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ED Reflections on URI Ninth anniversary |
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Written by Rev. Charles Gibbs
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Thursday, 25 June 2009 |
Dear Friends,
Greetings of love and peace.
Nine years ago this Friday, 26 June 2000, the 55th anniversary of the
signing of the UN Charter, founding members of the URI from around the
world gathered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA to sign URI's Charter.
Work on the Charter was formally launched with URI's first global summit, "Discovering the Steps for a United Religions Charter," held at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, California, USA, 24 - 28 June 1996, and with a goal to sign the Charter on 26 June 2000. Attended by 55 people of diverse faiths and vocations, that summit established that URI would work from the grassroots up, rather than focusing on the top religious leaders, that we would include the leadership of women as well as men, and that, in addition to religions, we would include people who considered themselves as spiritual more than religious and people of indigenous traditions.
We also realized that if URI was to be a truly global organization, people from all over the world had to participate in its creation. For that to happen in a meaningful way, it wasn't enough to hold yearly global gatherings in San Francisco, even if people from around the world participated. It was essential, we decided, to take the URI vision out into the world, to engage people where they lived, in their home contexts, in dreaming of what the URI should be and then planning and working to make that shared vision a reality. In addition to this strong direction, the summit produced the origami star, created by Walter Gray, that would become URI's logo.
So it was that between mid-April and mid-May 1997, URI held regional summits in Oxford, UK; New York City, New York, USA; and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Representatives from these regional summits were among the 200+ people who gathered at Stanford University, 23-27 June 1997, for
URI's second global summit - "Toward a Charter for the United Religions - Building Worldwide Commitment." We spent the week focusing on the potential mission, values, agenda for action and organizational design of a United Religions. The work of this summit unleashed a torrent of creativity toward the development of a Charter, grounded in a statement of purpose that had emerged from a collaborative effort, led by Josef Boehle and Deborah Moldow, following the 1996 summit:
"We, people of faith, called by our respective traditions to compassion in response to the suffering of humanity and the crises which endanger our planet,wish to create permanent centers where the world's religions and spiritual movementswill gather daily to engage in prayerful dialogue to make peace among religionsleading to cooperative action for the sake of all life and the earth.
"We respect the uniqueness of each religion and faith tradition, value every voice,
and believe that our shared values can lead to cooperative action for the good of all.
"We acknowledge that our religious life has often divided us and been used to justify shedding
blood rather than building community. We affirm that, in spite of apparent differences of practice or belief, our faiths call us to care for one another. We believe that the wisdomof our religious and spiritual traditions must be shared for the sake of all.
"Therefore, as communities of faith and interdependent people rootedin our faith, we now unite for the sake of peace and healing among religions, peoples and nations, and for the wholeness of the earth.
"We unite to pray for peace, to practice peacemaking, to be a force for healing, and to provide a safe space for conflict resolution.
"We unite to support freedom of religion or belief and the rights of all individuals, as set forth in international law, and to witness together to the wondrous spirit of life which embraces all our diversity.
"We unite in cooperative action to bring the wisdom of our religious traditions to bear on the economic, environmental and social crises that confront us at the dawn of the new millennium.
"We unite to be a voice of shared values in the international arenas of politics, economics and the media, and to serve as a forum for research and excellence on values in action.
"We unite to provide an opportunity for participation by all people, especially by those whose voices are not often heard.
"All members of the United Religions do solemnly vow to use our combined resources only for nonviolent, compassionateaction in our whole-hearted efforts to manifestdivine love among all life on earth."
URI's Charter is the expression of unity that creates a community our of URI's remarkable diversity. This is a perfect opportunity to spend some time deepening your appreciation of the Charter.
So, I encourage CC contact members to share this with their CC members.
I encourage you to spend some time comparing this foundational draft purpose statement with the Preamble of URI's Charter that owes so much to this beginning.
And I encourage you to find a joyous way to celebrate URI's 9th birthday today, June 26, 2009.
I pray this finds you all well.
Love, Charles
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 25 June 2009 )
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