religious and Spiritual Identities of Children in Early Childhood Education. It is 2 to 4 hours long, and is geared towards preschool and early elementary school teachers. The purpose of this workshop is to explore spirituality and religion as important components of the whole child in the education of young children. Please let David Dalley know if you are interested in observing this workshop or training to become a presenter.

Ongoing Events

Community Sweat Lodge and Drum Circle The Cwenengitel Aboriginal Society hosts community sweat lodges and drum circles. The drum circles take place every Thursday evening at 6:30pm, the sweat lodges take place every second Saturday starting at 10:30am. The next sweats are December 3 & 17. There are separate lodges for men and women. Men must wear shorts, and women must wear a long skirt or gown to the ankles. The events are open to people from all faith traditions. For more information, please contact Wally LaVigne at wally@cwenabso.org or (604) 588-5561 October 2011 June 2012 Interfaith Speakers Series The South Fraser Unitarian Congregation in Surrey is hosting a 1st Sunday Community Interfaith Series that will run from October 2011 to June 2012. Speakers will reflect on the following theme: We live together in diverse communities. As individuals, we draw on our belief systems to guide the ways we think and act. Our belief systems shape how we relate to one another and how we come together as a community. What are some of the core values and practices of your faith tradition? How do they shape and strengthen your faith community? How might the wisdom of your faith tradition help us to live and flourish in our diverse community? We will hear perspectives from the following worldviews: Hinduism, Paganism, Humanism, Islam, Kabir Panth, Sikhism, Christianity and Bahai. For more information, please contact info@sfuc.bc.ca. November 1 to January 31 The Faith of our Neighbours Join Northwood United Church for an 11 week education series which will explore the many and varied faith traditions practiced in our neighborhood. Led by Rev. Will Sparks and Sid Bentley, world religions educator, sessions at the church will be interspersed with out trips to places of prayer in our community. The series takes place Tuesday evenings at 7:00pm. For more details and to register, contact the church office at (604) 581-8454.

Further down the road...

February 4, 2012 Workshop at Children the Heart of the Matter Conference The Surrey Neighbouring Faiths Program will be presenting a workshop to early childhood educators at the Children the Heart of the Matter conference in Surrey. Visit the website for more information and to register. May 10-11, 2012 Workshop at 2012 Cities Fit for Children Provincial Summit The 3rd Annual Cities Fit for Children Provincial Summit is dedicated to the sustainable development of our cities and urban and rural areas. The event will bring together local, municipal and regional leaders involved in policy

decisions and designing and building healthy safe communities for children and families. Come and hear how multifaith networks can play an important role in this process.

Keep in touch...

What to learn more about the Surrey Neighbouring Faiths Program? Visit our website, watch our documentary, or look through past editions of this newsletter. Want to stay connected? Sign up to receive this monthly newsletter or join our Facebook group. This newsletter contains links to other events and resources in the community. Unless you are receiving this newsletter directly, some of the links may be disabled. To receive this newsletter directly, sign up at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/surreyneighbouringfaiths/. Our Mission Statement is: The Surrey Neighbouring Faiths Program builds community capacity for multifaith learning and dialogue with a focus on children and families. If you have any programming or project ideas that relate to this mission statement, please let me know. We are always open to new ideas! In peace, David Dalley (604) 502-8661 davidanderin@dalley.ca Comforted by how much we share, were able to delight in our differences. - Raffi, from A Covenant for Honouring Children Soulstice poster (in publicity) Multicultural mural project poster PH2H newsletter Sfuc poster