Naperville interfaith community to celebrate 20th annual World Peace Day prayer service
The Naperville/DuPage County interfaith community will mark the 20th anniversary of its World Peace Day interfaith prayer service on Sunday, Jan. 5.
It will be at 2:30 p.m. in the Wentz Concert Hall on the campus of North Central College, 171 E. Chicago Ave. in Naperville.
From its beginning, this annual service has celebrated and nurtured the rich diversity of our many faith communities. Over the years, these gatherings also have served as a strong voice in opposition to intolerance, discrimination, and fear-inspired hatred of minority communities in our county.
This year’s service theme is “Overcoming Fear by Fostering Unity in Our Diversity.” It will feature presentations from the Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Bahai, Unitarian Universalist, and Hindu communities.
This interfaith prayer service is being cosponsored by 23 faith communities and organizations in DuPage County.
All cosponsors have signed a statement of values and principles committing them to “embrace a vision of peace characterized by radical inclusion, mutual respect, compassion for all, and a commitment to human rights — especially the right to religious freedom and the rejection of all forms of religious nationalism.”
Participating churches and organizations include: Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, Naperville; North Central College, Naperville; DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church; DuPage NAACP; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Islamic Center of Naperville; Naperville Baha'i Community; Fo Guang Shan Chicago Temple, Buddha's Light International Association; Pax Christi Illinois; Peace & Social Justice Committee, Christ the Servant Church, Woodridge; Congregation Beth Shalom, Naperville; Mother Cabrini Region of the Secular Franciscan Order and its member fraternities; Wesley United Methodist Church, Naperville; Congregation Etz Chaim, Lombard; Wheaton Franciscans; Naperville Interfaith Leaders Association; First Congregational UCC of Naperville; United For Peace, DuPage County; Ismaili Jamatkhana Naperville; Pax Joyce Ministries; Pax Christi Will County; Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple, Aurora; and Zoroastrian Association of Metropolitan Chicago
For more information about this event, contact Tom Cordaro at cordarotom@gmail.com (630) 770-0756.