What does interfaith mean to you?
“Interfaith is a good thing,” senior Lauren Martin said. “I wish I could experience every faith because they are all so interesting.”
Seniors enrolled in Prayer and Worship in World Religions class took an interfaith field trip with their teacher, Stephanie Pino-Dressman, on Nov. 28. They traveled around Kansas City to Nativity Catholic Church, a Greek Orthodox Church, a Hindu Temple, and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Worship.
Senior Alyssa Krol believes Interfaith knowledge is an important part of today’s world where we are in contact with so many different religions. Some might be intimidated when they first walk into different places of worship. But by just observing and learning about a different faith, it’s easy to become comfortable with that faith, she said.
“My perception of interfaith is accepting all faiths. It doesn’t matter what you believe or who you believe in. All that matters is that your faith is respected by others,” senior Maggie Gorman said.
Pino-Dressman has helped Gorman to understand her own faith as well as others.
“My teacher is Mrs. Pino-Dressman and she emphasizes the acceptance, but most of all, the understanding of other faiths. We’ve spent most of the semester becoming familiar with other faiths, which has in turn helped us to better understand our own faiths,” Gorman said.
For Krol, Pino-Dressman easily emphasized the importance of interfaith by the curriculum. She is still amazed by how many religions they learned about in only one semester. And Martin feels that Pino-Dressman emphasizes acceptance.
The field trip was an overall success according to the students in Prayer and Worship in World Religions. Gorman actually loved the car ride, and it gave her a chance to spend more time with those in her Prayer and Worship in World Religions class.
“We played a game with Pino in the car where you say the first thing that comes to mind when you hear a word, and we were all laughing so hard,” Gorman said.
Each girl had their own favorite stop on field trip, and the stops meant different things to Martin, Krol, and Gorman.
Martin liked the Hindu temple because it was colorful, and her favorite part of the field trip was just getting to experience each faith. For Gorman, the Greek church was her favorite spot.
“My favorite location that we went to on the field trip was probably the St. Dionysios Greek Orthodox Church. When you first walk in, you are immediately drawn to the beautiful colors in all of the icons that are on the walls and even the ceiling. It was really beautiful and emphasized the important aspects of the Greek Orthodox faith,” Gorman said.
And Krol liked all of the stops for different reasons, but her favorite was the Unitarian church.
“I think the Unitarian Universalist stop was my favorite because I had never heard of their religion before and it was really interesting to learn about,” Krol said.