Here are this year’s Days of Unity events! This page will be updated as new events are confirmed. All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. If you have any questions, please email us at: [email protected].
 
Infinite Sanctum, “An Interactive Art Installation Exploring Human Spirituality”
Sunday, April 30, 3-5pm
Bicentennial Hall
3614 Bishop Walker Circle Alexandria VA 22304
Come enjoy an interactive art installation and a short community discussion on the universal aspects of human faith. Refreshments will be served.
 
Abrahamic House
Sunday, April 30, 5-8pm
Throughout history, May Day has variably been a community festival to gather with neighbors and commemorate the progress of spring, perform ancient fertility rituals, honor the rights of workers, and begin a month-long celebration for mothers. This year, be our neighbor at our first May Day Potluck! Together, you’ll roast (kosher) brats, sip sparkling spring wine, enjoy the spring weather, and if you’re feeling adventurous, grab a ribbon and dance around the maypole! Don’t forget to bring a favorite dish to share! Click here to register.
 
Profiles in Peace: Voices of Peacebuilders in the Midst of the Israeli Palestinian Conflict
Tuesday, May 2, 7pm
Lutheran Church of the Reformation, 212 East Capitol Street Northeast Washington, DC 20003
Join this in-person book talk which traces the lives of Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs who have dedicated their lives to building peace. Hosted by the Rumi Forum. Click here for more information and to register.
 
May Conversation Club and Shabbat Dinner
Friday, May 5th, 7:00 P.M. EDT
Please join us for our May Shabbat Conversation Club – where we gather for a home-cooked meal to discuss issues that matter. During Shabbat, we take time to pause, reflect and welcome in the day of rest. We want to re-orient ourselves away from distractions and towards the things that are most important in our lives.
This month, we’ll use an article as a jumping-off point for a discussion around the issue of assisted suicide and what our religious traditions have to say about it. This is a difficult and often painfully charged topic. We ask you to please be prepared to participate in an honest, respectful and thoughtful discussion.
These small discussions intentionally have a limited attendance to promote meaningful dialogue. We will notify you by Monday the week of the event if we can accommodate you. Click here to register.
 
Shambala Center of Washington, DC
Saturday, May 6th and Saturday, May 13th
This 2 part online workshop will explore the nature of conflict and will empower the participants to learn to respond to conflict, violence, and division with strength, clarity, and compassion, as opposed to reacting to it with fear, avoidance, or aggression. This event is pay-what-you-can. Click here for more information and to register.
 

Interfaith Comedy Night!
May 7 at 5:00 pm
Pavilion at the ADAMS Center mosque, 46903 Sugarland Rd, Sterling, VA 20164.The evening begins with the Interfaith Comedians, who will get us laughing at ourselves with each other. At the end of their performance, food will be served so that we can share in interfaith dialogues around the table. It’s a great way to meet folks of a different faith building bridges and relationships with friends who have a different faith than you. Click here to register.

McLean Interfaith Choir Concert
Sunday, May 7,
7:00 pm
Trinity United Methodist Church
1205 Dolley Madison Blvd., McLean, Va 22101
An entrance donation of canned goods to be donated to SHARE of McLean, a local food pantry is requested.
 
Project Rozana Friend-Raiser: Saving Lives and Building Bridges in the Holy Land
Tuesday, May 9, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
An interfaith panel including the Reverend Sari Ateek, Rector, St. John’s Norwood, Imam Faizul Khan, Islamic Society of the Washington Area, and Rabbi Greg Harris, Congregation Beth El of Bethesda, Maryland, will discuss from the perspective of their faith traditions how the imperative to care for the Other transcends divisions and binds us in our common humanity.
Participation in the event is free but space is limited in person.
To register as an in-person / online attendee please click here.
 

Tour: Prayer, Transcendence and Divine Light
Tuesday, May 16 at 12pm and Friday, May 26 at 12pm
The Textile Museum at George Washington University, 701 21st St NW, Washington, DC 20052

Join us on your lunch break for an in-person tour of two exhibitions reflecting on prayer, divinity and transcendence at The George Washington University Museum and Textile Museum. Prayer and Transcendence introduces classical prayer carpets used by Muslim communities across the Middle East and Asia through examples from the 16th through 19th centuries. Contemporary artist Anne Lindberg’s immersive installation transforms light and thread into a site for contemplation and reflection on connections with ourselves, communities and individual conceptions of the divine.

About the Exhibitions:
Prayer and Transcendence: In the Muslim faith, carpets create physically and spiritually “clean” spaces during the daily ritual of prayer. Drawn from five collections, Prayer and Transcendence introduces the purpose and iconography of classical prayer rugs from across the Islamic world, as well as design comparisons from the Jewish tradition.

what color is divine light?: Across many religions, light is used as a symbol of divine presence on Earth. Inspired by an eponymous 1971 essay, Anne Lindberg is transforming the museum’s third-floor gallery into a site-specific installation that will explore the question, “What color is divine light?”

Scriptural Reasoning
Thursday, May 18th 6:30-8pm
Virginia Theological Seminary, Addison Academic Center
Join the Rumi Forum’s monthly circle to study Abrahamic scriptures! The topic of this virtual session is “Noah” with our study leader Rabbi Chana Leslie Glazer from Congregation Adat Reyim. Click here for more information and to register.

The Interfaith Families Project
Sunday, May 21st, 10am
Online or Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, 1901 E. Jefferson Street, Rockville MD, 20852 
We will gather as interfaith families to explore Pentecost and Shavuot as well as how we can embrace two religious traditions in one family. We will also be blessing our community’s new babies and graduating seniors. 

 
IFC Religious and Cultural Literacy Briefing 
Sunday, May 21st, 4pm.
Join IFC for a discussion about its religious and cultural literacy work, why it matters, and how to host a religious and cultural literacy workshop in your workplace!  Click here to register (pre-registration is required). 
This event is co-sponsored by Tyson’s Interfaith.
 
Interfaith Engagement with the Environment Crisis
Wednesday, May 31, 6:30-8:45 EST (Virtual)
The 4th Interfaith Leadership Forum will focus on the moral, spiritual, and religious urgency of the wider environmental crisis. The event aims to explore the overlap between faith and ecology with pioneers who are strongly grounded in their particular faith traditions and who take the lead in making faith a driving force in addressing urgent environmental challenges. The forum will be an opportunity to help DC area stakeholders to reconnect with like minded individuals and institutions, a renewed affirmation of the foundational link between faith and environment, and an overview of practical arenas where faith communities continue to make significant contributions in upholding our shared responsibility against the rest of the creation.
Keynote: Rabbi Fred Sherlinder Dobb
Panelists: Sevim, Kalyoncu, Rev. Dr. Gilson A. Waldkoenig, Dr. Rajwant Singh, and Kristin Barker
Click here to register.