The Pastor's Study

On Saturday, September 11th, at 8:30 a.m. we will hold our first annual Men’s Prayer Breakfast.

 This is an event with a history.  Originally, the idea was to have the nine members of our Men’s Covenant Group scramble up a few eggs and invite all the guys in the church to breakfast - kind of a male bonding thing.  The September 11th date was mostly a coincidence of the calendar, but it obviously has symbolic power.

Then one of the guys (just ask me, I’ll name names), came up with the idea of inviting a Muslim to speak.  It was inspired.  In this climate of suspicion and hostility, anything we can do to facilitate interfaith dialogue and understanding is a huge step in the right direction.  We are called to be peacemakers and all three of our passions point us in exactly the direction of facilitating this kind of educational opportunity.

As a member of the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon Theological Education and Dialogue Committee, I had access to some of the Muslim clerics in Portland, who in turn directed me to Rebai Tamberhoulet, a former Executive Director of the Muslim Educational Trust (MET), of Portland, who now works at City Hall as a structural engineer for the City of Salem.  Rebai is a member of Salem’s small Muslim population, and was delighted to be asked to speak at our breakfast.

But, we nine guys immediately realized we had a dilemma.  We could just imagine a bunch of United Methodist Women protesting at our men’s breakfast, chaining themselves to the door as a witness against our chauvinistic exclusionary gathering.  So, for the time being, we’ve dropped the male bonding angle.  We’re still going to call it a Men’s Prayer Breakfast, but women will be welcome.  We’ll do the cooking and wash dishes.

A sign-up sheet will be posted in the hall.  I have a feeling we’re going to need more eggs!

            May Christ be your shalom, Michael

---

The Muslim Educational Trust (MET) of Portland, OR., was founded in 1993 in response to the community's needs in the Portland area. These needs for education about Islam were generated by the Muslim community as well as the Non-Muslim community.

MET's mission is to enrich the public's understanding of Islam and dispel common myths and stereotypes, while serving the Muslim community's educational, social and spiritual needs in order to develop generations of proud and committed Muslims who will lead our community to the fore front of bridge-building dialogue, faith-based community service and stewardship of Earth and humanity.

from the MET web page:  http://www.metpdx.com/index.html