This past September 11, over 170 people from over 10 faith communities in Spartanburg and Greenville, SC attended an interfaith celebration, with a wonderful keynote by Rabbi Yossi Liebowitz on the theme of compassion and over $1,000 raised for Doctors without Borders.
To continue to build the interfaith community in our area, a team of interfaith religious leaders have organized bi-monthly reading groups over the course of this year, leading up to our second annual gathering on Thursday, September 10, 2015. The reading groups will meet every other month to discuss chapters from Karen Armstrong’s Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life [ISBN-13: 978-0307742889]. The purpose of these reading groups is to listen and speak together, to understand compassion from religious perspectives other than our own, and to share insight into how to live compassionately from our own traditions. We hope this will strengthen our understanding of our similarities and differences, and bind us together more closely as a community.
All are welcome to attend these reading groups, whether they participated in the event on September 11 or not. While regular attendance will help build community, anyone interested should come when available, even if they cannot attend every meeting. Please feel welcome to spread the word about this opportunity.
The facilitated meetings offered are listed below. If these times do not work for you, please feel welcome to form your own group. If you do so, let us know and we will publicize that opportunity too.
Join us in building of a community of deeper wisdom, compassion, and friendship.
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Reading Group Offerings:
1.
Location: First Presbyterian Church‘s Arthur Center [at 410 E. Kennedy St. Spartanburg, SC 29302]
Dates: Every other month, on the second Thursday of the month [Nov. 13, Jan. 8, March 12, May 7, July 9, Sept. 10]
Time: Noon
Readings: 2 Chapters/session, completing the book on Sept. 10 [For Nov. 13, read the Preface, First Step, and Second Step]
Facilitators: Team of Yossi Liebowitz, Scott Neely, and interfaith community leaders
Meal: We will share a light meal at each session; the first will be provided by First Presbyterian Church. Please RSVP to Didi Terry at dterry@fpcspartanburg.org.
2.
Location: First Presbyterian Church‘s Arthur Center [at 410 E. Kennedy St. Spartanburg, SC 29302]
Dates: Every other month, on the second Thursday of the month [Nov. 13, Jan. 8, March 12, May 7 (at Temple B’nai Israel at 146 Heywood Rd. in Spartanburg, with a meal provided by the synagogue), July 9, Sept. 10]
Time: 6:00pm
Readings: 2 Chapters/session, completing the book on Sept. 10 [For Nov. 13, read the Preface, First Step, and Second Step]
Facilitators: Team of Yossi Liebowitz, Scott Neely, and interfaith community leaders
Meal: We will share a light meal at each session; the first will be provided by First Presbyterian Church. Please RSVP to Didi Terry at dterry@fpcspartanburg.org.
3.
Location: The Atlantic Institute [12 Davis Keats Dr. in Greenville]
Dates: Every other month, on the second Tuesday of the month [Dec. 9, Feb. 10, Apr. 14, June 9, Aug. 11, Oct. 13]
Time: 6:30pm
Readings: 2 Chapters/session, completing the book on the final session after the interfaith community gathering on Sept. 10, 2015 [For Dec. 9, read the Preface, First Step, and Second Step]
Facilitators: Team of M.B. Ulmer, Akif Aydin, and the Atlantic Institute
Meal: We will share a light meal at each session; the first will be provided by the Atlantic Institute. Please RSVP to Christina Bell at cbell@atlanticinstitutesc.org.
–Project for Community Transformation
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