Thanks to our panel at the SiVIC Forum on Sunday, January 14 at the Center for Spiritual Living. The panel was part of the ING Interfaith Speakers Bureau, and did a wonderful job of describing how each of their traditions encourage care for the world and ecological awareness. The panel included Henry Cornbleet (Jewish), Joy Aspenall (Christian), Azmat Tanauli (Muslim) and Madhu Kopalle (Hindu) along with moderator Kate Chance.
Thanks to all those donors and volunteers who helped to make the Coat and Soup Ministry at Grace Baptist Church on December 10th this year such a great success. 70 volunteers on Friday and 124 on Saturday were able to make 870 warm coats available to the homeless, along with a meal. Among the volunteers were the members of the Teen Interfaith Council.
More than 290 people were served and $5,342 was received in donations. The event was sponsored by Grace Baptist and Emmanuel Baptist Church, along with The One Warm Coat Organization, Cityteam Ministries, SJ/SV NAACP, Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley, Pacifica Institute, SiVIC, the Catholic Diocese of San Jose, Shoe Palace and more.
Special thanks to our coordinator, Rev. Celinda Miranda, for her efforts in bringing the project together once again.
Thanks to Steve Herrera for video.
Join us for a celebration of the Silicon Valley Interreligious Council and our work to promote a more just and compassionate community. Earlier this year, the Board of Supervisors endorsed the Charter for Compassion and declared our county to be “Compassionate Santa Clara County.” What would a compassionate county look like? Hear a panel discussion with community leaders, governmental officials, and religious leaders engage the theme. We’ll also have a guest choir, awards honoring those people who have helped make SiVIC what it is today and the chance to meet people from across the religious spectrum of Silicon Valley.
Please RSVP for the SiVIC Assembly 2017 and Forum, so that we can accommodate all attendees.
For any questions or further information, please contact Rev. Joy-Ellen Lipsky at joy-ellen@sivicouncil.org.
More details here.
Thanks to Steve Herrera.
Community members from across the spectrum joined together on Sunday, August 20 for a celebration of unity, a response to the recent events in Charlottesville, and a pledge with local public officials to work together toward justice in the community at large. Civic leaders attending included San Jose Police Chief Eddie Garcia, SJ Mayor Sam Liccardo, San Jose City Council members Chappie Jones and Lan Diep, Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese, and US Representative Zoe Lofgren.
The event was hosted at Evergreen Baptist Church on the east side of San Jose.
For more, see the San Jose Mercury News.
Deacon Steve Herrera, of the SiVIC Board, took photos of the event.
This coming Sunday, July 23, join us at 1:30 pm at the Bay Area Youth Vaishnav Parivar in Milpitas for a panel and discussion on countering stereotypes, religious illiteracy and hate crimes. Our panel includes distinguished speakers from Hindu, Jewish, Ahmadiyya Muslim and Sikh communities.
Full details and registration are available HERE.
Join us on Sunday, July 23, 1:30 pm at the Bay Area Youth Vaishnav Parivar in Milpitas for a panel and discussion on countering stereotypes, religious illiteracy and hate crimes. Our panel includes distinguished speakers from Hindu, Jewish, Ahmadiyya Muslim and Sikh communities.
Full details and registration are available HERE.
The Annual Santa Clara County Holocaust Remembrance Day was held on Tuesday, April 25, with students from local High Schools, Holocaust survivors, and the Board of Supervisors.
On March 1, the Christian world celebrated Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent, a time of preparation, prayer, and fasting looking ahead to Easter next month. Many Christian denominations take part in a ritual of placing ashes on the forehead as a sign of repentance and a reminder that “from dust you came; to dust you shall return.”
This year, in conjunction with the Diocese of San Jose, PACT, and several religious groups, SiVIC co-sponsored an interfaith gathering to lift up our common religious aspiration to be a “Compassionate Community,“ acknowledging that there are many obstacles that prevent us from realizing Compassion: our very selves and the social realities in our community.
The service was in two parts: First, a gathering in the courtyard of the San Jose City Hall to hear testimonies, sacred texts calling for transformation and a reminder of being committed to a Compassionate Community. Speakers included members of the Baha’i, Muslim, Unitarian, Kriya Yoga and Christian traditions. The group then processed to the meeting hall of First Christian Church, where those who wished to receive ashes from Rev. Nichole Lamarche of the Silicon Valley Progressive Christian Community and Rev. Jennifer Goto of St. Paul United Methodist Church.
This gathering marked the beginning of “90 Days of Compassion,” a period that will encompass multiple religious feasts and traditions that fall between March 1 and June 3 and speak to both personal and social transformation.
Photo: Steve Herrera
At a “BANding Against Islamophobia” event last week hosted by Silicon Valley FACES, Samina Sundas, Founder of American Muslim Voice, and Moina Shaiq, President of the Tri Cities Interfaith Council, spoke about the impact of the travel ban on Muslims in our community.
See the full report at ABC7 News.