Striking accord

Christian, Muslim and Jewish children sing praises together as interfaith choral group

Blaire Gradney and other members of the Interfaith Friendship Children’s Choir practice for a forthcoming concert, to be performed at Second Presbyterian Church in Little Rock on Feb. 26.
Blaire Gradney and other members of the Interfaith Friendship Children’s Choir practice for a forthcoming concert, to be performed at Second Presbyterian Church in Little Rock on Feb. 26.

On Tuesday afternoons, Christian, Muslim and Jewish children in Little Rock join together in song as part of an interfaith children's choir.

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Kendyl Gorman (bottom), Bryce Gooloe (top left) and Roxy Sonnier (top right) are members of the Interfaith Friendship Children’s Choir, which was formed by the Interfaith Center in Little Rock.

Known as the Interfaith Friendship Children's Choir, the singing group of second- through sixth-graders is an outgrowth of last summer's Interfaith Friendship Camp. Both are sponsored by the Interfaith Center of Little Rock, which is a program of the Institute for Theological Studies at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church.

Sophia Said, program director of the Interfaith Center, said during last year's Friendship Camp that the children learned songs and performed a song of peace, "Salaam, Shalom" during the closing ceremony. The word "salaam" means peace in Arabic, while "shalom" is the word for peace in Hebrew.

The song begins "Salaam, Shalom, these words mean peace, these words bring hope."

"It touched the audience's heart and moved everyone," Said said.

After the camp was over, Said received feedback from the campers and discovered the two things they enjoyed the most were the music and learning about meditation.

"The Interfaith Center's goal is to help these kids build strong, healthy relationships with kids of other faiths, and it can only be done when they are having fun with each other," she said. "I invited the kids to come back and sing again twice after the camp was over."

The children sang at the center's annual "Love Thy Neighbor" event in September and for the Venerable Thupten Ngodup, the state Oracle of Tibet, who serves as a spiritual adviser to the Dalai Lama, during his October visit to Little Rock.

"Both times the kids came, sang and families told me how much they love the experience of their kids singing songs from different religious traditions," Said said.

It was then that she knew she wanted to start the choir.

"Music is the language of the heart and soul," she said. "It's fun, it's touching, and it's a great way to bring people together."

The camp's music teacher, Mary Ibis, loved the idea and the two began planning for the program, which will include two six-week sessions a year.

"We started meeting and building the curriculum, picking songs from different backgrounds, songs of hope, peace and solidarity, songs that would not reflect the teachings of one specific religion but encapsulate the common human denominator of all -- love," Said said.

The choir kicked off the first session by singing during a Martin Luther King Jr. day event and weekly rehearsals began last week at Second Presbyterian Church, where Ibis serves as associate director of music.

Ibis said about 20 children participate in the choir. Many are the same children from the Friendship Camp, where Ibis worked with them each day.

"I tried to pull songs from each of the faith traditions, or in a language they would recognize," Ibis said.

She found "Peace of God Be With You" in a Presbyterian hymnal. The phrase (As-salaamu lakum in Arabic) is a common greeting for Muslims. The lyrics of the song are: Peace of God be with you. Peace of God be with you. Salaam, Salaam. Peace of God be with you."

For the Interfaith Friendship Children's Choir, Ibis said she included some of the songs from camp so the children would have some familiar songs to sing. She also searched for others that were interfaith in nature, such as those acknowledging that "we are all children of God and God loves us all."

"I'm excited about a song that talks about stories we share in common -- "The Hope of Abraham and Sarah," Ibis said.

The song, by Ruth Duck, is noted as a "hymn to be sung by Christians, Jews and Muslims." It begins, "Hope of Abraham and Sarah, friend of Hagar, God of Ruth, you desire that every people worship you in spirit, truth. Meet us in our sacred places, mosque and synagogue and church; show us paths of understanding; bless us in our common search."

"It mentions the cross, the Torah and crescent," Ibis said of the other lyrics. "You could see the kids getting it -- 'It's not your song. It's not his song or her song. It's our song.' That quickly became a favorite."

Ibis said in addition to the music, the children are learning about one another.

"I watched my son become friends with a boy from the temple he might not otherwise ever had the opportunity to become friends with, because they don't go to school together or worship at the same place," she said. "Yet they are having these conversations. Establishing these lines of communication among kids who respect their faith and the faith of others -- I don't know what more you could hope for."

Ibis said she hopes some of the burgeoning friendships will continue beyond their time in the choir.

"Maybe they'll be brave enough to visit each other's place of worship and experience each other's worship and learn to talk to people who are different from them and find a common language and be able to have respectful dialogue," she said.

Looking at the children's faces, Ibis said she sees "the creation that God planned -- colorful and diverse."

The choir will rehearse through February and will perform in concert at 3 p.m. Feb. 26 at Second Presbyterian Church, 600 Pleasant Valley Drive. Information is available by calling Ibis at (501) 412-1416 or by email at [email protected].

Religion on 01/28/2017

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