Bennette Seaman
Church of Scientology of Kansas City
Early in the pandemic, March and April of 2020, it became clear that boundaries were breaking down and people were coming together to help others. Prior to last year, I had met many people from other faiths, but there never seemed to be a way to come together, to find some common ground, other than of course through the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council or other interfaith groups.
Early in 2020 members of our church had started helping a local non-profit group distribute food to the community and then word of the shut-down began. The efforts increased – getting more food and even concentrated disinfectant to hand out. The lines of people in need continued to grow every week. Shortly after, other churches and even members of the City Council began setting up large food distributions, but they needed volunteers. Members of our church answered the call for help and within a month or so, our members were helping at 6 other churches in the area. As we all worked together, we became more familiar with one another and established real friendships. It has been over a year now and both the friendships and the spirit of working together to help others has continued and expanded beyond just food distributions. To me, interfaith work is not just learning about other religions, it is about accepting others for who they are and coming together without reservation, wherever there is common ground, to improve conditions in our communities. In the past, there seemed to be a divide that separated congregations from one another, sometimes even when they were of the same faith. I have seen this change in the past year and so I am more hopeful than ever that all people of religion will continue to build bonds and set an example for others, to truly show how we can all live together despite any differences we may have.