Bringing people of different faiths together for open dialogue provides the opportunity to foster lasting interfaith relationships, said Multicultural Alliance President Adrianne Richardson Collins.
Collins was a long-standing volunteer for the Fort Worth-based nonprofit — since 2004 — before she became president in June. A Baptist, she remembers participating in the alliance’s annual Interfaith Dialogue program during the pandemic. Over the years she stayed in touch with the connections she made then.
It can be easy for people to “get caught up and get swayed with a group or with a movement or with what’s happening politically,” Collins said. But talking with those of different beliefs, getting to know each other one by one” helps build a better understanding of one another, she added.
The Multicultural Alliance’s 2025 Interfaith Dialogue program starts Oct. 8. Individuals who sign up participate in weekly two-hour virtual discussions with people of various religious backgrounds.
The goal of the six-week program is for participants to gain a deeper understanding of their own faiths while learning about other religious traditions, experiences and practices, according to its website.
“There are a lot of people that are seeking to find places where they can ask honest questions, where they can be heard,” Collins said. “We are in a pluralistic society, and we can all exist.”
The dialogue sessions begin on the day after the second anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
While the date of the program was not intentional, the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people has come up at Multicultural Alliance events, Collins said.
“I don’t think we run from those conversations when they come up. … This is why having places like this are so important,” Collins said of the interfaith dialogue.
The Multicultural Alliance, formerly known as the National Conference of Christians and Jews, is a Fort Worth-based human relations nonprofit with a mission to promote inclusion, diversity and understanding. The alliance aims to work toward eliminating bias, bigotry and oppression through educational programs such as Camp CommUNITY, the Interfaith Dialogue sessions and its seminarian retreat.
The first iteration of the dialogue program began in 2010, originally called “Interfaith Trialogues” — a discussion between members of the Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths, Collins said.
The program evolved to include all faith backgrounds and now is conducted online.
Each week is a relationship-building process, said Barry Klompus, who is Reform Jewish. He has been a facilitator for the dialogues for almost a decade.
Conversations typically begin with individuals sharing their faith journey, spiritual holidays and how different people pray. The heaviest topic, which happens around the fifth week, addresses misconceptions and stereotypes, Klompus said.
The goal is to foster dialogue, not debate, Klompus said.
“We’re not here to argue. We’re here to understand and to learn,” Klompus stressed. “I see our approach is really nurturing people through our different topics.”
In the final week, the group recaps the time they’ve spent together and addresses any lingering questions that people have. If the timing works, Klompus said, the group gets together in person the following week for a reunion.
But that doesn’t have to be the last time participants see each other. Collins said she hopes the experience creates lasting interfaith connections.
“There’s a bonding that takes place,” Collins said. “Beyond that six weeks, one of the things that really comes out of it is a relationship.”
Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at marissa.greene@fortworthreport.org.
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