Major rebrand for popular venue, The Derby Conference Centre
Added by Love Business East Midlands | 28 June 2019
The Derby Conference Centre is a stunning Grade II-listed building based in a central location in Derby. Due to unprecedented business growth and a desire to diversify, the centre has recently undergone a complete rebrand, incorporating a new website and logo, focusing on the initials DCC.
Whilst the centre will maintain the name 'The Derby Conference Centre', the owners have made a conscious decision to make its logo more generic, moving the emphasis away from the term 'Conference Centre'.
The striking new logo is simple, but effective, and works as part of the overall rebrand, which also incorporates a pallet of 6 modern colours. These colours represent their '6 core services'; Hotels, Meetings, Events, Weddings, Offices & Conferences. By using the initials 'DCC', the venue was able to cleverly introduce the use of an '@DCC' when referring to these services. For example Hotel has become [email protected] , Weddings are [email protected] and Events are [email protected] etc.
Historically recognised as being mainly a conference centre, the venues rebrand now brings to the fore all the other services the centre has to offer. The rebrand comes 12 years after a successful relaunch in 2007, with the aim of creating a venue that will appeal to a wider audience. For more than a decade the already versatile venue has welcomed in business and leisure users by providing a hotel, conference rooms and hosting events. But more recently they have added to their portfolio with wedding facilities, a monthly comedy club and regular organised themed evenings. The new brand now reflects the flexibility and diversity of the centre.
The Derby Conference Centre were eager to use the expertise of external agencies to bring to life the rebrand. Using their existing marketing agency, 'Mocha Marketing' along with specialist branding agency 'Think Plus Ink' the teams were able to put their heads together and deliver on the centre's brief. The vision was to create a modern brand which could work as an umbrella to all the different services the venue has to offer whilst keeping a subtle nod to the centre's history.
When asked about the rebrand and why they are doing it now, Matthew Hutchings, the Managing Director said
'I am delighted with the result of this rebrand and the new website. We wanted something that would bring an equal emphasis to all of our services, that was modern and future proof. We feel our new brand does all of these things and we couldn't be happier.
The rebrand is just the start, throughout 2019 we are upgrading our facilities, to include a new restaurant, new meeting rooms and new décor and furniture. We have an amazing team, that really understand the vision and commitment we are bringing to Derby. We are one venue but so much more than just a conference centre.'
To find out more on The Derby Conference Centre and what is has to offer you, visit their new website at: /thederbyconferencecentre.com
You can also get in touch via email at: [email protected] or call them on 01332 861842.


Kira Thurman
Emeritus / Emerita Faculty
Current Grad Students
Undergraduate Peer Mentors
Assistant Professor of German
Assistant Professor of History

Faculty; Graduate Faculty
PhD, History, University of Rochester (2013)
ON LEAVE, 2019-2020
Kira Thurman is an assistant professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures and History at the University of Michigan. A classically-trained pianist who grew up in Vienna, Austria, Thurman earned her PhD in history from the University of Rochester in 2013 with a minor field in musicology from the Eastman School of Music. Her research, which has appeared in German Studies Review, Journal of the American Musicological Society (JAMS), Opera Quarterly, and Journal of World History, focuses on two topics that occasionally converge: the relationship between music and German national identity, and Central Europe's historical and contemporary relationship with the black diaspora.
She is the recipient of many awards and fellowships, including a Fulbright fellowship to Germany and the Berlin Prize from the American Academy of Berlin (Fall 2017). Her article, "Black Venus, White Bayreuth: Race, Sexuality, and the De-Politicization of Wagner" won the German Studies Association's prize for best paper by a graduate student in 2011 and the DAAD prize for best article on German history in 2014. She is currently writing her first book, which is called Singing Like Germans: Black Musicians in the Land of Bach, Beethoven and Brahms.
She teaches courses on a wide variety of subjects, including Music and German National Identity; Germany and the Black Diaspora; Global Cultural Encounters Since 1800; and Performing Race, Gender, Nation (grad seminar).
A newcomer to the digital humanities, she has become interested in applying geo-spatial technologies and data visualization tools to history and musicology, and has taken on two different digital history projects as a result: the first visualizes black biographies in Central European spaces, and the second maps the German musical diaspora around the world.
Fields of Study:
Modern Central Europe
Music and Sound Studies
Nationalism and racism
Transatlanticism and transnationalism
U-M Affiliation: History
Award(s):
American Academy in Berlin
Fulbright Program
German Academic Exchange Program (DAAD)
Dietrich Botstiber Foundation Austrian-American Studies
The National Humanities Center
Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin
IFK Wien
German Historical Institute, Washington, DC.
Black Central Europe
AAS 358-008
Topics in Black World Studies
HISTORY 208-001
Topics in History
Singing the Civilizing Mission in the Land of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms: The Fisk Jubilee Singers in Nineteenth-Century Germany
Journal of World History (Special Issue: "Preaching the Civilizing Mission"), Volume 27, No. 3 (Fall 2016).
The German Lied and the Songs of Black Volk
Invited Contributor
"Colloquy: Studying the Lied: Hermeneutic Traditions and the Challenges of Performance" in Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 67, No. 2 (August 2014).
Black Venus, White Bayreuth: Race, Sexuality, and the De-Politicization of Wagner in Postwar West Germany
German Studies Review, Vol. 35, No. 3 (October 2012).
Wagnerian Dreams, Grandiose Visions: Lawrence Freeman's Opera, Voodoo, at the Miller Theater at Columbia University
Review Essay
Opera Quarterly, Volume 32, No. 2 (Fall 2016).
'Black Germany: The Making and Unmaking of a Diaspora Community, 1884-1960,' by Robbie Aitken and Eve Rosenhaft
H-German (Spring 2016).
'Germany and the Black Diaspora: Points of Contact, 1250-1914,' edited by Mischa Honeck, Martin Klimke, and Anne Kuhlmann
Canadian Journal of History, Volume 50, No. 2 (August 2015).


Uganda, Lake Bunyoni and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
Posted on September 30, 2016 by vmartin555
So we got our Gorilla permits sorted, but we still had a bit of time to kill, so after Queen Elizabeth NP, we decided to head for Lake Bunyoni in the South of the country and chill out for a bit. On the climb out from QENP we past the stunning series of Crater lakes that are at the top of the hills here. Some appear to be just normal lakes that come right up to the road side, whereas others have very steep sides, and the water's a long way down, but all are crystal clear and beautiful in the early morning low light.
This was the start of the tea growing area for Uganda, and it was strange to see both large scale growing of tea, and also small scale (tiny plots owned by individual families), they sell the tea to large factories.
At the town of Kabale, we turned off onto the dirt track that takes you up over the mountain and then back down to Lake Bunyoni, this is quite steep in places, but it was dry and we had decent grip. Then after about 10 km we drove through the small village and into the camp at the lake side. This really is a beautiful place, and is quite popular as a stop over for the overland tour trucks (each with up to 25 guests on board). With this in mind, we managed to drive right down to the lake shore, and parked up (not particularly level, but definitely in the best spot), less that two metres from the water.
Lake Bunyoni was formed when a volcano erupted and the lava flow blocked the end of the valley, and this is the highest lake in Uganda at 6,500 feet above sea level. It has a lot of history surrounding the place, from both colonial times, and before, some quite dark too!
But today the lake is used mostly by local people for getting around, as the banks all round the lake are very steep and the water is the easier way round. There is a market every Monday and Friday, and on these days the dugout canoes are packed with either goods or people or both, some have tiny outboard motors but most just use a paddle.
Obviously we visited the market, and of course it was mayhem! But we managed to get some fresh fruit and veg, but as usual the vast majority of items sold at the market were old second hand European clothes. Piles and piles of clothes. This has been the same in most Sub-Saharan African countries, bundles of clothes opened up on the ground and sold on, nice and cheaply.
This is most definitely the rainy season in Southern Uganda, and virtually every day we have seen rain. Usually it doesn't rain until late in the day, and it involves massive violent thunderstorms, with torrential rain, so we tried to time it with a walk to the bar!
But most of the time we just chilled out and read lots of books (well Kindle), caught up with jobs on Colonel K, and did all our washing. A very relaxing place, and we ended up staying here for eight nights. The staff were very friendly and the locals, as else where in Uganda were extremely welcoming.
We decided one day to take a tour of the lake for a few hours, the lake was as flat as a mill pond, and it was a really nice morning. We were taken around the various Islands on the lake, including one Island that has not only a school, but also a hospital. Then there was Leper Island that was used to deposit anyone with Leprosy on it in years gone by.
But the "highlight" of every boat trip here is a circle around "Punishment Island". This tiny island (shown in the background on the photo below), was where unmarried women or girls were taken if they fell pregnant, they were dropped off here with no food, and left to die. If there was a possibility that they might be able to swim to the shore or another island, they were taken up the hill and thrown off the top of a water fall.
Jac asked our guide "if this is what happened to the girls, then what happens to the bloke that made the girl pregnant?", to this he stuttered a bit, and then replied "we don't do this to the girls anymore", I don't think Jac was satisfied with the answer!
Lake Bunyoni is a great place to sit and watch the wildlife and every single day we were there we watched the otters, driving down and swimming around, but they are a nightmare to photograph. There are also lots of birdlife including, Sunbirds, Kingfishers, Ibis's, and Crowned Cranes.
Our Gorilla Permits were for Wednesday, so we decided to leave Bunyoni on Monday morning, just in case we had a problem (the two permits cost us $1,200 so didn't want to miss the date). So after negotiating the steep hill again we drove into the nearby town of Kabale to fill Colonel K up, and try to seek out a "supermarket" to stock up with a few items.
If you are wondering what a Ugandan "supermarket" is like, this is a photo of the main one in Kabale, it is Jac shopping at "Good times Supermarket" in the main street (smaller than most corner shops in England)
Whilst I was sitting in the truck waiting for Jac to come back from the "Good times", I was watching the security at the Bank opposite, and couldn't resist taking these photos. I especially love the one with the woman guard, that looks very alert with her rifle across her lap, and the guy with the AK47 sharing a funny video on his phone with her. Every bank, however large or small in Africa has at least one armed guard, even if they are closed. You get used to these things and don't think anything of it after a while.
When we booked our Gorilla Permits we decided the best place in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest for us to see them would be at the most northerly place which is Buhoma. We did this for two reasons, firstly we knew that we could camp at the Community Camp and it was right next to the meeting point at the start of the tracking, and secondly we thought we would be coming into Bwindi from the North. Instead as we were coming from Lake Bunyoni, we found that we were coming from the south east of the forest. This meant that we had to drive the full length of the rain forest and up and over the various mountains, but on a plus point we had heard that the road had been upgraded. In Uganda (or indeed anywhere in Africa) 'upgraded' could mean anything, but we were hoping that it might mean that it had been tarmac'ed. Only one way to find out I guess.
After turning off of the main tarmac road, and following our Tracks4Africa software, we followed a very small track that was getting smaller all the time. It was then that Jac realised that our paper maps were in the back, so on the edge of a small village we stopped so Jac could retrieve the maps. It was here we had a stroke of luck, Jac started talking to a young guy that spoke very broken English and explained that much further up the track a bridge had been washed away and it was completely impassable. If we hadn't of stopped there we would have carried on all the way to the collapsed bridge and that would have been the day gone! We had to drive on for another few kilometres before we could find a place to turn the truck around.
Back at the tarmac road, we had a quick look at the map and saw that there was another track that went in the direction that we wanted about 15km further along. When we got to the turning there was actually a UWA signpost showing Buhoma off that way, so this was looking good, perhaps this was the upgraded route after all.
Well it wasn't tarmac but it was a quite a good dirt track so far, though Buhoma was 80km up this track. For the first 15km everything was going swimmingly, then we hit Ugandan roadworks. There was a massive digger in the middle of the track and it was scooping out large amounts of dirt and rock right across from one side to the other to put in an underground culvert to take away the rain water.
It was also digging away the bank on the right hand side, this was peoples access to their houses on the top, and check out the woman and the child standing on the mud bank as he is still digging.
A guy came over to us and said that the road will be closed for about 40 minutes (I knew it was going to be longer, but we had to wait it out), so we switched Colonel K off, and settled down to watch as people walked around the digger as it was swinging around, climbing down in the ditch it was digging, and then climbing out the other side, just so they could carry on their daily lives. No health and safety here!
As usual within minutes we were surrounded by local kids, and many of these kids had never met a 'mazungu' (white man) before, and a few of them were petrified of us (well me anyway). But it wasn't long before these lovely kids started to get more used to us, and Jac was dancing with them and of course they all got a toy each (as donated by my great nephews and nieces back home).
As you can see these kids are very poor, and many tourists visiting Uganda don't see children like these from very rural areas, they have very little. This really struck home when we had to show them how to actually play with these toys, whether its a car, or a plane, or a doll. We ended up with fourteen of these kids with us and they all had a little toy each, and we had some good fun with them, you soon see which ones are the cheeky ones, or the 'cool' ones etc, these kids are no different from those at home.
Two hours later, we were told we could carry on!!!!
This is a stunning landscape and we were very quickly into the rain forest, yes it was steep (needing the low range gears for the whole time), but it was still dry and so quite grippy on the dirt track.
Then just after entering the National Park the heavens opened and it started pouring down! Let me tell you, dirt tracks are a different thing altogether in the pouring rain, and it was very slow going, (10 tonnes is not easy to slow down on a muddy surface) we eventually got to Buhoma late in the afternoon, and parked in the very small Community Camp car park. It was a long day and we decided to eat in their small "restaurant" that evening. But sitting there having a cheeky beer we realised that we were in a very special place indeed. This was our view from our drinking hole, overlooking the vast rainforest in front of us, with the mist rising and blowing gently away, "gorillas in the mist"?
As we still had another day before our long awaiting tracking experience, we decided to go on a 3 hour 'village walk' with a guide, this seemed a really touristy thing to do and usually we don't do this sort of thing, but all the money ($25 each) goes into the community in Buhoma, and it looked quite interesting.
The walk turned out to be a fantastic and quite a personal experience, we saw how the tea and coffee was picked and told how it was sold to quite large factories back down in the valley . A truck comes up every day and takes each persons tea from their own tiny plantation. Then we walked past a couple of guys that were hand carving wooden gorillas with nothing more that a machete, mallet and a chisel. This was way out in a field, then they sell them to the shops in the village.
The walk through these fields was stunning, everywhere is so lush and green.
Next we visited the village healer, who uses natural remedies, he was a real character, and he also works in collaboration with the local hospital.Taking his patients there if they do not improve. He explained the "Dosing" marks on his containers and showed us how he rolls up banana leaves to get medicine into a child's mouth and in a very animated way how he uses this method for ears, nose and bottoms ! He didn't speak any English, so our guide translated, but you really got the idea, especially when he was explaining his remedies for constipation and diarrhoea.
"Morgan Freeman?"
But the thing that made me laugh was the posters that he had up in his "consulting room", "Black Blood takes over", "Barak Obama with Africa's Strong Presidents" and in true Ugandan style "Arsenal FC".
Then we went to the local banana brewing site, where we tried the local Banana Gin, YUCK!!!!, but it was interesting.
Samuel our guide then took us to the local school, which was perhaps for us the best part of the day.
This school has 600 pupils, in eight classes, with the lowest classes having well over 100 pupils in a class. The children in Uganda have to pass an examination before they can proceed to the next classroom level, so you could have a wide range of ages in each class, it's dependant on that pupils ability to pass an exam.
One of the teachers came out to meet us and took us into a few of the classrooms, which the children found highly amusing, especially when the "muzungu" decided to sit on their desks with them.
We were then taken into another classroom where the kids cleared the desks away and then started singing and dancing for us, I noticed that Jac had a tear in her eye, as these two stupid white people were treated to an extraordinary show of perfect singing and super high energy dancing, the kids really genuinely seemed to enjoy themselves.
Then we were taken to see the head master's office (last time I was taken to the head master I was given the cane!), but first we were shown the school library, this is the sum total of text books for all 600 pupils.
We spent about 20 minutes in with the Head who was passionate about improving the education of these children, but he also explained that there was still pressure from many families for their children to withdraw from education altogether, many many children in Buhoma don't go to school at all. There are at least 3 schools in Buhoma, so this give an indication of the number of children just in this village and the surrounding areas.
Next Samuel took us to the local Batwa Community, these are a tribe of Pygmy's that have been removed from the rain forest in part to protect the Mountain Gorilla's there. I'm still not sure what I feel about these people having their way of life taken from them, and being placed in a "normal" rural community.Samuel our guide explained that they were actually happy, as they now had houses to live in, easier access to food and shelter, but they may all not feel the same way. It was interesting to see them but we both felt quite awkward.
It was a great day, with lots of walking and a torrential down pour, and there was also lots of different feelings felt, depending on where we were and with whom. The weird thing about the day was, that we had a guy called Edward follow us around all day with a Kalashnikov machine gun, in the brewery, with the Pygmy's, even at the school! We have always felt very safe and secure walking around in Uganda (even in Kampala), and when we asked Samuel why we had an armed guard, he just said it was to stop the kids from pestering us! Blimey, even I don't think kids are that bad!
Later when we got back to the community camp I noticed a discrete stone memorial plate on a wall of one of the buildings, with the names of 6 young people on it that lost their lives on that spot in 1991 (4 English, and 2 from New Zealand). When I asked what happened we were told that some armed guys came across from the DRC (Congo), and robbed and shot the campers, then fled. Perhaps thats why we had an armed escort.
Tomorrow we go Mountain Gorilla Tracking.
Category: Uncategorized Tags: Bumoho, Bwindi, Lake Bunyoni, Leyland Daf, T244, Uganda
← Uganda, north to south
Uganda, Mountain Gorilla Tracking →


The Lexington Episcopalian
Articles linked to the website of Grace Episcopal Church (formerly R.E. Lee Memorial Episcopal Church)
Farewell Sermon
Delivered All Saints Sunday, November 5, 2017, by the Rev. Tom Crittenden, rector of Grace Episcopal Church. At the end, the sermon and Tom were given a prolonged, emotional standing ovation.
Farewell sermons are hard, even in the best of circumstances. Much has been accomplished over my ten years at Grace Episcopal Church... and much still needs to be done.
At the heart of what needs to be done is healing and reconciliation, a healing and reconciliation that will truly transform this parish, bringing it together for God's mission going forward. I pray that you will continue to implement the Discovery and Discernment Committee's recommendations, all of them. Last April, the Vestry "tabled" some of the recommendations. People of God, we don't, we can't table the work of the Holy Spirit!
My experience here motivated me to strengthen myself in areas I thought I was adequate. This has been and will continue to be a good thing for my ministry. I pray you will so utilize and benefit from your experience here in this family of saints the last few years, especially as embodied by the Discovery and Discernment Committee's recommendations, ever growing in the wisdom of and strength from the Holy Spirit.
Father Tom Crittenden, helping flood victims in W. Va., 2016
Since announcing my resignation, I've received comments, calls, notes, emails, even visits from fellow pastors and people of other churches in town praising our church and me for our participation and leadership in this community. Ecumenical services, gatherings, and programs have increased and flourished over my ten years here, and this congregation has been at the heart of this abundant ecumenism, this Spirit-filled collaboration of the saints in Lexington. We like to call Sharon Massie, your Program Director, Lexington's Ecumenical Officer! I pray that this will continue.
A significant impact of this church on this community is our historic facilities. The beauty of our church and grounds - renovated, restored, and greatly enhance during my rectorship - inspires and ministers to not only us church members but countless students and other citizens and their families, community organizations, and a constant flow of tourists (who will no longer be poking their heads into the church office to ask where Lee is buried.)
I pray that you will continue your faithful stewardship of this place and, in particular, carry out the renovation of the undercroft for the enhancement of our music program and the provision of dedicated space for our substantial ministry of hospitality to community organizations and ministries.
When I arrived ten years ago, I was impressed by the compassion shown to fellow parishioners, a compassion tapped into and expanded through our ACTS pastoral care teams - kudos again to your Program Director. But I have also experienced an alarming degree of partisanship around issues faced by this congregation, partisanship that in too many of the saints became deeply divisive and destructive to our unity and ministry in Christ.
Jesus is absolutely clear in John chapters 13 and 15 - we are to love one another. This does not mean that we have to always agree with one another but it does mean that we always seek and serve Christ in the other; that we always respect the made-in-God's-image dignity of the other; that we prayerfully listen to one another and, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, discern God's will, God's plan, God's purpose in whatever issues we face.
God has called each of us into this fellowship of believers, this specific communion of saints. You are called to be here. The friend next to you in the pew with whom you agree is called to be here. The parishioner kneeling with you at the altar with whom you disagree is called to be here. Jesus' commandment that we love one another is not selective, much less optional. Faith, hope and love abide. But the greatest of these is love. I pray that you aspire ever to obey Jesus' commandment and out-do one another in your love for one another.
I've been referring to you as saints because that is what you are, saints of God. The New Testament calls all believers saints. The Greek word we translate saint is hagios, which literally means "set apart." For what, or I should say, for whom are we set apart? For God and for God's kingdom work. How are we set apart? - by baptism through faith in Jesus Christ.
We are made saints at our baptism, set apart for God, becoming members of this glorious communion of saints that we celebrate today - the company of baptized encompassing us gathered here, fellow Christians throughout Lexington, Virginia, the Nation, throughout the world and a glorious communion encompassing all the baptized who have come before, who now worship before the very throne of God in Heaven.
This morning at 8:00 we added two saints to this glorious communion, Colin and Jasper Murphy. We set them apart for God. And great was the celebration in Heaven when they were baptized!
What is this kingdom work for which we are set apart? Jesus commissions us to go make disciples, loving God and neighbor, and evidencing to the world that we are set apart. How do we evidence that we are set apart for God? By our love for one another. This loving one another is what Grace Episcopal Church needs now to focus upon, allowing the Holy Spirit to heal, restore and guide you in the kingdom work God sets before you.
I close with two verses from Paul's letter to the church in Philippi: Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about* these things. 9Keep on doing [these things as] you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
And I leave you with this charge, also from Paul: Walk in love as Christ has loved us, a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God.
Discovery & Discernment focus groups
March 8, 2017, UPDATE. The Vestry held a special meeting Tuesday, March 7, to decide on a negotiated compromise on the final cost and timing of this consultant-guided process. The Vestry voted unanimously to support continuing work by the consultants, even though this will cost up to an additional $4,000 (for a total of $16,000 maximum).
Here's the background. Some six weeks ago, the D&D committee completed its first phase, the "Discovery" part. The committee presented an eight-page report to the Vestry and to parishioners summarizing the feelings of all the church members who participated in 13 focus groups led by pairs of D&D members. Organized as themes or answers to eight questions, the report noted many good feelings and some serious problems.
On Feb. 20, a letter from the two consultants arrived just minutes before the Vestry meeting, and copies were circulated. Due to "unforeseen issues" that drove up their expenses and the time involved, they wrote, the $12,000 the Vestry had agreed on last April is not enough to complete the process. They said they expected it would take as much as $6,000 more than the original estimate to complete the job. It was supposed to be completed in March, but now they said it looks like it could go as late as May.
The Vestry was concerned. That seemed quite a cost overrun - 50 percent. Also, it was hard enough waiting for recommendations until March, and now it might take an additional two months? The Vestry discussed the matter and decided that Keith Gibson, the Vestry member serving on the D&D committee as liaison, should negotiate a less expensive conclusion.
He and Anne Hansen (a D&D member now also on the Vestry) arrived at a compromise with the consultants. There would be a work day with the consultants in March and a final recommendation for the Vestry by April 6. That additional charge for the consultants would be as much as $4,000, making the total maximum $16,000  -  not $18,000.
Driving up the cost and the time was not the consultants' doing, but the result of the seriousness that the D&D committee brought to this endeavor. Anne and Keith underscored that point at the Feb. 20 Vestry meeting. The six D&D members, in addition to the focus group sessions they led, have met almost every other Thursday night for two hours since last June. Apparently, they were more serious and thoughtful than the consultants anticipated. They have held back nothing, but in a covenant of trust they have kept their work confidential and agreed to speak as a group, despite differences of opinion. Anne laughed to say she probably knows the others better than she knows anyone. Keith made a similar point.
The committee is to come up with "action items." But more important may be the model they have pioneered - a bond of Christian love that transcends differing opinions. The consultants speak not of conflict "resolution" but conflict "transformation."
Dec. 14, 2016, UPDATE. The information-gathering phase is over. The Discovery & Discernment team is now preparing an interim report to be shared with the Vestry at its annual retreat Jan. 13-14. Col. Keith Gibson, the Vestry's liaison on the D&D committee, thanks parishioners for an excellent participation level of approximately 100 adults. The report will be shared with the congregation after the Vestry receives it. Work on recommendations will begin in January, he says, adding this: Please continue to be in prayer for the committee and the process.
"Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob; listen to Israel your father." - Gen. 49:2
By Doug Cumming
One evening last week, Libby and I escaped the rash noise of this very political October to spend a calming two hours in the new upper room of our Parish House. It was our turn to attend one of the twelve focus group sessions that our Discovery and Discernment Committee has been holding all month. I am on the Vestry that voted unanimously to hire the two consultants who got this ball rolling. I chaired the ad hoc committee that picked the members of the team that came to call itself the Discovery and Discernment Committee. I felt a lot was at stake for our church, and I hoped my expectations weren't too high.
I was put at ease from the start of the session, but not just because I was among Christian friends. What accounted for the sweetness of this experience, I wondered. It was not just the setting, although that large new room that has been made over for college ministry has a contemporary simplicity that promises a whole new feeling for ministry at our old church. I think, finally, the secret of the evening's peace was a little object that the D&D facilitator explained with an air of mischief, holding it high. It has magical powers, he said. The person who holds it becomes the only one in the room who can speak. All others are to listen. We laughed, but this was the serious business of the focus groups as described in the letter of Sept. 8 that went out to the whole parish - "open, respectful communication."
I remember from the Vestry retreat last winter this game of passing around a Speaker's talisman. The two consultants from Eastern Mennonite Church were there and introduced it to us. At that time, we went around the circle speaking from the heart and being listened to. The magic object then was a lovely slice of polished stone - with no particular meaning. This time it was of similar material, but it was a cross.
Having permission to be quiet and listen, and a chance to speak and be heard - what a powerful alternative that is to the uncivil discourse of our Election season, cable TV rants and the way we all talk and talk and talk. I am thankful to the members of the Discovery and Discernment Committee for spending many hours over the summer to bring this process to us now.
Members of the committee are Keith Gibson, Anne Hansen, Tammi Hellwig, Greg Lemmer, Ann Nay, and Steve Shultis. If you haven't signed up for a focus group, it's not too late.
Phase II Is Underway
MARCH 8, 2018  -  The renovation of our historic Undercroft is starting now and will last through the summer. The transformation may be temporarily inconvenient, but it's also mighty exciting! Two years ago, it seemed a risky act of faith to begin a capital campaign.
Woody Sadler and Tom Gosse working on Undercroft and Capital Campaign plans
Now in Phase II of the campaign, we are bringing back to life the space that was once the social center of our 1883 church building. The donations to this phase of the capital campaign are on the way to covering the restoration, scaled back to an estimated cost of no more than $325,000. We haven't reached that goal yet, but if we count on pledges so far and if the momentum continues, we'll have enough.
In addition, parish leadership is applying to two foundations for funding, one aimed at making the space available for community-building around the Presiding Bishop's theme of "Pursuing the Blessed Community" and the other as a project of historic Episcopal church preservation.
The work will begin Monday, March 12, with a week of asbestos removal. Then demolition will take another three weeks. Construction by Lexington-based Phoenix Construction (Pat Hennis, owner) is expected to last through the summer. The parking lot will be closed for the work. Please leave open the few on-street parking spaces that will be temporarily added for church staff.
When the work is finished, the Undercroft and adjoining community room behind the red door will reclaim ground-level space for our choir, altar and flower guilds, and church and community meetings. It will be an attractive, clean, comfortable, and useful place that retains key architectural features that are historically significant.
Capital Campaign and Property Committee volunteers are your contacts should you have questions, suggestions, or concerns during the project. We are all looking to the future as we navigate the present with God's guidance and collective patience.
Special thanks to John Dickerson, Gordon Woodcock, Steve Shultis, the Altar Guild, the Flower Guild, Sharon Massie and James Keane for their help in relocating and making temporary spaces for everyone affected by the construction.
Sunday Tours of Our (Future) Undercroft
Please come to one of two "show & tell" tours of the Undercroft on Sunday, Nov. 19, at 9 a.m. and at 12 noon.
Architect's rendering, proposed Undercroft
The Capital Campaign Committee, led by Senior Warden Woody Sadler and Tom Gosse, will explain the renovations designed to smarten-up the space under the church nave and chancel. The contractor, Patrick Hennis of Phoenix Construction, will be at the 9 a.m. tour to answer questions.
BRW Architects of Charlottesville has designed an airy and acoustically balanced area for choir rehearsals and recitals. In addition, the design creates practice rooms, a choir-robing room, handicap-accessible restrooms and inviting space for meetings by community groups.
Scaled back from the original design for renovating the Undercroft, the current plan is estimated to cost about $300,000, or possibly up to $320,000 - a reduction of nearly half since it was first unveiled two years ago.
Funding the Undercroft renovation is the highest priority of Phase II of the current Capital Campaign, now underway. Phase I raised about $600,000 in pledges, fully covering the costs of the new elevator, the Canterbury Room, and other improvements in the Parish House. We have already raised about $100,000 in donations and pledges for Phase II.
We need to raise $200,000 more. Pledges may be spread out over as much as five years.
The tours on Nov. 19, one after each of the two Sunday services, will incorporate our usual Coffee Hour and include special food. The contractor and Capital Campaign Committee will answer questions about the redesign and its financing.
'Stewardship is our life's work'
The lay sermon of Anne Hansen, Oct. 15
Good morning! It is so wonderful to see all of us here together in this joint service.
Today is an important day, and we have a lot to talk about. The worship committee has brought us all together this morning to corporately inaugurate a season of renewal and healing. This morning we also celebrate the completion of a 72-hour straight-through cover-to-cover reading of the whole Bible, organized by the Christian Education committee. That reading was a tangible demonstration that we take the word of God seriously. And we all participated in it. At the beginning of the service we read together the final chapter of Revelation, marking the end of our 72-hour vigil. We will read Genesis chapter 1 at the end of the service, because the reading of God's word is never finished. And also today we kick off our annual stewardship season.
We do have a lot to talk about. But my assignment is to reflect for a few minutes on the topic of stewardship. I can tell you, it's a very dangerous assignment to give a stewardship homily! You're likely to discover that you need to change your ways. In pondering the subject I've uncovered a number of errors in my own approach to stewardship, and it looks like I'm going to have to change my ways.
My first error was easy enough to remedy. I was thinking that in order to give a stewardship sermon I needed a classic stewardship text from the Bible. You know the ones, something like the widow with her 2 mites, or Jesus' teaching to "lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven." I was disappointed that today's gospel didn't give me much of a jumping-off point. But then I read it again. And I saw that today's gospel is, in fact, directly about stewardship. It's a negative example of stewardship to be sure, and a pretty terrifying one. I don't want to lead right off with it, but we'll come back to in in a few minutes.
With today's gospel reading turning out so unexpectedly to be about stewardship, the question posed itself: how many other stealth stewardship passages are there? Well, I can tell you. I was the overnight helper for the MIQRA on Thursday night, and I listened to ten hours of Bible reading. Maybe it's because stewardship was on my mind, but I'd have to say just about all of it is about stewardship!
That's because stewards is what we are. That was my second error. I had been thinking of stewardship as a choice that we make. We can do it or not, a little or a lot; it's up to us. The fact is, my friends, stewardship is not a choice. We are stewards. We were created as stewards; stewardship is our life's work. We can be good stewards or bad stewards; but we can't be not stewards or partly stewards or a little bit stewards.
If I am a steward, as I believe we all are, I'm responsible for the things that have been entrusted to me. So what are those things? Well, in a few minutes we're going to read Genesis Ch. 1, in which humankind is created in the image of God and given dominion over all the living things of the earth. We're familiar with our stewardship of the earth, but shouldn't we stop to think about our stewardship of the image of God? How are we doing with that? A few chapters later, we learn by the negative example of Cain that we are, in fact, our brothers' keeper: we are stewards of each other. Perhaps we might want to spend some time on that. Going further, we are stewards of all that God has taught us through the law and the prophets about justice, truth, mercy, and faithfulness. We are stewards of the revelation of Jesus Christ, stewards of the ever-expanding Kingdom of God, and stewards of the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are stewards of the hope of Revelation 22.
And then there's the personal: We are stewards of all our faculties. When was the last time we considered the stewardship of our eyes and ears; of our strength and of our intellect and of our affections? How about the stewardship of our tongues? The epistle we read today spoke of guarding our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. And of renewing our intellect by setting our minds on the things that are true and honorable, just, pure and praiseworthy. That is stewardship of the faculties God has given us.
Our gospel reading today was the third of a group of parables in Matthew 21 and 22. We've been reading them over the last 3 weeks. Jesus told these parables to an audience of chief priests and Pharisees. They understood that Jesus was talking about them. They also understood the message: that the kingdom of God had been taken away from them. Jesus said it to them explicitly in last week's gospel: He said, "The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom." Why? Because they have utterly failed in their stewardship. In the first parable, which we read 2 weeks ago, they are sons, but they do not believe or obey. In the second parable, which we read last week, they are compared to tenants in a vineyard who, instead of producing fruit, beat the servants and kill the son of the landowner. And in today's gospel they are invited guests who disregard the invitation of the king and mistreat the servants who bring it. Sons, tenants of a beautiful vineyard, invited guests: they have been given everything. But they fail to honor what has been entrusted to them. And so God takes it all away. My dear friends, this is a sobering message and it would be very foolish of us to ignore it.
By now the stewardship committee is getting anxious and wondering if I am going to say something about money. Having talked about all this other, it seems to me frankly that money is the lowest rung on the stewardship ladder. But we have to start somewhere. And sadly, if I hear the scriptures correctly, you can't get to the higher rungs of stewardship without first mounting this one. It's not like we're going to be good stewards of God's image or of faithfulness or of our own affections while we're guarding our money.
And, as it happens, my third error was about money. If you remember, my first error was thinking that only a few passages are about stewardship. My second error was thinking that stewardship is a choice. My third error is the most insidious and possibly the most significant of the 3. So listen up. Every year at this time I think, "What's our income, and what percent of it am I going to put in the little envelopes every week?" That's not a bad question of itself, but the assumption behind it is just embarrassing. What I'm actually thinking is, "Here's my money. I've added it up. Now, how much am I going to give to God?" In effect, "What will I make God's allowance this year?" Yikes! My assumptions are all wrong and in the worst possible way! I am God's steward. The question is not what should be HIS allowance from my money, but what should be my allowance from His? What portion of the wealth God has entrusted to my use should I claim for my own living expense?
It's true that my thinking is full of errors and often I haven't done it right. That is why we need the scriptures and prayer and worship and the wisdom of each other and those who have gone before us. It's not too late.
The stewardship committee has given us this beautiful quote for the stewardship season, "Take heart, get up; He is calling you." Friends, it is not too late. Let us indeed take heart and get up. He is calling us. Let us follow and obey.
A Pastoral Letter from Bishop Bourlakas
The Vestry voted at its Sept. 18 meeting to change its name from R.E. Lee Memorial Episcopal to Grace Episcopal Church, a compromise recommended after a 9-month study by parish's Discovery & Discernment Committee. The compromise restores the historic name and finds appropriate ways to honor our parish history, including Lee's personal role in it. Bishop Mark Bourlakas subsequently sent this pastoral letter to the congregation.
The 16th Sunday after the Day of Pentecost
Dear members and friends of Grace Episcopal Church:
As your bishop, I am proud of and encouraged by the recent return to the historic name of this parish church. Your return will allow for the parish to renew its collective focus on the forward mission of the Gospel that we share in Christ Jesus. Nothing can distract us from this commission.
I am currently in Alaska at the House of Bishops' Meeting of our Church. Bishops from all over our country have expressed to me their admiration for the name change and offered ongoing prayers for the healing of your community in the coming months. Our Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry, shared with me his gratitude for your courage and is holding your community and our diocese in his prayers.
I realize that this return to the historic name of Grace is not the path every member embraced. It will take patience, forgiveness and most of all love to heal the various divisions that have taken place over the last couple of years. At this moment, this work might seem insurmountable. However, as those baptized in Christ, we know that our discipleship always calls us into the deeper places where others, because of hardness of heart, refuse to go. Jesus calls on us to pattern our lives on his example of reaching over division and prejudice to embrace neighbors who are different and challenging to us. If we can not model this love of neighbor within the community of faith , then we have very little hope of offering God's grace to those beyond our parish borders.
I now pray that what unites us to each other as baptized members of the One who loves, forgives and redeems each one of us is far greater that the temporal concerns that divide us. I want you all to know that I will be with you in the months of challenging reconciliation that are now before us.
Let us each begin by laying aside our personal sense of righteousness and grievance. These negative feelings hurt ourselves and infect the body. I have heard those of you on either side of this recent struggle express your love for this parish. If you truly love this parish, then I ask that you show forth that love by praying for the Holy Spirit to give you the strength, grace and peace which surpasses all of our limited understandings.
+Mark
The Right Rev. Mark A. Bourlakas, Bishop
The Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia
A Visit from Our Bishop on Thursday
Bishop Mark Bourlakas and the Rev. Canon Jonathan Harris are coming to meet with members of the parish on Thursday, Sept. 7, at 5:30 p.m. in the church sanctuary. All members of the church are invited. The bishop wishes to continue the conversation he began with the Vestry last Wednesday regarding our Discovery & Discernment committee's recommendation on "Identity."
Please read and reflect on that section of the Discovery & Discernment report before the bishop's visit.
"Identity" from D&D report
Final Report - Identity
Vestry Statement on Charlottesville and Robert E. Lee
This statement was unanimously approved at the monthly meeting of the Vestry Aug. 21, voted on by all 11 present, and supported via email by the two who were absent.
We, the members of the vestry of R. E. Lee Memorial Episcopal Church:
 -  Deplore in the name of Christ white supremacy, anti-Semitism, and racism in all its forms. We denounce the violence committed in word and deed against our brothers and sisters in Charlottesville. We believe that all humans are of one stock, created by God, and that Christ breaks down all racial and social barriers. We are working for the day when all creation will rejoice together before Him.
 -  Object strenuously to the misuse of Robert E. Lee's name and memory in connection with white supremacy, anti-Semitism and similar movements that he would abhor. Lee was widely admired in both the North and the South as a man of virtue and honor and as among the leading reconcilers of our fractured land. We do not honor Lee as a Confederate. Nor do we subscribe to neo-Confederate ideas in honoring him. We honor Lee as one of our own parishioners, a devout man who led our parish through difficult years in post-Civil-War Virginia. More importantly, we find our identity in Christ, the lover of all humankind, and we seek on-going renewal in Him.
 -  Recognize that in the current political climate, Lee has become a touchstone for controversy and misunderstanding and a rallying symbol for hate groups. We acknowledge that the best hope for Lee is the Gospel of grace, through which we are all forgiven sinners. Our commitment is not to Lee, but to that gospel which is his hope and ours. We invite all to share in it, and we aim to let nothing stand in the way of our proclaiming it with integrity.
The Vestry of R.E. Lee Memorial Episcopal Church
An organ crawl: Lexington to Georgetown
Ted Bickish, our choir director and organist, gave this report in church May 14, 2017:
"This past week, the Organ Committee helped put together a trip made up of several parishioners in which we had the chance to visit a new instrument in a parish of similar size to our own, built by the company we hope to have build for us, Casavant.
"We started the day here at R. E. Lee by hearing two pieces, singing a hymn, and then taking a trip inside of our instrument. We inspected the collapsing pipe work, not-up-to-code wiring, warping keyboards, and other various mechanical problems.
"We then headed to St. John's Episcopal Church in Georgetown to see their new Casavant organ. We heard the same two pieces, sang the same hymn, and inspected the inside of the instrument. The difference was truly remarkable and I believe all those who attended were impressed with it."
Pictures are all from that trip.


The Non-Toxic Cleaning Solution For Every Surface
By Meridian Living Well
The Dawn of Greater Religious Liberty in Saudi Arabia?
By Daniel C. Peterson · August 9, 2018
To read more insights from Daniel C. Peterson, check out his blog, Sic Et Non.
Cover image: The Abu Dhabi Stake Center in the United Arab Emirates.
I've just read a short but interesting article in the latest issue  -  4 August 2018  -  of the Economist, titled "Hosannahs in the sand?"
It seems that Muhammad bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, who has broken with tradition by allowing cinemas to open, open-air pop concerts to be held, and, most amazing of all, women to drive, is thinking about permitting the opening of churches within the boundaries of Saudi Arabia. In October 2017, he indicated that he wants his nation to be "open to all religions, traditions, and people around the globe." He has even hosted the Maronite Christian patriarch, as well as a papal emissary (Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran), in the royal palace.
Why is this so shocking? It has often been argued that churches were banned from the Arabian Peninsula in the days of the Prophet Muhammad himself, or very, very soon thereafter  -  which is to say, fourteen centuries ago. And Saudi Arabia has barred the construction of churches since the establishment of the Saudi state in 1932. "Elsewhere it's no problem," the Economist quotes a senior Saudi prince as commenting, "but two dins [singular din, pronounced deen], or religions, have no place in the Arabian peninsula." (He is paraphrasing a purported hadith or saying of Muhammad.)
In other words, Muhammad bin Salman may well face opposition from within his own extended ruling family if he chooses to permit the construction of Christian churches within the Kingdom.
However . . .
Out among the date palms and the sand dunes near the eastern oil fields and the city of al-Jubayl, fenced off by the Saudi antiquities authority and surrounded by guards, lie what seem to be the ruins of a seventh-century Christian monastery, which suggests that seventh-century Islam permitted the construction of churches on the Arabian Peninsula. Additionally, early Arab chroniclers record the existence of a Christian synod in a diocese called Beit Qatraye, near al-Jubayl, in AD 676, fully forty-four years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad.
Moreover, all six of the other countries that share the Arabian Peninsula with the Saudis have allowed the building of churches within their boundaries. Qatar, which follows the same rigorous Wahhabi version of Islam that the Saudis do, permitted the construction of a new Christian church about a decade ago. Bahrain did the same already in 1906 and, this year, allowed ground to be broken for a new cathedral to be called Our Lady of Arabia. (The article doesn't mention the rather spectacular new Latter-day Saint stake center in Abu Dhabi, within the United Arab Emirates, shown above.)
The Economist reports that at least some Saudi theologians think that the Prophet's prohbition of two dins in Arabia has been misinterpreted. They want to argue that the word refers not to religions as such, but to religious authorities. They also point to the so-called "Constitution of Medina," which seems to me very promising territory and which I think I'll treat at greater length in another blog entry sometime.
Joop ScholteAugust 12, 2018
I lived in Saudi Arabia in the 70's. At the time we operated as the LDS Morale Group, like the Catholics operated as the St. Christopher's Morale Group. We met in a school building at Dhahran's Aramco Compound.
keith ivyAugust 12, 2018
what???? There is a STAKE in UAE?????


Martin Flaherty
Martin S. Flaherty is Leitner Family Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School. A graduate of Columbia Law School, he served as the Book Review & Articles Editor of the Columbia Law Review. After law school, Professor Flaherty served as a Law Clerk first to Hon. John J. Gibbons, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (1988-89) and then to Hon. Byron R. White, Supreme Court of the United States (October Term 1990). He is also Visiting Professor at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, where he was Fellow in the Program in Law and Public Affairs and recently served as a Visiting Professor at target Columbia Law School (Spring 2011). Abroad Professor Flaherty has taught at China University of Political Science and Law and the National Judges College in Beijing.


Benjamin Russell
Ben Russell is a violinist, vocalist and composer who has played all over the world with all sorts of people. He was a founding member of Bryant Park Quartet and is a member of multiple groups including American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME), Founders, and Wordless Music Orchestra. Russell has recorded a solo album of Appalachian-influenced original songs, performed on albums by Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens and Max Richter, and has shared the stage with Björk, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Jonny Greenwood, and Paul McCartney. Studying violin performance at Amsterdam Conservatory and receiving his Masters from New England Conservatory, he now lives in Peekskill, NY with his wife Anna and can often be found in his garden.


Beliefs • Culture
Muslim Christmas celebrations gain a toehold
Zeyna Ahmed, with daughters Nadyah Abdul-Majid, 13, Hadyah Abdul-Majid, 11, during Christmas. Photo courtesy Zeyna Ahmed
Omar Sacirbey
(RNS) A generation or two ago, when America's Muslims were new immigrants who made up an even smaller minority of Americans than they do today, the lights, trees, carols, gifts and festive spirit of Christmas were viewed by many Muslims as a threat to their children's Islamic faith.
But these days, a growing number of Muslims celebrate Christmas, or at least partake in some ways, even if they don't decorate their homes with trees and a light show. Indeed, many Muslim families have created their own unique Christmas traditions.
"I teach my three children, who attend public school and happen to be born into an interfaith Christian-Muslim family, that we absolutely do celebrate Christmas because we are Muslim," Hannah Hawk of Houston wrote in an email. Rather than putting up a tree or lights, "we celebrate the reason for the season, Jesus, by studying all that is written about him in the Quran and by examining historical theories."
The Hawks also give to charity, bake treats for neighbors, invite them to dinner, and wish friends, colleagues and teachers "Merry Christmas" with cards and phone calls. Hawk's kids get together with Christian friends to perform various good deeds. This year, they will play songs (violins, viola, trumpet, cellos, bells) at a local community hospital for patients recovering from surgery.
To be sure, some Muslim leaders still criticize Christmas celebrations as assimilation gone too far.
Imam Muzammil Siddiqi, a former president of the Islamic Society of North America, has argued that Muslims should not celebrate Christmas because the holiday commemorates the birth of a figure revered by Christians as the Son of God, which violates Islamic beliefs.
"We should tell our children that we are Muslims and this is not our holiday," Siddiqi said in comments posted at the website OnIslam.net. "This is the holiday of our Christian neighbors and friends."
To protect their children from the attraction of Christmas, he said, Muslim parents should take advantage of Islamic camps and conferences established at this time of year for this very reason.
But others see a new generation of Muslims born or reared in the United States who feel secure enough to view Christmas as another tradition they can relate to, and to celebrate it in a wide variety of ways  -  as do their Christian neighbors.
"Muslims should join their Christian neighbors to celebrate Christmas," said Rizwan Kadir, a financial adviser who is active in his Muslim community in suburban Chicago. "We also believe in Isa," Kadir added, using the Arabic name for Jesus, "and he has a very special place in Islam."
While Muslims don't believe Jesus was crucified or that he is part of the triune Godhead, they do believe in the Virgin birth, and claim Jesus as a prophet  -  a predecessor to Muhammad  -  who ascended to heaven, and will return as part of the Second Coming.
Kadir adds that Muslims shouldn't retreat from Christmas festivities. His family doesn't put up a tree or lights, but Kadir does go to holiday parties at work, wishes friends and neighbors a "Merry Christmas," and watches "It's A Wonderful Life," and "Home Alone"  -  a Kadir family tradition.
"To me, those are just fun things that people do around this time of year," said Kadir. "It doesn't make you a Christian. It doesn't mean you're compromising your faith."
That view, however, has taken time to evolve.
Zeyna Ahmed, the American-born daughter of Egyptian parents, remembers that her mother liked some aspects of Christmas. But her father "stifled it."
"Their way of holding on to their heritage was just pushing everything that was Muslim," said Ahmed, who lives in Easton, Pa.
When her four children started asking why the family doesn't celebrate Christmas, she felt it wasn't adequate to say, "because we're Muslim," since "we also believe in Jesus," Ahmed said.
So, for the last seven years, Ahmed, who is divorced, has celebrated Christmas with a tree, lights, and acts of charity. She also gets a menorah for Hanukkah and cooks a big meal on the last night.
"I want to expose them to different traditions," Ahmed said, referring to her kids. "I feel like if you respect their holidays, they'll respect our holidays. It develops mutual respect."
Hawk agreed. "Christmas, like Ramadan, is the perfect interfaith footbridge for Muslim-Christian fellowship," she wrote. "Both are the perfect times to hold interfaith vigils, pray together for peace, and pledge to uphold God's message to spread goodwill and reach out to and help the less fortunate in our society."
Some Islamic leaders have come on board, too.
Imam Talal Eid of Quincy, Mass., a former member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, cited the 13th verse of the Quran's 49th chapter, which states that God created "peoples and tribes that you may know one another."
And, he added, at a time when some Christians and Jews in America have fasted in solidarity with Muslims during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Muslims should reciprocate.
"This is not about theological details," said Eid. "This is a matter of fellowship and social activity. There is nothing wrong with exchanging gifts and participating."
YS/AMB END SACIRBEY
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Omar Sacirbey is a Boston-based correspondent for Religion News Service and other publications.
A celebrity photographer's faith-driven cause
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