
On the eve of the tenth anniversary of 9-11 more than one hundred persons from several religious traditions gathered in Wilmington, Delaware at the Wilmington Friends Meeting House. The area’s 40+ year old peace organization, Pacem in Terris, led the event planners, who decided to entitle the gathering, “Ten Years After 9-11–Moving from Fear to Friendship: Living and Working Together as One Human Family.” The planners recognized that there would be many services of mourning in the nation on this occasion, and that while it was important to remember and honor the victims, perhaps the best way to do this would be to promote local efforts at interfaith peacemaking.
The audio file attached to this post was recorded at the gathering. You can play the recording by clicking on the button at the bottom of this post.
I am grateful to singer-song writer John Flynn for allowing me to podcast two of his songs. I apologize to John and other speakers for inconsistent volume levels, as I tried to adjust a hand-held digital recorder to widely varying inputs.
The following notes will help listeners identify the speakers:
- Greeting and invitation to a moment of Quaker silence: Paul Wishengrad (member of the Wilmington Society of Friends).
- Call to prayer: Imam Umar Hassan-El
- Song: John Flynn, singing his composition, “We Will Not Fear”
- Hindu Voice: Asha Dodia
- Islamic Voice: Imam Umar Hassan-El
- Unitarian Voice: Rev. Larry Smith
- Jewish Voice: Constance Kreshtool
- Song: “Let There Be Peace on Earth”, led by John Flynn
- Native American Voice: Bruce Palmer (Owltalker, a member of the Mi’kmaq tribe of Eastern Canada)
- Catholic (Franciscan) Voice: Father John Frambes
- Buddhist Voice: Rekha Doraiswamy
- Protestant Voice: Canon Lloyd Casson
- Song: John Flynn, singing his composition, “Not With My Jesus”
- Bahai’I Voice: Ben Loder
- Non-Denominational Voce and Benediction: Rev. Dr. David Albert Farmer
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Click on the button directly below to play the recording.
[audio:http://www.faith.teledavis.com/wp/audio/interfaith_service_2011_09_10.mp3]