Daughters of Abraham: An Interfaith Book Group for Women…
A group that originated in 2002 in the Boston area, the Institute hosts the first group in Central Massachusetts for monthly meetings. Learn more here
Covenantal Dialogue: Leading Your Congregation to Transformation and Healing...
A four-day intensive workshop in which participants learn and practice dialogue skills as they engage in dialogue on controversial topics including those relative to church vitality, renewal and growth. To learn more…(link to brochure)
Building Abrahamic Partnerships...
programs of Hartford Seminary. Institute Program Director, Karen Nell Smith, co-created and facilitated BAP II, an advanced course focused on developing practical skills for interfaith leadership, in collaboration with Yehezkel Landau and Abdullah Antepli.
Daughters of Abraham: Women’s Interfaith Book Group
Through the discussions, insights and relationships that grow out of regular book group meetings, members of the Daughters of Abraham (www.DaughtersofAbraham.com) seek to overcome stereotypes and foster mutual respect and understanding among Jewish, Christian and Muslim women. They have discovered an effective way to learn the commonalities and differences found among the three religious practices and have developed an interfaith community of women who can speak intelligently about the Abrahamic faiths.
But perhaps, more importantly, meaningful relationships are created. As Anne Minton, one of the group’s founders, has written, "My hope was we'd come to know and respect the other two faiths while deepening our commitment to our own...what I didn't anticipate was the deepening of relationships in the group."(from an article about the Daughters of Abraham, Christian Science Monitor, 11/30/05)
The Brookfield Institute hosts a Daughters of Abraham group on the second Thursday of
each month from 3 – 5 p.m. at the Brookfield Inn. For more information, contact us at
508-331-3081.
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The skills and attitudes of dialogue are critically important as our society struggles to maintain civil discourse while becoming increasingly polarized and pluralistic. Lives fractured by contentious intolerance or violence will only be healed through an acknowledgement of the pain, the opportunity to voice needs, and the chance to re-establish healthier, more life-giving relationships.
“Covenantal Dialogue,” a term used by the Institute to describe the faithful and challenging work of both attentive listening and respectful speaking within and among communities of faith, is both a skill and a spiritual discipline. Engagement with one another characterized by sincere, honest and respectful exchange that is committed to holding differences in holistic, relational and creative tension is an essential component of peace-building and healing, for individuals and communities. Drawing on basic communication skills and the theory and theology of conflict transformation, dialogue of this kind invites its participants to engage their hearts, minds and bodies to the process of personal transformation.
The Institute is committed to the practice and perpetuation of “covenantal dialogue” and has been involved in a variety of interfaith dialogue projects and processes including:
