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Speedfaithing event kickstarts interfaith dialogue

Learn More
    -Interfaith at Dominican: Better Together I University Ministry
    -Faculty: Jeff Carlson I Richard Woods, OP I Lund-Gill Chair
    -Interfaith Youth Core: ifyc.org I Dr. Eboo Patel
Five minutes. That’s just about the right amount of time for two people to explain the core of their faith beliefs to each other without getting bogged down in differences or dogma.

It’s the concept at the core of the "speedfaithing" event held November 1 by Dominican University students in the interfaith leadership class of the university’s Lund-Gill Chair, Dr. Eboo Patel. The event, which took place after Patel delivered the sixth annual Lund-Gill Lecture, saw some 100 students, faculty, staff and community members line up for quick, positive conversations about each other’s faith backgrounds.

After five minutes, participants shifted seats, and the interfaith dialogue began anew. Conversations hinged around questions posed by a facilitator.

"It’s a quick way of interacting with a multitude of people, a lot of whom come from different faith backgrounds," said Dominican senior Hannah Minks, who emceed the event. "We designed the flow of the questions in a way that assumed most people would already be on board with the concept of interfaith cooperation, but not that they necessarily believe it’s possible."

The eighth and final question asked participants to discuss whether interfaith cooperation truly was possible.

"Oh it’s possible, and I think we made great strides toward it tonight," said Patel, the founder and president of Interfaith Youth Core. "I love when students put forth that question and then actually show people that they have the power to move the world in that direction."

Interfaith Youth Core is a Chicago-based organization that seeks to promote cooperation among different religious and secular communities and mobilizes students on college campuses to serve as interfaith leaders. Dominican is one of four universities in Illinois to partner with IFYC to create a “Better Together” student chapter to lead interfaith activities on campus.

After the conversation period, students invited all participants to volunteer with the group’s selected service partner, Exodus World Service, an organization that welcomes and creates care packages for refugees in the Chicago area.

According to Matt Palkert, a university minister who works with Dominican’s Better Together team, interfaith service is a natural fit at the university.

"Interfaith cooperation is all about creating a more just and humane world," Palkert said. "The unique thing about interfaith cooperation is that it not only allows but asks each of us to bring to the table what our own faith inspiration or non-religious inspiration is.

"I believe that people’s commitment to social justice is deepened when they are in touch with why they are committed to it in the first place. And when they can identify with other students, faculty and staff and their inspiration, it makes for a more cohesive and meaningful effort."