By Deb Vance
Cincinnati, OH — Two members of the Baha’i community in Cincinnati have worked on the steering committee for the Cincinnati Festival of Faiths since it began in 2018. After the success of our first Festival, the committee wanted to continue fostering our interfaith friendships by creating ongoing activities throughout the year giving us all opportunities to learn about each other’s faiths by visiting each other’s congregations, experiencing their worship services and having the opportunity to engage in question and answer sessions about their religions. Participating Faith members have included Hindus, Zoroastrians, Pagans, Jews, Indigenous Americans, Buddhists, Christians, Moslems, Sikhs, and Baha’is. Although we’re all still welcome to attend each other’s services and programs, we wanted to find ways to bring our community even closer together.
This year we’ve begun a dialogue model which should enable us to share our beliefs more fully. The first session of what we’re calling Sacred Friendships was held at the Baha’i Center in Cincinnati. After a potluck dinner, we broke into conversational groups of three or four people of different faiths who explore specific topics that are common among religions. As at other such gatherings, between 30 and 50 people attended each session.
The topic we chose was the Covenant which happens to be a central feature of the Baha’i Faith. We asked everyone to share their understanding of the covenant which their Prophet had made with God: what does it mean to you? For Baha’is all covenants have two parts. The Greater Covenant is about the unchanging spiritual principles common among all faiths, exemplified by such words as, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Lesser Covenants are about each Prophet’s changes in calendars, diets, marriage and divorce, and other social details of the times in which They had lived. I learned from speaking with several Christians that the covenant isn’t as prominent in their teachings.
We all left the event having made new friendships and carrying with us some learnings about what we all have in common and areas where our religions differ.
Several Baha’is in southwest Ohio host interfaith discussion group. One which is convenient to the college is the Baha’is in Lebanon who host a monthly interfaith devotional/discussion group which meets on the third Sunday evening of the month. It begins with a potluck supper followed by readings and discussion on a given topic. If interested please contact for more information sylviahadley2@gmail.com or 937-623-2416.