Interfaith Peace Conference offers special session in Asheville, concert at Lake Junaluska

Press release by Lake Junaluska:

LAKE JUNALUSKA, N.C. –  On March 1-4, Jews, Christians and Muslims are gathering at Lake Junaluska to promote peace. The theme of the 2018 Interfaith Peace Conference is “Meeting the Other: Can We Talk?” and the conference will discuss how, in polarizing times, we can learn to communicate with civility and respect while upholding our core values and religious traditions. Conference attendees will participate in workshops, interfaith worship, plenaries and discussion groups.

If you are unable to attend the full four-day conference, a special session will take place Friday, March 2 from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Humanities Lecture Hall at UNC-Asheville. The session is open to the public for $10, free to UNCA students. The special session will feature music by the interfaith trio Abraham Jam, brief addresses by the conference’s three keynote speakers and a panel session moderated by Rabbi Phillip Bentley. The keynote speakers represent the diversity of the three Abrahamic faiths:

• Rabbi Dr. Nancy Fuchs Kreimer, associate professor of religious studies and founding director of the Department of Multifaith Studies and Initiatives at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncote, Pennsylvania
• Dr. Juliane Hammer, associate professor and Kenan Rifai Scholar of Islamic Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill, she specializes in the study of American Muslims and issues related to women and gender in Islam
• Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman, newly elected president of the North Carolina NAACP and Board President of the North Carolina Council of Churches

Another opportunity open to non-conference attendees is a concert by internationally renowned interfaith trio Abraham Jam on Saturday, March 3 at 7 p.m. in the Harrell Center Auditorium at Lake Junaluska. Concert tickets are $18. The trio features three “brothers” Billy Jonas, David LaMotte and Dawud Wharnsby, from the three Abrahamic faiths, who use music to form interfaith respect and cooperation. The musicians have performed extensively over the last few decades in their individual careers.

For full conference information, UNCA special session registration and concert ticket purchases, visit www.lakejunaluska.com/peace or call 800-222-4930.

Lake Junaluska Conference & Retreat Center is a place of Christian hospitality where lives are transformed through the renewal of soul, mind and body. To find out more about programs, conferences and other activities at Lake Junaluska, visit www.lakejunaluska.com or call 800-222-4930.