Interfaith Round Table of Washtenaw County

Day Forum: Discussing Modern Psalms
2022-05-17 11:45 - 13:00 (America/Detroit) | MI
The Interfaith Round Table of Washtenaw County invites you to an interspiritual discussion of modern psalms with Dwight L. Wilson, Board Chair of IRT. Among his other writings, Dwight is the author of Modern Psalms in Search of Peace and Justice and Modern Psalms of Solace and Resistance. How can poetry and reflective writings bring us into closer relationship and alignment with the sacred?
We invite you to this meaningful conversation. If you’d like to join us, you can register at the link below:
Day Forum: Discussing Modern Psalms

Day Forum: From 'Place to Purpose' — Environmentalism and Climate Justice
2022-04-19 11:45 - 13:00 | MI
The Interfaith Round Table invites you to an interspiritual dialogue concerning environmentalism and climate justice. As we near the celebration of Earth Day, how do your spiritual traditions honor the concept of sacred place, and how does that impact your work toward climate care? Which places in our world or in your upbringing provide you with a larger sense of purpose, and how is that informing your work in caring for the earth?
We invite you to this meaningful conversation. If you’d like to join us, you can register at the link below:
Day Forum: From ‘Place to Purpose’ — Environmentalism and Climate Justice

Day Forum: Caring for Community Trauma
2022-03-15 11:45 - 13:00 | MI
The Interfaith Round Table invites you to an interspiritual dialogue concerning community care in times of collective trauma. We are entering our third year of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the midst of this time, all lives have been disrupted and some have been unended. How do we care for grief and loss on a massive scale? And how do we provide trauma-informed care during this pandemic alongside experiences of racism, violence, climate crisis disasters, and more? During this time, we will explore such questions and consider the ways we’ve received care ourselves.
We invite you to this meaningful conversation. If you’d like to join us, you can register at the link below:
Day Forum: Caring for Community Trauma

Day Forum: Considering the Place of Prayer in the Modern World
2022-02-15 11:45 - 13:00 | MI
The Interfaith Round Table of Washtenaw County invites you to an interspiritual dialogue about the place of prayer in the modern world. Together, during the lunch hour, we will explore vital questions together: What role does prayer play in your life, and what forms can it take? How do you practice prayer personally or communally? Does prayer impact our own relationship to the modern world, and if so, how?
We invite you to this meaningful conversation. If you’d like to join us, you can register at the link below:
Day Forum: Considering the Place of Prayer in the Modern World

Climate Justice: Building Congregational Coalitions
2022-02-10 18:00 - 19:30 | MI
The Interfaith Round Table of Washtenaw County invites you to a community discussion about climate justice as we interview Peggy Daub and Richard Tucker. In preparation for the 2021 Glasgow Climate Change Conference, Peggy Daub, Richard Tucker, and additional community members of the Ann Arbor Friends Meeting organized an interfaith coalition this summer to march to Chase Bank, demanding that the institution divest from fossil fuels and invest in renewable energy. How can we organize coalitions of congregations in this work? How do our spiritual traditions encourage us to protect the natural world and one another?
Please join us for this important conversation. To attend, you can register below:
Climate Justice: Building Congregational Coalitions

Day Forum: 2022's Most Pressing Needs
2022-01-18 11:45 - 13:00 | MI
What are the most pressing issues of the 21st century? In response to these needs, what values do you want to live? How do you plan to get involved in addressing these needs in 2022? We invite you to join IRT for our Day Forum where we will discuss these questions over the lunch hour. This conversation will be facilitated by Dwight L. Wilson, Board Chair for IRT.
Please join us by registering at this link below:
Zoom Registration for Day Forum: 2022’s Most Pressing Needs

The Commitment to Peacemaking: A January 6 Interview with Carson Smith
2022-01-06 19:00 - 20:30 | MI
IRT invites you to a virtual interview with Carson Smith to discuss the spiritual practice and personal commitment to peacemaking. On January 6, we will reach the one year anniversary of the insurrection. We know that we live in a time of great division in our nation and around the world. How are we called to peacemaking — the deep work of upholding vulnerable people as we promote safety and collective flourishing?
Carson Smith grew up in Flushing, Michigan and is a graduate of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. During his college years, he was a member of First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor where he maintains many friendships. After commencement, he spent a year living in Colombia as part of the Young Adult Volunteers (YAV) program of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A). During that time, he built relationships in a rural community, learned about land rights, and explored the history and present conditions around the Colombian Peace Accords. Then he spent an additional YAV year working at the Presbyterian Mission to the United Nations in New York City. Additionally, he has spent time in Palestine as an accompanier, learning about the conflicts in Israel and Palestine while accompanying children and adults as they walk to work, school, and community events.
Now Carson Smith is a law student at the University of Texas, and he is exploring how law can be a crucial component in peacemaking. We will hear how he is reflecting on questions of peacemaking through his studies. For the first hour of our time together, Renee Roederer will interview him, and in the following half hour, we will have a time of Q&A.
Please join us by registering at this link below:
Zoom Registration for Interview with Carson Smith

An Interfaith Celebration of Thanks: Joyful Perseverance
2021-11-21 19:00 - 20:30 | MI
Due to high COVID and flu numbers in Washtenaw County, we are pivoting our event to be on Zoom ONLY at 7pm.
Please register for the event here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEkcuiqqT8tE9bpueCjgQAhBugG3WNZItn2
For 27 years, the Interfaith Round Table of Washtenaw County has offered a Celebration of Thanks event as an ideal time for people of faith and conscience to come together and show appreciation for our blessings. This year, we will gather on Zoom to reflect upon the theme, “Joyful Perseverance.”
As a community of spiritually oriented people, we will give thanks with music, interfaith conversation, and spoken reflections. We will also encourage people to give to a collective offering: Half of the proceeds will support the Back Door Food Pantry, and the other half will support the mission of IRT.
Register here for the Zoom link.

*IN PERSON!* Day Forum: A Celebration of Welcome
2021-10-19 11:45 - 13:00 | Zion Lutheran Church, 1501 W. Liberty Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48103, United States
Please join us for our monthly Day Forum — this time, outside and in person! On Tuesday, October 19 from 11:45am-1:00pm, IRT will meet together for cakes and a variety of snacks in the outdoor pavilion and picnic area at Zion Lutheran Church (1501 W. Liberty Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48103). We will welcome the presence of one another and also invite new clergy and friends to Washtenaw County and to IRT. We ask that unvaccinated people wear masks, and vaccinated people are welcome to wear them too if that adds more access and welcome. We will not require them outside or while eating, but we will have space to spread apart.
The pavillion and picnic area are behind the church building. Please drive around to the back. Parking extends right to this area. If you have yard chairs you can bring, please do that. We also have some picnic tables available.
*If there’s a high chance of rain, we will reschedule.*
If you plan on attending, please RSVP with a reply to roederer@umich.edu.

Climate Crisis: Global Multi-Religious Day of Action
2021-10-18 11:30 | Blake Transit Center, William Street and S. 4th Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
The Board of IRT invites you to participate in a multi-religious direct action event, initiated and organized by the Ann Arbor Friends Meeting. We are invited to gather together at 11:30am at the Blake Transit Center (William Street and S. 4th Avenue in Ann Arbor). Then we will walk over to Chase Bank to deliver letters to the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, asking him to lead Chase in divesting from fossil fuels and financing renewable energy businesses. This is part of an international witness by people of faith called together by Greenfaith Int’l to make visible the climate concerns of faith communities. If you cannot make it at 11:30am, you can also meet us at Chase Bank (125 S. Main St). We invite clergy to wear religious attire.

Tea Time with Dwight L. Wilson and Sandra Xenakis
2021-10-12 13:00 - 14:00 | MI
We invite you to join us for a virtual tea time on Tuesday, October 12 from 1:00-2:00pm with Dwight L. Wilson and Sandra Xenakis. Along with the whole People Addressing Racism community in Saline, they participated in writing a Position Paper on Reparations for Black Americans. What are some of the most significant convictions and actions shared within that position paper? Why is this a vital topic? What did it feel like to draft such a paper and to do it in a multi-racial, community setting? Feel free to bring coffee, tea, lemonade, snacks, or anything you’d like for this virtual, afternoon conversation!
Please register at the link below.

IRT's Day Forum: Generational Faithfulness
2021-09-28 11:45 - 13:00 | MI
When you ponder the chain of generations before you and after you, what sorts of themes have shaped their spiritual lives and the ways they make meaning? How does your worldview differ from those who are younger than you? Or those who are older than you? Or those who exist in your own generational cohort? And what commonalities and distinctions can you find?
We will meet for an interspiritual discussion around these themes on Tuesday, September 28 from 11:45am-1:00pm.

Tea Time with Benjamin Hollenbach
2021-09-15 13:00 - 14:00 | MI
We invite you to join us for a virtual tea time on Wednesday, September 15 from 1:00-2:00pm with anthropologist and Ph.D candidate Benjamin Hollenbach. We will learn about their research on LGBTQIA+ inclusion in mainline protestant congregations and also get to know Ben along with their thoughts, hobbies, and interests. Feel free to bring coffee, tea, lemonade, snacks, or anything you’d like for this virtual, afternoon conversation!
Benjamin T. Hollenbach (he/they) is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan. Benjamin earned a B.A. in anthropology and classics at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Benjamin’s research focuses on religion, with a particular emphasis on contemporary Christianity in the United States and LGBTQ+ representation within Christian groups. By focusing on how people of faith determine which behaviors promote greater equity, Benjamin’s dissertation examines the ways in which progressive Christian congregations shape and influence queer politics in the United States. Conversely, Benjamin also examines the ways queer Christians actively construct queer religiosities, and shape the religious institutions to which they belong. In their spare time, Benjamin (or Ben) enjoys going to art museums and watching Joan Crawford movies.

Parkluck: Southeast Area Park
2021-08-26 18:30 - 20:00 | Southeast Area Park, 2901 E. Elsworth Rd, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
Welcome to our Parkluck series! Over the next couple of months, we will have occasions to meet neighbors around shared tables at local parks as we share a vegetarian potluck meal. Please RSVP at the link below, and IRT Director Renee Roederer will get in touch with you to see what you would like to bring to share. We request that all food be vegetarian, and please label your ingredients in case there are allergies or religious dietary needs. We’ll eat in areas that have picnic tables, but if you would like to bring your own outdoor chairs, we invite that as well.
Please wear a mask if you are unvaccinated except while eating. Masks are not required for unvaccinated participants, though some may want to wear them if that makes the event more safe, accessible, or comfortable for them. Friends are welcome too!

Day Forum: Holding Compassionate Space for Divisive Conversations
2021-08-17 11:45 - 13:00 | MI
In our IRT mission statement, we say, “The Interfaith Round Table of Washtenaw County is a spiritually based alliance of people from across the spectrum of faith who come together to address our commonalities and explore issues with the potential to be divisive.” How are we invited to hold space compassionately while discussing conversational or divisive topics? What best practices can guide us?
On the third Tuesday of each month, we hold our Day Forum. This is an invitation for community members to come together during the lunch hour for connection, friendship, and interfaith dialogue. In later months, we anticipate meeting in person, but for now, we will meet over Zoom.
You can register here to join us.

Tea Time with IRT Director Renee Roederer
2021-08-10 13:00 - 14:00 | MI
We invite you to join us for a virtual tea time on Tuesday, August 10 from 1:00-2:00pm. This will be a Q&A time with IRT Director Renee Roederer. We can learn about the upcoming IRT program year together, chat about current and local events, and you can ask her get-to-know-you questions. Feel free to bring coffee, tea, lemonade, snacks, or anything you’d like for this virtual, afternoon conversation.
We will meet over Zoom. You can register here to join us.

Book Study: “The Book of Joy” by the Dali Lama and Desmond Tutu
2021-05-26 19:00 - 20:30, 2021-05-19 19:00 - 20:30, 2021-05-12 19:00 - 20:30 | MI
The Interfaith Round Table of Washtenaw County invites you to a three-week book discussion of The Book of Joy, co-authored by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dali Lama. These two men are among the most respected spiritual leaders of the 21st century. In an intimate discussion, they help us learn to experience sustainable joy even amidst pain and confusion.
In a series of three virtual evening discussions, we will consider concepts shared in their best selling book. It’s not necessary to have previously read the book before coming, but it will enrich your perspective.
This book discussion series will be led by Dwight L. Wilson, IRT Board Member and former Co-Director. We look forward to having you join us.
To join us, please register here. When you register, the Zoom information will be sent to your address. You can join us by video or by phone. The same Zoom link and phone numbers will be repeated for all three weeks.

IRT Day Forum: Grow and Tell
2021-05-18 11:45 - 13:00 | MI
On the third Tuesday of each month, the Interfaith Round Table invites the wider Washtenaw County community to join us for interfaith dialogue and friendship over the lunch hour. This month, we’ll give a nod to our growing years (we mean this in more than one way!) Remember when we had show and tell as children? We’d like to do that together as adults. For this session, we invite you to bring something — an object, a symbol, a photo, something you’ve created, a story, or something else — to share a time when you’ve grown spiritually, emotionally, or socially. We will show these to one another and share our stories of growing personally.
To join us, please register here. When you register, the Zoom information will be sent to your address. You can join us by video or by phone.

Compassionate Community Conversations: The Flores Exhibit
2021-05-06 18:30 - 20:30 | MI
We invite you to join the Interfaith Round Table of Washtenaw County (IRT), the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice (ICPJ), and Bend the Arc: Jewish Action of Greater Ann Arbor for a Compassionate Community Conversation on the Flores Exhibit. The Flores Exhibit brings visibility to the testimonies of migrant children and young adults held in detention at the U.S. / Mexico border. Join us to hear the experience of these youth in their own words and share our reflections, particularly in light of faith traditions and spiritual and moral values. Community members across faiths and differing beliefs about immigration policy are welcome. Participate in this conversation to deepen our understanding, bridge our differences, and work together to create welcoming, safe, and loving communities for all.
To join us, please register here. When you register, the Zoom information will be sent to your email address. You can join us by video or by phone.

Baha’i Faith 101 with Rainn Wilson
2021-04-25 20:00 - 21:30 | MI
The Interfaith Round Table invites you to learn more about the Baha’i Faith with… drumroll… Rainn Wilson! Rainn Wilson is an actor known for a number of roles, most notably Dwight Schrute on NBC’s The Office. He is a committed member of the Baha’i Faith and the creator of the digital media platform, Soul Pancake.On Sunday, April 25, IRT is invited to join a national Zoom event, entitled “Baha’i.chat with Rainn Wilson,” co-hosted by Liz Dwyer. This will include a light, one-hour conversation about the Baha’i Faith, including Q&A. This session will explore race and racism in the context of the Baha’i writings.Afterward, all IRT participants will be invited to a second half-hour Zoom session to meet with members of the Baha’i Faith in Washtenaw County for an additional time of Q&A.To participate, please RSVP at roederer@umich.edu. IRT Director, Renee Roederer, will send you the registration links for both portions of the evening.

An Evening of Readings with Rabbi Rob Dobrusin
2021-04-21 19:00 - 20:30 | MI
The Interfaith Round Table of Washtenaw County invites you to an evening of readings shared from the writings of Rabbi Rob Dobrusin. Rabbi Dobrusin is a long-time friend and former Board member of IRT and the Rabbi Emeritus of Beth Israel Congregation in Ann Arbor. He is the author of The Long Way Around: Stories of Sermons from a Life Journey and the host of the podcast Wrestling and Dreaming: Engaging Discussions on Judaism.During our time together, Rabbi Dobrusin will read from his book, his sermons, and additional writings to share his reflections upon Judaism and his life experiences. We welcome hearing from him.

Born and raised in Boston (and a passionate Boston Red Sox fan), Rabbi Dobrusin was ordained as a rabbi in 1982 and came to Ann Arbor in 1988. In addition to serving two congregations, Rabbi Dobrusin has been active in many causes including serving as a board member and national co-chair of T’ruah: the Rabbinic Call to Human Rights. Since retiring from the pulpit in 2018, he has continued teaching and supporting community institutions including serving as a member of the board of directors of the International House of Ann Arbor and volunteering at the Humane Society of Huron Valley. He is also a Volunteer Zoo Educator at the Toledo Zoo. Rabbi Dobrusin and his wife Ellen are the parents of two adult children and their family includes Sami, a sweet mixed breed rescue dog and two gentle cats, Spot and Ozzie. To RSVP, please register here. After you do so, Zoom information will be sent to your email. You can join with us via video or phone.

IRT Day Forum: From "Holy Rage to Holy Hope"
2021-04-20 11:45 - 13:00 | MI
On the third Tuesday of each month, the Interfaith Round Table invites the wider Washtenaw County community to join us for interfaith dialogue and friendship over the lunch hour. This month, we would like to explore this question: Have you had moments when you personally witnessed or experienced injustice, and how did that anger move you to action?
Our language for this discussion — “from holy rage to holy hope” — comes from Rev. Sharon Risher. Rev. Sharon Risher is the daughter of Ethel Lee Lance, one of the nine people who died in the Charleston shooting at the Mother Emanuel AME Church. She spoke very powerfully at a recent event with the IRT
We’re encouraged to watch the video of her talk before our gathering, though you don’t need to have watched to come and participate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3avRZBOmXQ&t=3255s
To RSVP, please register here. After you do so, Zoom information will be sent to your email. You can join with us via video or phone.

Sharing Poetry Together
2021-04-14 17:30 - 18:30 | MI
The Interfaith Round Table of Washtenaw County invites you to an evening of poetry readings on Wednesday, April 14 from 5:30-6:30pm. Each person is invited to bring a poem or two to read aloud and share with the group. These may include writings of treasured poets you admire or poems of your own creation. Then we’ll move to a time of storytelling — how do these poems connect with a moment or experience in your life? We invite you to come and meet neighbors through this form of sharing.To RSVP, please register here. After you do so, Zoom information will be sent to your email. You can join with us via video or phone.

Tea Time with IRT Director Renee Roederer
2021-03-24 15:00 - 16:30 | MI
For the last program year, Rev. Renee Roederer has served as the Director of IRT during a unique virtual season. On Wednesday, March 24 from 3-4:30pm, we’ll have some time to connect with her over Zoom with tea, coffee, snacks or anything else you’d like to choose! Bryan, Weinert, Board Chair of IRT, will interview her about her interests and her reflections on this season of our shared life. Then we’ll have a Q&A time with her.
In addition to her time with IRT, Renee also serves as a Community Chaplain and the organizer of the Michigan Nones and Dones community in Southeast Michigan. And she’s a part-time staff member at the Epilepsy Foundation of MIchigan. She’s lived in Ann Arbor for 7 years, after previously living in Southern Indiana; Austin, Texas; and Pasadena, California. She enjoys choral singing, hiking, and traveling, and she’s an avid writer. One of her greatest joys in life is the large, chosen family she has built over time, with whom she enjoys keeping in touch, laughing hard, and reflecting on life.

To join us, please register here.

And So We Grow: Welcoming Spring
2021-03-21 19:00 - 20:00 | MI
We invite you and your friends to join the Interfaith Round Table on Sunday night, March 21 from 7:00-8:00pm for a time of pre-selected readings, poetry, and music read by interfaith readers, along with a time of shared reﬂection as we begin to welcome spring. Throughout this season, when we see new growth around us, how might we acknowledge the growth within us — how we’ve grown during the pandemic, and how we seek to grow moving forward? This gathering will be facilitated by Director Renee Roederer, and will take place over Zoom. As we near the end of winter, we honor hardship in our collective life, and we gather to provide spiritual support, encouragement, and friendship to one another.

To join us, please register here.

IRT Day Forum: New Normal? Envisioning a Post-Pandemic Future
2021-03-16 11:45 - 13:00 | MI
We are still in the painful throes of the coronavirus pandemic, but as we begin to imagine what comes next, some have said that we cannot just ‘go back to normal.’ That era no longer exists. Instead, we will have to cultivate new ways of living together with knowledge, wisdom, and hopes for a better future. What could that look like? How do our spiritual traditions shape our imaginations in these directions?
On the third Tuesday of each month, the Interfaith Round Table invites the wider Washtenaw County community to join us for interfaith dialogue and friendship over the lunch hour. This month, we would like to explore important questions like these. What could a post-pandemic future look like in Washtenaw County?
Please RSVP to roederer@umich.edu if you are interested to join us, and we will send you the Zoom information. You can connect with us over video or over the phone.

For Such a Time As This: An Evening with Rev. Sharon Risher
2021-02-24 19:00 - 20:30 | MI
The Interfaith Round Table invites you to a powerful discussion with the Rev. Sharon Risher. She is the daughter of Mrs. Ethel Lee Lance in Charleston, South Carolina who was killed at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, along with 8 other people, including Rev. Risher’s two cousins and a childhood friend. Through story and conviction, we will hear about the power of legacy, faith, and hope and how these have fueled Rev. Risher as an advocate for anti-racism and an end to gun violence.
Rev. Risher is the author of For Such a Time as This: Hope and Forgiveness After The Charleston Massacre. It is a powerful expression of heart and boldness in the face of trauma and personal loss. We will ask Rev. Risher about her story and the causes she holds dear. And we’ll invite her to call us to action as well: How might we be called for such a time as this?
To attend, please register here.

Age-ing to Sage-ing: Re-envisioning Elderhood with Lucinda Kurtz, M.A. and Oran Hesterman, Ph.D
2021-02-18 17:00 - 18:30 | MI
Join us for this offering that invites us to re-envision the new terrain of longevity where we learn to harvest wisdom not only for ourselves but for a world missing the voice of the elder. This is an introduction to a longer course on Age-ing to Sage-ing that provides practical and contemplative tools to provide a new vision of spiritual aging.
Please RSVP to roederer@umich.edu if you are interested to join us, and we will send you the Zoom information. You can connect with us over video or over the phone.
