Bridging the red/blue divide in our families, faith communities, and beyond Our third season of storytelling and conversation on issues we all care about brings together people with rich spiritual backgrounds and diverse perspectives to share their personal stories and invite you into the conversation. These days congregations in all faith traditions in the United States are grappling with complicated issues that bring out strong feelings.  Rather than avoiding the difficult conversations, some leaders have chosen to create space and guidelines to address them together.  Which strategies are working?  What needs to be in place for continued success?   How do leaders get training and build support to do this work?  Our storytellers will share their experiences.    Click on Speaker image to read Biography. SpeakerSpeakerSpeaker Register Now for this Event Never attended an Inspiring Stories event before? Check out our previous seasons:Inspiring Stories for Uncertain TimesInspiring Stories: Healing Our World

Bridging the red/blue divide in our families, faith communities, and beyond   Welcome to our third season of storytelling and conversation on complex issues we all care about. Once again, The Guibord Center and IslamiCity are bringing together people with rich spiritual backgrounds and diverse perspectives to share powerful stories from the heart and invite you into the conversation. Do we discuss politics in our religious/spiritual spaces, and if so, why and how? What boundaries should congregations set around political topics, if any?  Are there legal constraints affecting our non-profit status? How do we make such talks positive and hopeful instead of righteous and polarizing? Speakers for this event: Mohamed Dewji - Bio Mark England - Bio       Rev. Wendy Silvers - Bio The Guibord Center is an interfaith organization dedicated to opening hearts and minds. We’re partnering with IslamiCity, a global Muslim e-community, to offer Inspiring Stories. To learn more, check out our previous seasons: Inspiring Stories for Uncertain Times Inspiring Stories: Healing Our World Compelling storytellers whose personal reflections open space for deeper exploration and transformative engagement on challenging issues that affect us all.  We hope this virtual collaboration will serve as a model of spiritual […]

Inter-sect Marriages Marriages between people from different branches of the same spiritual tradition can be just as complex as interfaith marriages!  Our Keynote Storytellers will share some surprises they encountered and the choices they made together over the years.   With interfaith marriage on the rise in the United States and other countries, we continue a four-part series exploring the challenges and deeply rewards experienced by interfaith families. In this fourth session, our Keynote Storytellers will share stories from inter-sect marriages (e.g.Sunni/Shia, Orthodox/Conservative, Protestant/Catholic) which can have many of the same challenges and blessings as marriages between people from two distinctly different spiritual traditions. Inspiring Stories is a virtual collaboration between The Guibord Center - Religion Inside Out, an interfaith organization dedicated to opening hearts and minds, and IslamiCity, a global Muslim e-community. We hope these conversations serve as a model of spiritual and interreligious engagement and mutual enrichment to unite our communities in faith and hope for a better world. REGISTER TODAY

Challenges and blessings of interfaith marriage and families   With interfaith marriage on the rise in the United States and other countries, we continue a four-part series exploring the challenges and rewards of interfaith families. In this third session, our storytellers will share their experiences weaving interfaith family life across three generations. Through these stories, they’ll shine a light on the past, present, and future of this fascinating microcosm of interfaith encounters occurring throughout our communities.     Guest Moderator Rev. Dr. Tanya Sadagopan  (Protestant/Hindu family) Biography Speaker Mr. Kersi Bhikhaji Shroff Zoroastrian married to Roman Catholic Biography   Speaker Claire Dietrich Ranna Christian married to Muslim Biography   In our final session in August 2022, we will hear stories from inter-sect marriages (e.g., Sunni/Shia, Orthodox/Conservative, Protestant/Catholic…), which can have many of the same conflicts and blessings as marriages between people from two distinctly different spiritual traditions.   Inspiring Stories is a virtual collaboration between The Guibord Center - Religion Inside Out, an interfaith organization dedicated to opening hearts and minds, and IslamiCity, a global Muslim e-community. We hope these conversations serve as a model of spiritual and interreligious engagement and mutual enrichment to unite our communities in faith and hope for […]

Raising Kids in Interfaith Families   With interfaith marriage on the rise in the United States and other countries, we continue a four-part series exploring the experiences of interfaith families. In this second session, we focus on families that have chosen to raise their kids in two or more spiritual traditions. Our Keynote Storytellers will share their own experiences and insights. Through these family stories, they’ll shine a light on this growing trend's past, present, and future.   Michelle Mekky Michelle is an award-winning broadcast journalist, public relations executive, and passionate advocate for interfaith issues. Read more   Rev. Dr. Tanya Sadagopan Rev. Dr. Tanya Sadagopan is a UCC Christian minister in Wisconsin who celebrates the gifts of her multicultural interfaith marriage of 25 years to Iyengar Hindu husband, Dr. Sriram Sadagopan. Read more Dr. Janet Allen and Dr. Farrokh Mistree Janet K. Allen and Farrokh Mistree are professors at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma, and the co-directors of the Systems Realization Laboratory @ OU, a multicultural, multidisciplinary academic family focused on educating the following generation of engineering professors. Read more   Future sessions will explore: Generational perspectives on interfaith families Inter-sect marriage (e.g.Sunni/Shia, Orthodox/Conservative, Protestant/Catholic…)  Inspiring Stories is […]