Category: Dinner Dialogues

REMINDER: If you plan to attend the FIRE Interfaith Dialogue this Sunday evening and have not yet registered on EventBrite, please use the link below to do so. Also, the names and biographies of the panel members have been added at the end of this post for your information. Thanks!

Fostering Interfaith Relationships on the Eastside (FIRE) invites you to our 20th Interfaith Dialogue on Sunday, November 6, 6:30-8:00PM. This Dialogue will be conducted as a hybrid meeting which you can attend either in person at the Eastside Bahá’í Center (16007 NE 8th Street, Bellevue (near Crossroads Mall)) or online using Zoom conferencing. Please register for the Dialogue on EventBrite at https://firedialogueonbahaifaith.eventbrite.com and select whether you intend to attend in person or online; the Zoom link will be emailed before the event to everyone who has registered.

The topic for this Dialogue is “the Bahá’í faith”. Several panelists from the Bahá’í faith will share with us on a variety of topics such as the following:

• What is the history of the Bahá’í faith? How did it originate, and how has it evolved over time?
• How is the Bahá’í faith organized on both a local and worldwide basis? How are leaders selected?
• What would the world miss if the Bahá’í faith never existed? What are its unique teachings?
• How does the Bahá’í faith spread the faith to new adherents at this time?
• What are common misconceptions about the Bahá’í faith and how do you explain them?
• How did you first learn of the Bahá’í faith? What prompted you to follow that faith?
• How does the practice of the Bahá’í faith affect your life day-to-day in modern America?
• If one wanted to learn more about the Bahá’í faith, what are some introductory resources?

The presentation will be followed by open Q&A with the audience, both in the room and on Zoom. For those in the room, participants will be able to raise their hand to be recognized and then come to a microphone. For those on Zoom, the moderator will use the Zoom “Raise Hand” feature to identify who would like to ask a question, and enable audio and video for each person in turn to ask their question live; you will need to unmute to be heard, and may enable video if you choose.

The Dialogue will be recorded and shared on the FIRE web site after the event. If you are participating via Zoom and do not want to appear on the video, please don’t turn on your video or ask to be recognized for a question. If you are in the meeting room and do not want to be on the video, an area will be designated that will not be visible on camera; please choose a seat in that area.

Following the dialogue, we will have open discussion among all attendees for those who would like to participate.

Note that this Dialogue will not include a dinner for those attending in person; please eat before coming if you wish. Light refreshments will be served after the dialogue.

Parking is available at Eastside Bahá’í Center. Overflow parking is available at Bellevue Crossroads Park just a tenth of a mile east of EBC across NE 8th St. We recommend that you not park at Crossroads Mall; they can be strict about not allowing parking there unless you’re patronizing businesses in the mall.

If you have any questions about the Dialogue, please email rsvp@fire-wa.org. 

Panelist Information

Betty Chong-Gerbracht has been a Bahai for 29 years.  She was raised in Honolulu, Hawaii and is a graduate of the University of Washington.  She is a retired IT Systems Analyst currently residing in Bothell where she is “living, learning, and serving the Baha’i Faith”.

Dale W. Eng is Seattle-born, Hawaii-raised, and now a Kirkland resident.  He has a M.Ed. in Administration from U.W., joined the Baha’i Faith at 16, and leads a very diverse life.  He is of mixed race, married a Persian he met in the Philippines and their children were born in Taiwan.  For more than three decades they lived in various Asian countries, Australia, and Canada.  He has, “enjoyed wonderful opportunities to personally realize the Oneness of the human family around the world.”

Setsuko Hosoda is a family physician who has lived in the Seattle area for many years.  She has also lived in Japan, China, and Italy.  She was raised in a Baha’i family and comes from a long line of Buddhist monks on her maternal grandfather’s side.

Scott Tyler is a physician, a life-long member of the Baha’i Faith, and a member of the Makah Indian Tribe of Neah Bay, Washington.  He is a graduate of the University of Washington School of Medicine and an American Indian Studies undergraduate, also at the University of Washington.  His interests include tribal art, culture, language, and the preservation of tribal spiritual values of prayer and fasting combined with modern scientific knowledge.

Benjamin Bhuyan Young was born in Oregon to a Baha’i family and he lived in Germany as a child where his family were Baha’i pioneers.  He has been part of several local Baha’i Institutions and has helped teach Children’s Classes and Junior Youth Programs.  He now lives in Kirkland and works in software development.  He and Sudipta Bhuyan Young are married.

Sudipta Bhuyan Young was born and raised in India and immigrated to the United States 24 years ago.  She has been a Baha’i for 13 years and lives in Kirkland with her spouse Benjamin Bhuyan Young.  She graduated from the University of Delhi with a Master’s Degree in Psychology and works in the Lake Washington School District.  She is involved in the Baha’i core activities, engaging with others to build spiritual communities.

Fostering Interfaith Relationships on the Eastside (FIRE) invites you to our 20th Interfaith Dialogue on Sunday, November 6, 6:30-8:00PM. This Dialogue will be conducted as a hybrid meeting which you can attend either in person at the Eastside Bahá’í Center (16007 NE 8th Street, Bellevue (near Crossroads Mall)) or online using Zoom conferencing. Please register for the Dialogue on EventBrite at https://firedialogueonbahaifaith.eventbrite.com and select whether you intend to attend in person or online; the Zoom link will be emailed before the event to everyone who has registered.

The topic for this Dialogue is “the Bahá’í faith”. Several panelists from the Bahá’í faith will share with us on a variety of topics such as the following:

• What is the history of the Bahá’í faith? How did it originate, and how has it evolved over time?
• How is the Bahá’í faith organized on both a local and worldwide basis? How are leaders selected?
• What would the world miss if the Bahá’í faith never existed? What are its unique teachings?
• How does the Bahá’í faith spread the faith to new adherents at this time?
• What are common misconceptions about the Bahá’í faith and how do you explain them?
• How did you first learn of the Bahá’í faith? What prompted you to follow that faith?
• How does the practice of the Bahá’í faith affect your life day-to-day in modern America?
• If one wanted to learn more about the Bahá’í faith, what are some introductory resources?

The presentation will be followed by open Q&A with the audience, both in the room and on Zoom. For those in the room, participants will be able to raise their hand to be recognized and then come to a microphone. For those on Zoom, the moderator will use the Zoom “Raise Hand” feature to identify who would like to ask a question, and enable audio and video for each person in turn to ask their question live; you will need to unmute to be heard, and may enable video if you choose.

The Dialogue will be recorded and shared on the FIRE web site after the event. If you are participating via Zoom and do not want to appear on the video, please don’t turn on your video or ask to be recognized for a question. If you are in the meeting room and do not want to be on the video, an area will be designated that will not be visible on camera; please choose a seat in that area.

Following the dialogue, we will have open discussion among all attendees for those who would like to participate.

Note that this Dialogue will not include a dinner for those attending in person; please eat before coming if you wish. Light refreshments will be served after the dialogue.

Parking is available at Eastside Bahá’í Center. Overflow parking is available at Bellevue Crossroads Park just a tenth of a mile east of EBC across NE 8th St. We recommend that you not park at Crossroads Mall; they can be strict about not allowing parking there unless you’re patronizing businesses in the mall.

If you have any questions about the Dialogue, please email rsvp@fire-wa.org. 

The next FIRE Interfaith Dialogue is being planned for Sunday, January 23, 2022, 7:00-8:30PM. This Dialogue will be on the topic of “Islam“. We invite you to Save the Date on your calendars and plan to join us!

Due to continuing pandemic restrictions this will likely be a fully online event with no in-person component. Details of the event include an outline of the topics and information on the presenters will be sent after the new year, along with the logistics for joining the meeting.

 

Dear Friends,

We hope you are all doing well. It has been challenging with the ongoing pandemic and being separated from friends and loved ones, including limited opportunities for getting together with our faith communities and attending other events.

Our FIRE steering committee has been pondering how best to proceed during the pandemic given our mission of increasing trust and understanding among people of different faith traditions. As you know, we cancelled the first dinner dialogue shortly after the start of the pandemic. Last November, and again in April, we hosted virtual interfaith dialogues trying to follow roughly the same format as our in-person events pre-pandemic. We’ve come to realize that the panel discussion format is not ideal for Zoom. We’ve therefore decided to try a new format.

We’re going to embark on a new series of events that will focus on learning more about one faith tradition at a time and what makes it unique. Because these are easier to organize than our traditional panel discussion format, with just one or two presenters rather than five or more, we should be able to do them more often – perhaps four times a year rather than twice. At each presentation, we’ll have the opportunity to learn in depth about a particular faith tradition, including more opportunities to ask questions.

Our first presentation with the new format will be on Sunday evening, October 3, 7:00-8:00 PM. FIRE steering committee member Mahrukh Motafram and others from her faith will share about Zoroastrianism. Full details, including how to register and receive the Zoom link, will be sent shortly.

We hope you’re as excited as we are for the opportunity to dive deeper into the history and teachings of our various faith traditions! We look forward to seeing you (virtually) on the evening of October 3.

Sincerely,

The FIRE Steering Committee

The next Interfaith Dinner Dialogue sponsored by Fostering Interfaith Relationships on the Eastside (FIRE) will be held on Sunday, April 5, 5-8PM, at East Shore Unitarian Church in Bellevue. The topic will be “Stewardship of the Earth”, in association with Earth Day which is also in April. We’re still working on refining the topics and identifying panelists, but wanted to give you as much notice as possible to reserve the time on your calendar. RSVPs via Eventbrite will be available soon. Hope to see you on April 5!