Grand Valley Magazine Summer 2014 - (Page 14)

DON O R I M PAC T Kaufman Interfaith Institute works to broaden understanding by Nate Hoekstra Two years ago, Doug Kindschi, director of the Sylvia and Richard Kaufman Interfaith Institute at Grand Valley, was busy supervising and planning a year that would see more than 300 events take place all with the central aim of exploring commonalities and differences in the religions of the world. 2012 was the institute's "Year of Interfaith Understanding," the most ambitious grouping of interfaith events in the history of the organization. Grand Valley created the institute in 2007 to honor Sylvia Kaufman and her 20plus years of dedication to promoting understanding among faiths in West Michigan. Since the conclusion of the Year of Interfaith Understanding, Kindschi has been working to establish long-term goals for the institute and establish programs that will help diversify the community and make a positive impact on the business community in West Michigan. Kindschi said understanding people of different faiths is today's most critical issue. With impacts ranging from success in business to promoting peace on a global scale, Kindschi said understanding the deep faith traditions of different groups is essential. 14 Summer '14 "When religion combines with governments, armies and dictators, and when it's misused it can and does lead to real war," Kindschi said. "I'm convinced that if we can get people of different religions to understand each other, they might not be misused by despotic political leaders. If we don't, there may not be another century to have to worry about, that's how strongly I feel about it." Kindschi said the rapid-ﬁre pace of the Year of Interfaith Understanding was fantastic, especially with community involvement from faith organizations, cultural organizations and student groups, but holding that many events for an extended period of time wasn't sustainable. The year's events were showcased on PBS's "Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly" last year; the program won a Gabriel Award. "We are working now to move toward institutionalizing activities," Kindschi said. "We are working with faith groups, student organizations, the Interfaith Youth Corps, and businesses to give them all a stake in continuing the conversation on a regular basis." Kindschi said all religions share some basic tenets, but the interfaith conversations they are encouraging shouldn't gloss over the details of a person's faith traditions. Kindschi calls it thick dialogue instead of thin dialogue. "Anyone can sit down and agree on a few basic things between two religions," Kindschi said. "We encourage people to bring the richness of their faith and beliefs to the table. We're not just looking for agreement, we're looking for understanding. The goal is to learn, not judge, not to convert or proselytize." Kindschi also said business is a key player in the institute's future goals. He said a community that's understanding of different religions is one that's welcoming to people of different cultures and from different countries. "We're working with business leaders to bring interfaith understanding to our community," Kindschi said. "One thing that's important to the business community is new business startups. The business community knows the growth of the economy will be enhanced by immigrants, who statistically start more businesses than native-born people. In order to be an appealing location to immigrants, we need to welcome various religions. There's a variety of religious perspectives, and it's important for

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Grand Valley Magazine Summer 2014

Table of Contents
Campus News
Fall Arts Celebration
Athletics
Donor Impact
Sustainability
Research
Q&A Karen Gipson
A seat at the table
Students dig program
Deployment to enrollment
Seeing double
Off the path
Arts
Alumni News

Grand Valley Magazine Summer 2014