World Religion Day happens this weekend

NEWS RELEASE
VOLUNTEER INTER-FAITH COMMITTEE OF SAULT STE. MARIE
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The Volunteer Inter-Faith Committee of Sault Ste. Marie will host World Religion Day at Central United Church, (160 Spring St.), on Sunday, Jan. 20 at 2 p.m.

The theme of this year’s event is 'Embracing Our Diversity.'

World Religion Day, initiated in 1950 by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States, is an interfaith observance celebrated on the third Sunday in January each year.

Though initiated in the United States, World Religion Day has come to be a globally celebrated event. Its purpose is to promote the idea that the spiritual principles underlying the world’s religions are harmonious, and to suggest that religions can play a role in unifying humanity.

In 1991, Roya Mogharrabi, the late Tony Cooper, and the local Baha’i community joined together with friends from other faith groups to celebrate World Religion Day in Sault Ste. Marie.

Over all those years, members of many faith communities met together to celebrate the event, sharing their religious traditions in a spirit of fellowship.

In 2015, the Volunteer Interfaith Committee of Sault Ste. Marie was created to continue facilitating World Religion Day activities. The Committee believes that when representatives of different religions and cultures meet for fellowship and an exchange of ideas, they develop increasing respect for each other and are strengthened in their efforts to encourage this respect in the local community and the world at large.

The Committee’s outreach activities have now expanded beyond this one-day celebration. The public is welcome to join in a program of prayers, music and stories followed by light refreshments.

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