In a metropolitan area as a diverse and pluralistic as Dallas-Forth Worth, interactions between people of different cultures and religions remain remarkably rare. Think about the last time you engaged in meaningful conversation about faith and life with someone from a different religious tradition than yours. It may be hard to come up with such an experience, because most of us aren’t regularly presented with opportunities for such dialogue. Just because our children attend the same schools or we shop at the same grocery stores doesn’t necessarily mean we take the time to actually talk and listen and cultivate a relationship.

For several decades, Transfiguration has participated in a multi-faith relationship with several other local religious communities, whose members live in this same area of north Dallas/Richardson/Plano. It began with a desire to bring people together to share in an act of prayer and thanksgiving on the evening before Thanksgiving Day, and the first communities to participate were Transfiguration, King of Glory Lutheran Church, Spring Valley United Methodist, Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, and Temple Shalom. Each congregation took turns hosting and leading the service, all the clergy participated, a sermon was preached, and afterward pie was shared. In the late 1990s, Fr. Roper dramatically raised the stakes of the relationship by calling on the five communities to partner in building a Habitat for Humanity home, eventually resulting in a collaboration that led to the construction of two houses.

It may have seemed back then that the relationship between the congregations was indicative of a broader societal movement toward openness and tolerance. Dallas is always getting more diverse culturally and religiously, and many probably understood that to be something to embrace. Yet, the last few years have revealed that we have much work to do as a society in fostering greater understanding and compassion across cultural and religious lines, and we at Transfiguration must not become complacent by resting on our past efforts. Jesus calls us to love our neighbors as he loves them, and love is a constantly growing, serving, active force. How we loved in the past informs how we love today, but every day is a new opportunity to obey that sacred command to love.

Last year we resumed this Thanksgiving Eve service at King of Glory after a few year’s hiatus, and I had the privilege of preaching. This year we have the honor of hosting, and it enables us to show our love and care for our neighbors as they visit our church. In addition to those five founding congregations, last year we welcomed Temple of Faith CME Church, the Islamic Association of North Texas, and Holy Trinity Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and this year several additional local congregations have also been invited. Meanwhile, we’re working more closely with the Richardson Interfaith Alliance, and I have recently joined Faith Forward Dallas, a multi-faith initiative to build bridges between the people of our city that led the religious response to the police shooting in July.

Healing the religious divisions in our society is bigger than any one of us can accomplish, but each of us has a role to play. We start by gathering with people who believe differently from us, and choosing to sit with them, speak with them, listen to them, and pray with them. I hope you’ll come out tonight at 7:00 p.m. to help us grow this beautiful tradition, and build a few more bridges of friendship and understanding.

-Casey+