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We Have to Talk

Sign up now for our event on January 8 at the Jewish Community Center.

We Have to Talk is a network of interfaith spiritual leaders from across Southwest Pennsylvania: over 500 clergy and lay people who gather to build relationship across our diverse traditions through conversation and action.

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Our network's core principles are named in our statement of purpose, Living Faithfully With One Another.

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We Have to Talk offers both large thematic gatherings and small, informal "Spiritual Leader Spaces" throughout the year. The key organizing partners are Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania and the Center for Loving Kindness at the JCC of Greater Pittsburgh.

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Our network began in the days immediately following the mass shooting at Tree of Life synagogue on October 27, 2018. Should we cancel a planned interfaith gathering the following week? we wondered. No, we agreed. Because: we have to talk.

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To receive occasional emails about We Have to Talk, sign up here.

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Photo by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Jan8
Bookshelf

OUR NEXT EVENT:

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We Have to Talk ... Visiting The Library of One Another

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

11 AM - 12:30 PM

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Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh (room 310)

5738 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15217

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Think of spiritual leaders as books on a wide shelf. Each one of us has wisdom to share from our faith traditions and from our experiences in service to the community. No single book knows it all. But together, these volumes hold everything we need to address the challenges we face.

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On January 8, join spiritual leaders from across the community at the JCC in a program inspired by (but not formally affiliated with) the Human Library. It will work like this:

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  • Bring an object that represents something you love about your faith tradition, or a piece of wisdom your tradition has to offer in the face of community challenges. (Forget to bring an object? That's totally ok -- we'll have some for you to choose from!)

  • Each person is invited to share a couple sentences about the object you chose and what it represents.

  • Find a partner whose insights intrigued you, hopefully someone you don't yet know well. You'll have time as a pair to "read" each others' wisdom, asking questions and learning more.

  • Then, connect with another pair, and in your group of four, consider how the four distinct "books" each person shared might work together to build peace, healing, and wholeness in our neighborhoods and the world.

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We'll have music and reflection to begin and end our time together, snacks to share, and lots of time to grow in connection, support, and friendship.


Admission is free, and registration (via the form below) is much appreciated but not required. 

This event is intended for spiritual leaders: clergy and religious and those holding lay leadership roles in houses of worship and faith institutions across Southwest Pennsylvania. Let's come together. We have to talk.

Registration

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