Particularity and Partnership

Throughout the Season After the Epiphany the church basks in the light of Christ revealed to us. Yet simultaneously we live in a world divided by religious difference. To our surprise, the light of God shines upon us from the other, as God is made manifest through a diversity of mediums. 

This sermon series situates us as attentive listeners to other religious traditions. After declaring the light of God upon all people and laying a theological framework for particularity amidst plurality, we will train our attention on three particular sacred stories—Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism. Each sacred story will be expressed by a religious leader who will speak to us out of their own tradition while making connections to values we at Pearl hold dear—gratitude, inclusion, integration, peace, renewal, and transformation. Our hope for this series is to encourage understanding, empathy, appreciation, and connection to our religious neighbors who, alongside us, seek out the light of the Divine.