A Menno Minute
with Donna Entz, Director of MCA's North Edmonton Ministry
It
is so easy to make assumptions about others. The Muslim-Christian
Dialogue forces each of us to realize that we are constantly making
assumptions about those not quite like us. It puts ordinary folks in
contact with each other so that these fall away.
This event is unusual because faith is really a taboo subject in
Edmonton. In addition this opens up a very tangible situation of
speaking as witnesses Jesus-style. The Dialogue is more about hanging
out together and chatting with each other than passively listening to
Speakers. In fact this unique kind of Dialogue is drawn from our
Mennonite potluck tradition and our value of community. We are being
real across a table with food, experiencing the dialogue instead of
learning about it. Our model is impacting Dialogues elsewhere.
The motley group that puts this together is called A Common Word Alberta. A cool trailer, the first-ever for us, is here (www.acwalberta.ca) and MCA's North Edmonton Ministry also helps make this happen.
Donna,
on behalf of MCA, is one of the faith leaders who form the
organization, A Common Word Alberta. "This local endeavour is an
extension of a global movement that began in 2007, when a letter
inviting dialogue was composed by Muslim leaders and addressed to
Christian leaders of the world. The letter, entitled “A Common Word,” affirmed
the call in both the Bible and the Qur’an to love God and neighbour and
got a positive response and continuing engagement from Christian
leaders." (from acwalberta.ca) |