Eugene weekly., April 27, 2017, Page 13, Image 13

when there was a similar issue with the Temple Beth
Israel, there was also a vigil there,” Toké says.
Although the group is firm about its nonpolitical
principles, the board members do not believe that the
attempted Muslim ban is a political issue.
“As far as the political aspect, suggesting or saying that
we are not for the ban, I don’t think it’s political because
it’s more [of a] human issue, it’s more about unity. But
of course if we say don’t elect or elect Trump — that is
political,” Toké says.
Tenaj says the Muslim ban is “very sad. I mean I know
that several of us have gone to the mosque … to make
deeper connections and really letting them know that we
are very supportive of them as a community.”
Toké recalls a time when he was discriminated against
in Eugene. “Once right on Park Blocks and once on 17th
and Willamette,” he says, people yelled at him to “Go
back to Iraq” in the early ‘90s and the early 2000s.
“The way I feel about it is, for one, it’s ignorance,” he
says. “They don’t even know that I’m not Muslim or I’m
not from the Middle East just because I look dark.”
Toké says that the few incidents are “minuscule
compared to the overwhelming support that I get here of
people smiling and saying good morning or good evening,
and the way they say it is almost like you’re their long lost
friend or something.”
One of IPSI’s goals is to “pray for peace,” a vision that
varies among board members.
For Frisinger, a member of First Christian Church,
peace is a global vision. “We need to love and accept each
other as children of God, of one human race,” she says.
“We’re all alike no matter what our religion or ethnicity.”
And although social justice beliefs and political views
are absent from the services, some board members are
active in important social justice movements.
“I do bring in social-justice peace issues and things of
that nature in the magazine even as a nonprofit because I
feel like if we cannot educate, if we cannot discuss these
important issues, then nothing can change,” Toké says.
“So yeah, you will see me in both camps.”
Frisinger is a member of Women Actions for New
Direction. She says that group works to encourage women
to be more involved in the political scene and to redirect
military spending on human services and to educate
people and elected officials on disarmament and peace.
The Interfaith Prayer Service
Every month, about a dozen speakers and musicians
gather to present a one-hour themed service at the First
Christian Church.
KIT FRISINGER IS A CHRISTIAN REPRESENTATIVE
IPSI BOARD MEMBER AND MEMBER OF FIRST
CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Toké says IPSI’s structure was modeled after the
Parliament of World Religions, a global interfaith
movement that first gathered in 1893. More than 5,000
delegates met in Chicago to discuss unity and a concept
of global peace.
On April 11, Frisinger walks around the sanctuary —
she coordinates the set up for every service. The church
slowly fills up with close to 100 people and Tenaj opens
the service themed “Prayers of Gratitude.”
“Because you love us, because our life is a beautiful
gift of love from you, you’ve given us the opportunity to
experience so many things,” she says.
Pani Soltani, a woman of the Baha’i faith, takes the
stage; her voice fills the sanctuary chanting a prayer in
Farsi.
Presenter Rob Tobias, representing Judaism at the
service, takes a seat behind a piano and talks about
celebrating Passover. He says the event marks “moving
from slavery to freedom.” He adds that it’s important to
acknowledge “that we are not free until every one is free.”
He teaches the audience a few lines from a traditional
Passover song “Dayenu,” which dates back more than a
thousand years.
Siri Kirpal Kaur Khalsa, a member of the Sikh
community, tells the audience that everything is God’s
blessing, including pain and distress. She recalls being
grateful after her recently ill husband’s fever broke. She
chants an original prayer called “Singing the Praises” in
Gurumukhi, a Sikh language.
Jon West of Unity of the Valley church in Eugene
speaks another praise of gratitude. “I’m honored to be part
of this service,” he says. Children, their parents and the
congregation at large join him in singing an a cappella
prayer by repeating “Ohm, Amen and Shalom.”
The hour-long service comes to a close with a couple
representing the Hindu faith, Hanuman and Dhenuka
Hoffman, who sit on the sanctuary floor singing “Nadalola
Hrdaya,” in Telugu.
Ed Conrad, a presenter, offered a final speech of
gratitude focusing on heart wisdom. “Heart wisdom
distills cosmic energy and love into form. It can heal
conflict and ills,” he says.
After the service, the congregation mingles, and some
stay for tea and reflect on the service with the presenters.
Alex Reasoner came to see what the service was about.
He’s a member of the University of Oregon’s Muslim
Student Association. A practicing Sunni Muslim from
Corvallis, he says that it was interesting seeing all of the
faith groups represented.
“I feel welcome here,” he says. Recently, his mosque
HAFIZ LEALAND IS IPSI’S BOARD PRESIDENT AND
IS A REPRESENTATIVE OF SUFISM
invited a group visiting from Temple Beth Israel. “We
met on a weekday and had a chance to talk and make
connections,” he says.
Former Interfaith Prayer Service International
President Emily Farthing says coming to the service is like
coming home. “I just got back from South America and
what I love is everyone is different,” she says. “Presenters
have different paths and it touches this deep inner core
that we share.”
Farthing attended the North American Interfaith
Network annual conference and says she learned that IPSI
is the longest-running interfaith service in North America.
Current president Lealand says the group’s presence
is far reaching. He recently spoke with a symphony
conductor in Stuttgart, Germany, who wants to start an
interfaith prayer service.
“As far as we know there’s no one in the world that’s
been doing this every month,” Lealand says.
Embracing All Religions
Lealand says Sufism is not considered a religion but
rather a spiritual path. He has been on the Sufi path for
30 years.
“Sufism has some similarities in that we try our best to
embrace all religions and all paths as one,” he says. “We
don’t consider ourselves the only way to god or to the one.”
As part of his practice, Lealand offers prayers in
Arabic, Aramaic, Hindi and Hebrew.
Meanwhile, board member Kit Frisinger grew up with
a Presbyterian minister for a father and explored many
different faiths. She says it’s important for religions to
come together.
“I think in knowing each other it takes away the
mystery, and I would have never known the people that I
know on the board now of other faiths because we are in
separate groups,” she says. “This has brought us together,
it’s just been probably a very spiritual high for me to be
involved with these wonderful people from different
faiths.”
Many people who attend services are not religious, but
anyone is welcome in the sanctuary. “Our vision is to have
a diversity of opinions of prayer [and] faith traditions,”
Toké says.
“I think the bottom line is we just want people to feel
comfortable with having people in their community who
believe in different ways, who pray in different ways and
not be afraid of them or to discriminate against them
because they have different ways,” he says.
On May 11, IPSI will host its annual Mother’s Day service at First
Christian Church at 6:45 pm. All the presenters are 5 to 19 years old and
the theme is “Voices of Peace.”
IPSI BOARD MEMBER SHERAB TENAJ IS A
BUDDHIST REPRESENTATIVE
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