{"id":235858,"date":"2026-07-05T04:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T04:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/235858\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T04:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T04:59:08","slug":"faith-250-to-bring-people-leaders-of-diverse-faiths-together-for-dialogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/235858\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith 250 to bring people, leaders of diverse faiths together for dialogue"},"content":{"rendered":"

People and religious leaders in Northeast Pennsylvania of different backgrounds and traditions will come together to discuss some of the country\u2019s monumental documents.<\/p>\n

The first gathering of Faith 250 will take place July 13 at 7 p.m. at Temple Hesed in Scranton\u2019s East Mountain section, with future gatherings planned for the summer and fall. It is part of a national initiative that encourages faith leaders and communities to come together to listen to each other and discuss shared civic values.<\/p>\n

The discussions will focus on four texts: the Declaration of Independence; \u201cThe New Colossus,\u201d a sonnet written by Emma Lazarus; \u201cAmerica the Beautiful,\u201d written by Katharine Lee Bates; and Frederick Douglass\u2019 1852 speech, \u201cWhat to the Slave is the Fourth of July?\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Rabbi Daniel Swartz, spiritual leader of Temple Hesed, was inspired to begin a Faith 250 dialogue locally after reading about a gathering in northern Virginia in The Washington Post in early May. He reached out to other faith groups and received an overwhelmingly positive response.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere really was a sense of, \u2018Oh, I was looking for something like this to happen around the 250th (anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence), and here was the vehicle,\u2019\u201d Swartz said.<\/p>\n

Congregations and religious organizations participating in the Faith 250 gatherings in Northeast Pennsylvania represent Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism. They include Bethel AME Church in Scranton, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Clarks Summit Stake, Covenant Presbyterian Church in Scranton, Elm Park United Methodist Church in Scranton, Islamic Center of Scranton, Jinyin Temple in East Stroudsburg, the Diocese of Scranton, Scranton Area Ministerium, the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Scranton, St. Luke\u2019s Episcopal Church in Scranton, Temple Hesed, Bah\u00e1\u2019\u00eds of Scranton and United Baptist Church of Taylor.\n<\/p>\n

Swartz said the different participants in the gatherings show how diverse the area is. Sister Donna Korba, I.H.M., director of the congregation\u2019s Office of Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation, loves the opportunity for people of different backgrounds to come together.<\/p>\n

\u201cScranton is a small enough city, it is filled with diversity and it\u2019s just so healthy to try to come together,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Attendees will discuss \u201cAmerica the Beautiful\u201d at the July 13 gathering, with food provided. Swartz said the other events will take place in August, September and October, where attendees will talk about \u201cThe New Colossus,\u201d and excerpts from the Declaration of Independence and \u201cWhat to the Slave is the Fourth of July?\u201d The future events will take place in different locations, which he said not only allows participants to meet new people, but to be exposed to a different houses of worship.<\/p>\n

\u201cI figure part of the draw for some people at least is going to be, \u2018Oh, I\u2019ve never been inside a mosque or a Hindu temple or whatever,\u2019 and here will be a chance to do it,\u201d Swartz said.<\/p>\n

\"StandingStanding for a photograph in Temple Hesed in Scranton is Sister Donna Korba, IHM, director of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation for the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Scranton, Phil Yevics, secretary of the Scranton Area Multifaith Ministerium, Lee Carr, director of Christian education at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Scranton, Rev. Mark Alexander, pastor of Bethel A.M.E. Church in Scranton and president of the Scranton Area Multifaith Ministerium, and Rabbi Daniel Schwartz, of the Temple Hesed in Scranton. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)<\/p>\n

Melinda Krokus, a board member for the Islamic Center of Scranton, said the program offers a safe place where participants can listen and share insights into, relationships with and experiences of foundational American texts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that the participants will understand and love one another \u2014 and themselves \u2014 a little bit more than when they arrived,\u201d she said. \u201cI look forward to having the Muslim community participate in such a program and to actively and intentionally spend time with people of other faith traditions. I look forward to the friendships that will be made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Representatives from some of the participating congregations and organizations said they look forward to hearing different perspectives and faith traditions in talking about the values that define America.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important that we hear all those voices \u2026 because it shapes us and it makes us a better person,\u201d said Lee Carr, Christian education director at Covenant Presbyterian Church and a member of the Scranton Area Ministerium.<\/p>\n

Phil Yevics, corresponding secretary for the ministerium and cantor at St. John\u2019s Byzantine Catholic Church in Scranton, said multifaith conversations like Faith 250 are a way to recognize there are many common values and perspectives that people of all faiths share.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy experience has been that the more I learn about other religious traditions, the more committed I\u2019ve become to my own faith tradition,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mary Clare Hallman, the diocese\u2019s secretary for parish life, said being a part of the planning for the gatherings has broadened her perspective. She and the Rev. Scott Sterowski,\u00a0pastor of St. Carlo Acutis Parish\u00a0in Olyphant, will attend the gathering on behalf of the diocese.<\/p>\n

For Swartz, Faith 250 brings to mind a term in Judaism called \u201cchevruta\u201d \u2014 the idea of looking at something together with people that one disagrees with or who are different, which allows people to gain different perspectives. He hopes participants develop a deeper appreciation for the texts and what made the country what it is, and new relationships with people from different faith backgrounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you sit at a table with somebody and you\u2019re studying something together and you\u2019re sharing food, they cease to be a label and they become a person,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re not asking anybody to come away from here with their mind changed about anything, but hopefully with their minds open to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

The gatherings are open to the public, but attendees are asked to register online, which Swartz said allows organizers to figure out the small groups. Registration can be done at https:\/\/www.zeffy.com\/en-US\/ticketing\/faith250-america-the-beautiful<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"People and religious leaders in Northeast Pennsylvania of different backgrounds and traditions will come together to discuss some…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235859,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[201,182,139,28,12441,178,180,179,181],"class_list":["post-235858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-religion","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-top-stories-stt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}