Getting to know them

Seven members of the Rockville Centre Clergy Association — Rabbi Marc Gruber of Central Synagogue; Father Tom Pellaton of the Episcopal Church of the Ascension; Father John McCarthy, associate pastor at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Agnes; Rev. Dr. Dick Johns of St. Mark's United Methodist Church; Pastor Jeffrey Laustsen of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church; Rev. Dr. Robert Gunn of the United Church of Rockville Centre and Rabbi Dr. Barry Dov Schwartz of Temple B'nai Sholom — held an interfaith forum on March 4 at Temple B'nai Sholom that was attended by approximately 60 people.

The congenial evening that was filled with laughter, stories and questions and answers had the goals of creating fellowship, fostering a better understanding of each faith's "eccentric" traditions and broadening a myopic focus on a single religion's practices. Teaching people to avoid labels and teaching tolerance were other suggestions that arose during the program.

"We all worship the one God and we're all children of that God," said Rabbi Schwartz as he got the program under way.

After each clergyman introduced himself and said a bit about the congregation he was there to represent, the discussion centered on Jewish beliefs regarding the afterlife, man's relationship with God, the importance of prayer, teaching our children about others' religions and handling end-of-life issues.

According to one of its members, the clergy association has been meeting regularly for breakfasts — more frequently within the last year. Now mostly just sharing ideas, he said the group's members are looking for a sense of mission, perhaps a local issue to which they can commit and marshal resources.