Prisms of Faith: Moving Beyond Tolerance to Deep Engagement
On Sunday, March 16, 2025, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., St. John’s Episcopal Church will mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazis’ concentration camps with a discussion of interfaith relations. Our keynote speaker, The Rev. Masud Ibn Syedullah, TSSF, of Hyde Park, New York, will explore ways in which persons of all faiths can relate to others without sacrificing their own most fundamental beliefs. Clergy from other faith traditions will respond to Father Syedullah, after which there will be comments and questions from those in attendance. Phillip and Noreen Silver will introduce the program with music written by composers whose lives were devastated by the Holocaust. Refreshments and further conversation will follow the program.
Biography:
The Rev. Masud Ibn Syedullah, TSSF, an Episcopal priest of the Diocese of New York, is Founder and Director of Roots & Branches: Programs for Spiritual Growth. Through it, he uses his gifts as educator, spiritual director, and musician to create and lead retreats, conferences, workshops, and pilgrimages, nationally and internationally. See website: www.roots-branches.org. He is a professed member of the Third Order, Society of Saint Francis (TSSF) – a religious community within the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion. Franciscan spirituality, with its central theme of following Jesus by serving God through responding to human need and valuing human dignity, greatly informs Masud’s ministry of peacemaking, reconciliation, and social justice. An African American, Masud was raised in an interfaith home – father, an Ahmadiyya Muslim; mother, a Pentecostal Christian. He has had a lifetime of cross-cultural and bridgebuilding experience, engaging collaborative work with Muslims, Jews, Native Americans, Buddhists, and representatives of other faith traditions. In response to the increased social unrest of the past few years, religious leaders within the United States and beyond call upon Masud to create and present programs to guide participants in ways their faith and engagement of the spiritual resources of scripture, prayer, meditation, and community can equip them to be faithful agents of peace and peacemaking in today’s world. Masud is also currently the Interim Canon for Ministry in the Episcopal Diocese of New York, responsible for the process of discernment and formation of persons preparing for ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church. He and his wife live in Hyde Park, New York.