On Friday, May 19th, Sharing Sacred Spaces convened its first steering committee meeting to discuss programming for its upcoming Interreligious Communities Project (ICP) that will take place in Dallas this Fall of 2023.
The meeting, which was hosted at GFF Architects headquarters by Ms. Jacquelyn Block (Principal, GFF Architects) and facilitated by Nilaya Knafo (Program Officer, Sharing Sacred Spaces, Inc.), brought together nine local community leaders with backgrounds in architecture and interfaith relations. Leaders joined from the following organizations: American Indian Heritage Day in Texas; Dallas Housing Authority; Faith Commons; Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas; KMT Architects; Southern Methodist University; and the Thanks-Giving Foundation.
During the meeting, steering committee members discussed Dallas's primary social and intergroup challenges and advised Sharing Sacred Spaces on some priority areas to address. Together, we laid out our preliminary design incorporating strategies to address the city's north-south divide, land histories, and the diversity of Dallas' constituents.
This steering committee meeting follows Sharing Sacred Spaces' intensive round of interviews with Dallas stakeholders from local nonprofits, universities and seminaries, law enforcement officials, and architecture firms, many of whom joined the steering committee, others who remain engaged non-committee supporters and advisors.
The Sharing Sacred Spaces team has found a strong and dedicated local commitment to bridging differences and divides among those we have spoken with in Dallas. Following last year's city-wide reading of the book The Accommodation by Jim Schutze, the time is ripe to address some of the persistent local challenges and make positive strides toward healing and unity.
This summer, Sharing Sacred Spaces will meet with clergy recommended by the steering committee to engage them in our process.
To read more about the process and curriculum for the Interreligious Communities Project, please click here.
If you have any questions or would like to get involved with our Dallas or other programs, please get in touch with vanessa@sharingsacredspaces.org.
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