Face to Face Interreligious Service

ACTIVITIES

Interreligious Choir Pontanima
Portrait of Pontanima Project
Interreligious and Ecumenical Gatherings
Interreligious Library of Books and Music
Women in Theology and Interreligious Dialogue
Tours for Children
Hosting Visitors
Partnerships

Interreligious Choir Pontanima

The choir Pontanima gathers about 55 people from Sarajevo to sing the music of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Celebrating the rich spiritual diversity of this region, Pontanima leads the way toward a culture of peace. The choir has appeared over 250 times in Bosnia-Herzegovina and throughout Europe and the United States and has been honored with several prestigious awards, including Sarajevo's Sixth of April Award and the Common Ground Reconciliation Through the Arts Award given annually by Search for Common Ground.

Portrait of Pontanima Project

In addition to its role as an artistic ensemble, Pontanima is a dynamic community, providing an opportunity for inter-group relationships and acting as a model for an integrated society in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The project Portrait of Pontanima emphasizes this aspect of the choir and examines the experiences of the singers, their motivations for being part of the choir and the impact the choir has had on them. Interviews are being conducted with choir members and ultimately a book will be published including their words and photographs.

Interreligious and Ecumenical Gatherings

Since 1998, Face to Face Interreligious Service has regularly organized at least two annual events that bring local religious leaders together in prayer and sharing. These meetings usually are held at the Franciscan Church of St. Anthony, Sarajevo, and are followed by an opportunity for socializing in the Monastery of St. Anthony. They are well attended by the general public and attract the attention of the media, symbolically promoting inter-religious dialogue and cooperation in a general climate of distrust and isolation.
An ecumenical prayer service is held in January to commemorate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Leaders of the Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant communities participate by reading selections of scripture and leading the assembly in short meditations.

Inspired by meetings held in Assisi, Italy in 1986, Face to Face and the Franciscan Commision for Justice, Peace and Ecology have convened the annual Interreligious Meeting of Reconciliation and Peace in late October. Representatives from the local Jewish, Orthodox, Catholic, Baptist, Adventist and Evangelical communities are joined by groups from the Satya Sai Center of Sarajevo and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Each delegation is given time to present a reading from its holy texts, offer a short meditation and lead a song.

Furthermore, Face to Face regularly participates in the annual Spiritual Call of the Monotheistic Religions, an event organized by local partner IMIC (International Multireligious and Intercultural Center) on the anniversary of Bosnia-Herzegovina's statehood that celebrates the country's multi-religious heritage.

Interreligious Library of Books and Music

Face to Face maintains a small library of selected resources about world religions, peace theology, conflict transformation and local history. In addition to around 1500 books, the library also contains close to 1,000 recordings of music, emphasizing choral/vocal music from the religious traditions.

Women in Theology and Interreligious Dialogue

Face to Face works to promote women's position in society and has worked closely with local groups (especially Medica Zenica and Žene Ženama ) to organize or contribute to seminars on this topic.
Beginning in 2006, Face to Face has initial funding for a project encouraging women to undertake graduate-level religious education and building a cadre of religious leaders with experience in grassroots peacebuilding. During 2006, Face to Face will begin support to a woman attending a Catholic theological school and another attending the Faculty of Islamic Studies, both at the graduate level. These women will also volunteer part-time at the Interreligious Service.

Tours for Children

Face to Face has developed a simple and yet powerful project to introduce children to the rich multi-religious environment that surrounds them. Groups of children from surrounding regions are invited to visit Sarajevo, accompanied by their own local religious leaders or chaperones. Face to Face staff members meet the children and lead them on a walk around downtown Sarajevo, entering a synagogue, an Orthodox church, a mosque and a Catholic church. Children meet representatives from these religious communities and have a chance to ask questions. After the walk, the children eat lunch together before returning to their homes. Over 700 children have participated in this project.

Hosting Visitors

An important aspect of Face to Face's work includes deepening relationships with like-minded people throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina and the wider world, emphasizing the positive potential of the country's heritage and resources. The choir Pontanima frequently acts as an ambassador of Bosnia-Herzegovina abroad. While at home, hosting visitors is another way to introduce people to the complexities and beauties of life in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Student groups, journalists, performing musicians and others visit regularly and Face to Face often assists with the organization of their stay in Sarajevo.

We've had the pleasure of performing with and/or organizing concerts for the following musical groups:

Lidingo Motet Choir, Sweden (May 2006)
Duo Kleber, USA (March 2006 and July 2004)
Bethel College Choir, USA (January 2006)
South London Chorus, UK (October 2004)
Anthony Brown, USA (March 2002)

Partnerships

Face to Face believes that the region needs as many people working for peace in as many different ways as possible, and we try to collaborate and support others' work whenever possible. Over the years, a few of the most important joint projects include:

Music in the Schools Project (2006), working with students in three schools in Sarajevo to build cultural awareness and love of music, in collaboration with Musicians without Borders, Accord International and the University of Edinbrough

Helping to publish Religious Confession in a Time of War (2004), a book by sociologist Ivan Cvitković, through Franciscan publishing house Svjetlo Riječi

Supporting Musicians without Borders in the organization of the Singing the Bridge conference that convened musicians working in conflict areas around the world (2003)

With the student group Hope and Life, the Franciscan Theological Seminary, and the University of Sarajevo to bring the theologian Miroslav Volf, a well-known author and professor at Yale, to give a lecture in Sarajevo (2003)

Providing office space, resources and guidance to the local group Alternative Peace Initiative (AMI; 2000-2002)

Assisting the Coalition for Return in its work with refugees and displaced people (1996-2001)

Participation in the filming of Adiyo Kerida , a documentary about the Jewish comunity of Sarajevo (1999)

Collaboration with the Protector project to encourage return of Serbs to the Sarajevo region and to publish A Light in the Tunnel (Svijetlo u tunelu), a book documenting the inspiring actions of people who courageously worked for peace during the war (1999)

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