McCormick Trustee Hosts Interfaith Mini-Series on WTTW

02-24-2010

By Geoff Ashmun

Because McCormick Theological Seminary is located in one of the most religiously diverse cities in North America, many of its alumni/ae, faculty and students are invested in interfaith work. The Rev. Christine Chakoian, who will complete her Doctor of Ministry degree at McCormick this spring and serves on the seminary’s Board of Trustees, is hosting a three-part series called, “One God,” for the Chicago-based television program, 30 Good Minutes.

Exploring the fruits of interfaith dialogue with Muslim American Eboo Patel, Rabbi Sherre Hirsch, and Chakoian, an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the series airs its final episode at 5 p.m., this Sunday, February 28, on WTTW channel 11.

Head Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest, Illinois, Chakoian speaks of her experiences breaking bread with Muslim and Jewish friends and how they deepened her understanding of Holy Communion, one of the central sacraments in the Christian tradition.

Rabbi Hirsch, author of We Plan, God Laughs, recounts her spiritual development as one of only two Jews attending a Roman Catholic high school. Meanwhile, Patel, author of Acts of Faith and founder of Interfaith Youth Core, worked with the Catholic Workers movement and became increasingly convicted of the need for persons of different faiths to work collectively for the common good.

For information on purchasing the series as a 3-DVD set or for viewing online, visit www.csec.org