Our Peace Catalyst team in Seattle recently hosted its first live peacemaking event in over two years. Two local churches combined their efforts to host the local Uyghur American community in a community-wide Listening Event on the last day of the Winter Olympics. The timing was in solidarity to the worldwide Uyghur community whose concerns about holding an Olympic games in a nation where genocide is happening in real time were ignored by the IOC.

What do you have to do to get a bunch of teenagers out of bed at the crack of dawn during their summer vacation? Would you guess the answer is giving them a way to serve their community? Last Saturday we gathered together to help Habitat for Humanity for a day of interfaith community service. We started bright and early, and right on time as the doors opened we had 21 high school and college students ready to get to work. All together we had 36 Muslim, Jewish, and Christian friends, and one Hindu.

Muslims eating Halal food in the church fellowship hall. People making friends across cultural and religious lines. Christians and Muslims openly discussing our common ground and differences about Jesus. This is a snapshot of our most recent Love Your Neighbor Dinner at the Valley Vineyard in Reseda, California.

What if people of all faiths, colors, genders, and political affiliations could unite and stand together for the cause of peace and justice? On Sunday, we did just that. The Interfaith March for Peace and Justice was a coast-to-coast coordinated event that took place in 12 cities across the U.S. to affirm freedom of religion and to stand against racial and religious discrimination. Peace Catalyst was part of three of these marches, in Columbus, Ohio; Boise, Idaho; and Oxnard, California. 

When I heard about the First Annual Black American Muslim Conference, I knew I had to attend.  As a white evangelical Christian, I wanted to hear this group's stories and stand in solidarity with them against the blatant racism and anti-Muslim sentiment that buffets their lives. Since Peace Catalyst focuses on Christian-Muslim peacemaking, it seemed like a practical way to be good neighbors and to live out our calling as peacemakers.

You’ve already taken the steps to plan your Peace Dinner and you’re equipped with our 5 tips for hosting successfully, but you may still find yourself feeling nervous or unsure about any number of elements of your peace dinner. Here are answers to a few questions you might have.

What happens when you bring together a dozen teenagers who don’t know each other, come from two totally different religious backgrounds, and ask them to put their phones away for the day and actually TALK to each other?

American churches and organizations are loving their Muslim neighbors in practical, beautiful ways. Many more groups than I ever imagined are reaching out in love to their Muslim neighbors.  

This is the question one couple asked Peace Catalyst's Kelly Perry before a recent Peace Feast in San Diego. It may be a question this particular couple asked, but it's definitely a sentiment that many people have when attending Peace Feasts or other Peace Catalyst events that involve meeting or interacting with Muslims for the first time.