 White Plains, NY - An array of local singers and musicians of many faiths will come together for “A World House Concert,” a program of The Interfaith Connection, featuring nine local religious, community and spiritual groups.
This second annual event will take place at Congregation Kol Ami in White Plains on Sunday, January 13th.
The free concert will honor the memory of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “World House” is a phrase made famous by Dr. King, suggesting that people of many faiths all inhabit the same “house,” and must learn to live together. The project has been developed by The Interfaith Connection, a coalition of seven congregations and spiritual groups.
In that spirit of cooperation, The Interfaith Connection grew out of a dialogue between Congregation Kol Ami, a Reform Jewish temple, and Memorial United Methodist Church, both in White Plains. Members and clergy have met over the last two years. Last year’s concert, organized by the two congregations, featured gospel music by several community groups.
Expansion of the coalition this year has included Buddhist, Muslim, Catholic and African-American Protestant groups. The aim of this year’s concert is also to be more inclusive, and the performers will be singers from all of these denominations and others, as well as from Kol Ami and Memorial, the two original congregations.
The program’s title, “A World House Concert,” is taken from a famous quotation, first used by Dr. King in accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
“We have inherited a big house, a great ‘world house’ in which we have to live together - black and white, Easterners and Westerners, Gentiles and Jews, Catholics and Protestants, Moslem and Hindu, a family unduly separated in ideas, culture, and interests who, because we can never again live without each other, must learn, somehow, in this one big world, to live with each other.”
The concert will feature groups from Mt. Hope A.M.E. Zion Church, Shinnyo-En Buddhist Temple, Upper Westchester Islamic School, Central Korean and Memorial United Methodist Churches, Lonnie White Memorial Church of God in Christ, Our Lady of Good Counsel Academy and Congregation Kol Ami. Also “Highly Intelligent People Healing Our Planet (HIP-HOP) will perform, as will a performer of Bengali songs in the Ananda Marga Yoga tradition.
The “World House” Concert will take place at Congregation Kol Ami, 252 Soundview Avenue, White Plains. There is no admission charge. There will be a free will offering to help defray expenses. Light refreshments will be served before and after the program. Doors will open at 3p.m.
For more information, call Congregation Kol Ami at 914-949-4717. Directions can be found online at nykolami.org.
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