"We Never Felt We Were Among Strangers"

Second interfaith post for today. I actually noticed this Canadian Press piece in the local paper a few weeks back and meant to post it. The story reconfirms my gratitude for the many gifts that our Mennonite brothers and sisters bring to the church. MP+


By Brenda Suderman (Canadian Press)
Fri Jun 17 2011

Mennonite theologians, Iranian Muslim clerics discuss views of human nature

WINNIPEG — They visited Winnipeg to talk about their theological understanding of human nature, but seven Iranian Muslim clerics also came away with some practical examples of how Christians live and express their faith.





“People were very friendly and it was a warm environment,” Mohammed Fanaei Eshkevari said after attending a Sunday morning worship service at Bethel Mennonite Church.

“We never felt we were among strangers.”

Fanaei Eshkevari and six of his colleagues from the Imam Khomeini Education & Research Institute in Qom, Iran, met at Canadian Mennonite University earlier this month for three days of closed-door discussions with seven Mennonite theologians from Canada and the United States.

It marked the fifth formal meeting between Shia Muslim scholars from Iran and Mennonite scholars, and the first time the dialogue met in Winnipeg. The previous Canadian meetings took place in Toronto and Waterloo.

The Winnipeg event also marked the first time Iranian Muslim women were involved, with nine female graduate students attending as observers and staying an extra week to study peacemaking from a Christian perspective.

Read the whole piece here.