Interfaith relations in Calgary: “It’s like a bone is broken, and the rest of us can come around it like a cast to hold it and mend it until it is healed.”

In my column about the challenges facing interfaith relations post-October 7, I referred to what the Calgary Interfaith Council did to try to build bridges between the faith communities in that city. 

There wasn't enough room to tell the whole story; find it below.

The first thing the Calgary Interfaith Council did after the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel was hold a listening circle for its members. 

“It was a time to share and hear how the attack was impacting board members and their communities,” said executive director Sarah Arthurs, noting this was particularly important for members from the Jewish and Muslim communities. 

Out of that meeting came a decision to hold an interfaith prayer service, which was held on December 11, and another listening circle. 

At the circle, which included members from the Jewish and Muslim communities, it was clear things were “complicated,” as Arthurs put it. “But people stayed in the room to be heard and stay connected,” she said. 

When it came time to plan the public interfaith prayer service, it was apparent the Jewish and Muslim members of the organizing committee were not in a place where they could help organize it. 

“They already had so much going on in their own communities,” Arthurs said, noting other members of the Council’s board stepped up to organize the event. “They [the Jewish and Muslim board members] weren’t able to take on that role.” 

The event itself—so far, it appears to have been the only one held in Canada to date—went well, she said, noting between 40 to 50 people attended. 

People spoke authentically, she said, and at the end there were handshakes and good conversations over food, she said, adding even though not many attended “just doing it was important. It was a first step, not a last step.” 

For Arthurs, who comes from a Christian background, the experience showed while members of the Jewish and Muslim communities have “limited capacity to have much empathy for others right now,” people from other faith groups who are not party to the conflict can “have empathy for both, we can hold space until they are ready to return.” 

That, she said, is her “rudder, finding ways to do that.” 

And no matter what is going on in the world, people of faith can “still pray, be kind, find a way forward,” she said. “It’s like a bone is broken, and the rest of us can come around it like a cast to hold it and mend it until it is healed.”