Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Love Thy Neighbor
Little Rock event goes online and global
An area interfaith event, one centered on gathering in-person to experience diverse religious traditions and celebrate unity, has made the leap this year to a virtual venue. And in doing, it so has geographically expanded the potential for its offerings and its audience reach.
“Love Thy Neighbor,” which in recent years has been held at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church in Little Rock, will be streamed at 6 p.m. Sept. 10 on YouTube with the theme will be “Rebuilding Hope.” Cooking demonstrations featuring multicultural dishes will be streamed in place of the Interfaith Food Festival held after the service.
First created to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11, “Love Thy Neighbor” is sponsored by the Arkansas House of Prayer — a shared ministry of St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Little Rock and the Episcopal Diocese of Arkansas — and the Interfaith Center, part of the Institute for Theological Studies at St. Margaret’s.
The coronavirus pandemic that first shut businesses, restaurants and most houses of worship to in-person services in March has resulted in many faith communities shifting their gatherings to online platforms, checking in with one
another by phone and organizing drive-through efforts for food pantries and other community services.
For the interfaith community, it meant going online for classes on world religions and undertakings such as its annual Interfaith Friendship Camp for students of various religions to learn about other faith traditions. (In the case of the camp, a spy-themed curriculum included trips to worship houses with parents instead of other students and concluded with an in-person parking lot parade.)
The pandemic also brought new considerations for “Love Thy Neighbor,” with featured guests now able to be included in the event from anywhere in the world. The faith leaders addressing those tuning in to this year’s event have a national and international appeal, underlining the importance of interfaith work, according to Sophia Said, executive director of the Interfaith Center.
“There is a realization in our community and our nation that peacemaking is more important than ever,” she says. “When people of different faiths, leaders of different faiths, model the behaviors that [say] we acknowledge, accept, respect and celebrate each other’s … commonalities and our differences, it gives people hope — hope that anything can happen.”
Faith leaders who will speak about rebuilding hope are the Most Rev. Michael Curry, the 27th Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church; Rabbi Hara Person, chief executive of the Central Conference of American Rabbis; award-winning jazz musician, poet, writer and community organizer MarQuis Hunt of Little Rock; Shaykh Didmar Faja, the imam of the of Shabari president Center Arizona and United in spiritual-work Ursula Datta Switzerland. of in Islamic the Phoenix; Kriya Honegger, humanitarian Center Yoga organization and
Musician John Willis, a music director at two churches and a teacher at Pulaski Academy, says the work involved in creating a virtual program amounted to of Neighbor multigenerational, a previous “total the spirit events redesign” years’ and and Love the multifaith to the flow retain Thy community to providing. and racially it is dedicated diverse “It’s not just about putting rectangle everything and making onto sure a everybody to get has in to the look password at the He notes rectangle,” that organizers says Willis. for more this time year’s “talking event on spent a spiritual, philosophical and ethical level about what was going on [in the world]” in the midst of the pandemic and worldwide protests of racism and police brutality after the death of George Floyd in May.”
“This pandemic has really moved us into a deeper level of engagement and reverence for this work that we’re doing with the Love Thy Neighbor interfaith event,” Willis says.
Sound will still factor into the gathering in a big way, with calls to prayer across faith traditions being featured, along with prayer and song in unison, and a brief silence. Little Rock native LaSheena Gordon will perform during the program, as will the Fosters, a singing family of four based in the area.
In keeping with the theme, Willis says this year’s music is “not a lot of happy, rosy sunshine and lollipops and rainbows.”
“It’s addressing the fact that our hopes have been destroyed in a lot of ways, and for many people — black and brown people in particular, in our country and throughout the world — hope has been something that has been destroyed, eroded intentionally, dismantled and taken apart for years, for generations.
“We felt really called to address the anxieties and the fears and the hurt and the outrage and the mourning that surround what we’re all going through right now as a part of the process of rebuilding this hope,” Willis says.