Sam Louwagie, [email protected]
Monday, August 10, 2015
Jama Alimad, a Muslim and organizer with the Greater St. Cloud Interfaith Leaders, addresses the group gathered for an interfaith picnic Sunday at Lake George.
(Photo: Kimm Anderson, [email protected])
They were the kinds of talks people have after a service at churches or mosques — “simple conversations,” according to Jama Alimad, a Somali community elder.
Ahmed Ali, 31, met a Christian man on Sunday who, like Ali, has advocated for the Northstar commuter rail to extend from Big Lake to St. Cloud.
“I had never met him,” said Ali, a Muslim. “And now that’s something we have in common.”
That was the point of an interfaith picnic at Lake George on Sunday, organized by a group called the Greater St. Cloud Interfaith Leaders.
About six months ago, Donald Kettler had the idea. The Catholic Bishop for the Diocese of St. Cloud said he was spurred somewhat by cases of vandalism of Islamic Centers in the city last year, but also simply wanted to build community. So Kettler created the committee of Interfaith Leaders, drawing about 15 members from the Islamic Center, the First Presbyterian Church, the First Methodist Church, the Church of Latter Day Saints, a few Catholic churches, and more.
The group began discussing ways to bring people of different faiths together, in order to ease some racial or religious tension in St. Cloud.
Anab Dahir, center, circulates during the interfaith picnic Sunday at Lake George. (Photo: Kimm Anderson, [email protected])
“People have concerns until they get to know each other,” said Kettler. “We just wanted to meet some people and share a meal.”
“We wanted to recognize the diversity in the community,” said Kathy Langer, director of social concerns for Catholic Charities at the St. Cloud diocese. “And the need of people of faith to stand together.”
Sunday’s event was the first of what the group hopes will be many. It included get-to-know-you games, encouragements to sit down with strangers, and a multi-faith prayer and meal. Some attendees spoke limited English, but smiled and shook hands with others.
“We need to have these conversations in St. Cloud,” Ali said. “Most of us live in silos where we see the same people every day. At events like this, we develop that human relationship with people and learn things.”
Bishop Donald Kettler of the St. Cloud Diocese, right center, talks to Jama Alimad as he makes welcoming remarks during the interfaith picnic Sunday at Lake George. (Photo: Kimm Anderson, [email protected])
One attendee said that message needed to spread beyond the people at Lake George on Sunday. Kettler said the idea had not received any controversy or pushback at his church, but Lori Smith of the First Presbyterian Church said she wanted to see St. Cloud become “more welcoming.”
“I think the people here today are already accepting,” she said. “It’s important for us to go out into the community and share this.”
The organizers of the event looked at it as the first step in an ongoing conversation.
“It’s a good start for the community,” Alimad said. “We want to make many more of these events.”
“We’d like to do this every once in a while,” Kettler said. “And then if there are ever issues in the future, we know each other and can talk to each other.”