For religious leaders in Aurora, getting together with those of other faiths is seen as a great way to help move the city forward.
A group of more than 60 of Aurora’s religious leaders met with Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin and City Council members Thursday morning at Belle Salle Banquets in Aurora for the first of four Aurora InterFaith Alliance leadership breakfasts set for this year.
The Rev. Dan Haas, formerly with Aurora Community Church, said that even though he is retired from being a pastor, his 40 years of service in Aurora motivates him to continue to seek out connections with others in the religious community.
“I enjoy coming and meeting with fellow clergy members and want to keep a good relationship with all of them,” Haas said at the event. “This initiative began last year, but pastors have been getting together in Aurora for 30 to 40 years. The mayor has reached out to do this and this group extends to all faiths. I enjoy keeping in contact and discussing things.”
Aurora Chief Communications and Equity Officer Clayton Muhammad said the Aurora InterFaith Alliance leadership breakfasts began last year.
“We wanted the whole religious spectrum of Aurora, and we are meeting quarterly to discuss topical areas on how the faith community can help move Aurora forward,” Muhammad said. “We are looking at our migrant busing issue, our warming centers and how churches can be of help and have an opportunity to interconnect with each other.”
Muhammad said the initiative is about “having a complete tapestry of Aurora’s religious voices.”
“We have more than just Christians and we see interconnectedness with faith groups,” he said. “Last year, we had a Christian pastor speak at a Hindu temple and it involved a Black woman pastor who the Hindu leader said people needed to hear. Once the interconnectedness genuinely and authentically happened we keep moving forward and look at what issues impact all of us.”
Rajinder Singh Mago, a leader in the Sikh community, was on hand Thursday and said he attended the Aurora InterFaith Alliance leadership sessions last year as well.
Mago said the Aurora initiative and others like it need to continue “as there is a lot of hatred among people.”
“They are just doubtful of each other because they don’t know. The neighbors don’t even know the people next door,” he said. “We are all scattered as a humanity and this is one good effort to bring people together and get to know each other and be friends and be happy.”
Siddhesh Shervade, of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh organization, said the initiative in Aurora is important.
“The most important thing I would like to see come out of this is people knowing each other. If you look around, there are people who are fighting each other in Aurora without having major reasons,” he said. “The reason for that is they don’t know each other, and this kind of program and events gives the opportunity for community leaders to come together and learn about each other and they will teach their own communities. We all live in the same world and have to live together.”
The Rev. Johnny McGowan of Gayles Memorial Baptist Church in Aurora said for local religious leaders, “it was a good idea to join together as a group.”
“Sometimes what people fear is the unknown. The more we know about each other, the more alike we’ll become and the more we are willing to have fellowship with one another – we know in order to make a strong church, we’ve got to have a strong community,” he said. “Having a strong community is also having strong families. The more we understand each other and one another’s culture the more you are willing to accept one another.
“After all, if we can’t get together down here amongst ourselves, you’re not going to get together anywhere else,” he said.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News