 "Photo: Travis Beck")
Christian students laughed nervously as they clapped in rhythm during a Jewish Shabbat worship service in Omaha Friday night.
Accompanying the Jewish service were Islamic and Christian ones, all kicking off "Dinner in Abraham's Tent" – a conversation on peace among Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders at the Qwest Center in Omaha.
Religious leaders, hosted by the Tri-Faith Initiative, attempted to step past the call for religious tolerance and acceptance to one of intentional interfaith inclusion.
More than 1,100 people attended, including 35 members of Lincoln's St. Mark's Episcopal Church. More witnessed the event via a live Web cast.
Zach Okeson, a freshman biological sciences major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, volunteered at the event, along with freshman Michael Olsen and senior Nathan Schulte, both fellow members of St. Mark's.
"To me, it's really putting what we believe into action," said Christine Grosh, deacon of St. Mark's Episcopal Curch in Lincoln. "It's the most concrete action in accordance with our values that I've seen our church take."
Rabbi Peter Knobel, president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America, and Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church, all spoke at the event.
There was a special call for young people to revolutionize the standard of religious separation. The three speakers each emphasized building relationships with members of unfamiliar religions, not only as communities but as individuals.
"Campus ministries can sometimes separate people," Mattson said. "The most important lesson for students is that you can bring your faith and values to each other so that we can begin to bridge these separate worlds."
The interfaith worship hour that kicked off the event was packed with Jews, Christians and Muslims, all singing each other's songs, praying each other's prayers and witnessing each other's languages and practices.
The Tri-Faith Initiative plans to build an interfaith campus in West Omaha that will emulate the concept of "Abraham's tent." This "tent" will shelter places of worship for the three Abrahamic faiths: a mosque, a synagogue and a church, as well as a fourth center dedicated to interfaith education and activities.
"Universities are places where you learn about theories (of religions)," Knobel said. "But here, you will learn about traditions and practices and what it's really about."
Many religious leaders agree that worship days are the most segregated hours of the week. Racial and gender segregation have been deemed unethical and "un-American"; now there is a call for religious desegregation.
"Moving beyond professional dialogue, if you put congregations into the same space, now suddenly, not only are we going to have the dialogues, we're going to learn to live together," said moderator Mark Pelavin, associate director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.
To Shakil Ahmed, one of the founders of the Tri-Faith Initiative, the massive gathering was a change from the group's humble beginnings in members' houses.
"This is his dream, to have everyone together," said his wife Zeenat.
Ahmed believes interfaith connections are important because of the common misunderstandings and myths among religions.
"All this fear is fear of the unknown," he said. "Everybody thinks Muslims are running around with bombs around their waists, and that's just not true."
One of the points of the project was to address this and similar fears, said Wendy Goldberg, who represents Temple Israel on the Tri-Faith Board.
"Our kids aren't afraid of each other like previous generations were," she said.
Mattson addressed the skeptics of the project, reassuring them first that it is not the formation of a new religion, but the beginning of a willing, mutual understanding of and peace among religions.
She wants people to put aside their fear, if for no other reason than for the children of a new era, she said. She believes those children are growing up in a culture desensitized to religion.
Schori echoed this view.
"What we experienced this afternoon and tonight was an immense case of vulnerability," Schori said. "When we're able to get out of our own way enough to let God impact us in a new way – That's what we need."
ELLENHIRST@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM