email2_trans 

snailmail_2Subscribe or Unsubscribe to our Snail Mail List!


CharityNav

partners_guidestar

facebook     twitter   flickr_logo
    youtube64

Dinner Dialogue

Greater Houston Area Amazing Faiths
Dinner Dialogue

“The Amazing Faiths Project Dinner Dialogue is a great avenue important to express our sincerity and acceptance of people of all faiths. As one of the largest and most diverse cities in the nation, this is a great opportunity to have respectful, meaningful conversations about different traditions, beliefs and cultures. I speak from personal experience as a previous dinner host and encourage Houstonians to participate.”   

                                                                                                                                --Mayor Annise Parker

About the  Dinner Dialogues

Around the table, over a simple dinner, people of diverse backgrounds come together to share a meal and offer their personal thoughts about life, faith, spirituality. Participants are grouped in host homes to achieve religious diversity, and a trained facilitator guides and moderates the dialogue so that everyone feels comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas. Each participant shares about his/her beliefs while the other participants actively listen without challenging or commenting on the individual's response.

The host/hostess provides a simple vegetarian meal. The dinner is a symbolic act of tolerance, respect, and understanding; eating together is an outward expression of unity among diverse individuals with varied beliefs and religious traditions. These gatherings, held in various cities across the United States, provide an opportunity for intimate fellowship among participants.

Read about The Amazing Faiths Project and other IM stories in our news section here.

 

General Questions and Attendees

 1. What are the Dinner Dialogues exactly? Once a year on a set evening the Amazing Faiths Project hosts an evening of dinner dialogues in various cities. From 6:30-9:30 pm people gather in small groups in private homes to have a meal together, and to share from their lives about faith, religious diversity and common human values. The dialogue is highly structured and directed providing a "safe space" to share and communicate about your faith and spirituality. The purpose of the dinner dialogues is to build relationships with your neighbors who may be of a different faith than your own as a way to promote peace, tolerance, understanding and respect in our world.

 2. How can I get involved? You can be involved either as a participant/guest or as a host of a dinner dialogue. The event is held in early November each year.

 3. What can I expect as a participant/guest? Once you register as a guest and choose your host home (either yourself alone or with a friend/partner/spouse) you will receive a confirmation email. The evening of the dinner you will go to the host's home, along with 10-12 others from your area, for dinner and dialogue. A trained facilitator will join you for the evening to guide the discussion based on specially designed "dialogue cards" created for the Amazing Faiths Project.

 4. How should I prepare for the evening? First, mark the date and time in your calendar as soon as you register, so you won't forget. Your hosts will be expecting you! Next, prepare yourself to meet new people who come from a different perspective, life path, or world view than yours. You may share your first meal with a Muslim, Jain, Christian, Hindu or Jew! The point of the evening is to connect and converse with people outside your daily or regular routines. Prepare to listen more than to talk. When your turn comes to speak, share from your heart. You will not be asked to share anything uncomfortable or too private for you. The evening as a whole, however, might take you outside of your "comfort zone;" one of the goals of the evening is for us to expand our comfort zones with regard to religious diversity in our community. Finally, prepare to be generous and patient with each other.

 5. Do I have to have any formal training in my faith to attend a dinner? No, we encourage anyone and everyone to participate in the dinner dialogues. We want you to be open to sharing your beliefs, traditions, and practices.

 6. What if I identify with more than one religion? This is absolutely fine. We welcome those who may come from more than one faith heritage, those who have found more than one faith tradition as vital for themselves, and those who do not hold to a particular faith tradition at all.

 7. What if I am an Atheist or do not practice any faith, can I still participate? Yes, we simply ask that you be interested in learning about other's beliefs and traditions in a respectful manner.

 8. What if I am uncomfortable or do not want to answer a question at the dinner dialogue? We have made every effort to make the questions non-offensive, but you are always welcome to answer another question or pass. We do encourage you to fully participate, however, since dialogue is the main objective of the evening.

 Dinner Dialogue Hosts

 1. What are my responsibilities as a Host? As a host, you agree to provide a simple, healthy meal for up to 12 people in your home on the evening of the Dinner Dialogue from 6:30-9:30pm. You do not have to have a big house or even a dining room. Nor do you have to provide fancy food. The point of the evening is not the food or the house--it is connection and conversation. People can sit at a table to eat, or in chairs or on floor pillows, and eat from plates in their laps. A simple meal might be any one of these:  Rice and Beans, Salad Bar--make your own salad and bread, Vegetable soup and salad, spaghetti and bread (non-meat sauce), cookies, water or lemonade (no caffeine)

 2. What restrictions are there regarding the dinner meal? No alcohol at all, in drink or in the food. No pork or pork products at all. There must be a vegetarian option if meat is served.  Again, the point for hosts is not to spend a lot of money or to spend all day "slaving over a hot stove." Choose a simple, inexpensive meal. Disposable plates, forks, etc. are fine. Someone from the organizing committee will contact you, in advance, if you have guests with special dietary restrictions (i.e. kosher, halal, etc.). We will assist you in meeting those guests' needs.

 3. If I am a host, does that mean I am also a moderator/facilitator? No, if you are the host that is your only responsibility. If, however, you partner with either a friend/spouse/partner to host the meal he or she may be a moderator. Moderators are required to go through training and are subject to approval by the Amazing Faith Project staff.