Celebration highlights Loudoun's diverse faiths

Loudoun County religious leaders privately wrestled with how to address the shootings at Fort Hood, Tex., in the days before a long-planned interfaith celebration drew together more than 175 people from six faiths in Leesburg last Sunday.

For three years, the monthly gatherings of people interested in networking across religious boundaries had grown. The first annual Day of Thanks event at the Ida Lee Recreation Center was to be a culmination of these efforts, the biggest event to date sponsored by what in now known as the Loudoun Interfaith BRIDGES group. Three days before the event, authorities say, a gunman who seemed motivated in part by religious fervor killed 13 people on the Army base.

The group decided that the Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael of the Unitarian Universalists of Sterling would address the 800-pound elephant in the room during her opening words.

"It raises fear," she said, reflecting on the event at Fort Hood. "It raises anxiety. And it proves to us that if we're going to combat the fear and anxiety that comes up, we're going to need to come together as a community and find a space to grieve together, as well as to celebrate our commitments to togetherness."

The ceremony highlighted the increasing diversity of Loudoun by recognizing the contributions of residents who have worked across the boundaries of faith.

"It's taken us a while -- for clergy and laypeople from all these traditions -- to trust one another and to get to know one another," said the Rev. Kate Bryant of St. James Episcopal Church in Leesburg. "That doesn't happen instantly.

"Loudoun is a lot more diverse in religious traditions and ethnic groups than ever before," she said. "We're living together side by side. The best way to live together is to understand each other. And the way to understand each other is to get to know each other."

Bryant won an award for a series she put on at her church called "Six Voices, Six Faiths," in which religious leaders from various groups spoke about their faith backgrounds and beliefs.

Loudoun Interfaith BRIDGES is an acronym for Building Relationships for Interfaith Dialogue, Goodwill, Education and Service. Faith leaders, lay and ordained, and representatives from area nonprofit groups meet over lunch the first Thursday of each month at noon.

Tickets to the main room of Sunday's event sold out about a week before. There were opening prayers in the Quaker and Islamic traditions. The St. Andrew Presbyterian Church bell choir from Purcellville performed, as did a Sikh spiritual music group. Two students received scholarships for work that has promoted religious dialogue.

Everyone was encouraged to mingle as they enjoyed a feast. There was traditional Thanksgiving food -- turkey and all the fixings -- but there was also naan bread, lentil curry and potato masala.