Local Pastor Speaks at Interfaith Conference, Asks for More in MG

For Pastor Robin Jones, it was a long journey to the podium.

The leader of leaned on a lifetime of interfaith work and experiences for the 12th Annual Interfaith Conference: from a childhood in Cape Town, South Africa, to academic study at Wheaton College and Yale Divinity School to his current post in Morton Grove. 

"I remember asking myself, 'Could I ever become black?'" said Jones during his talk on the process of forgiveness on Wednesday morning. As a white man growing up in South Africa, he lived through apartheid.

"When I returned to South Africa after school, I realized I do not have to be black  because wonderful people there graciously accepted me with love," he said.
"It was a humbling experience." 

Interfaith in the Classroom

Held on the North Side of Chicago, the interfaith conference is part of a larger series known as the Heritage Conference Series at Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU). About 500 students and teachers attended the two-day conference, which intended to foster a dialogue on the changing fabric of American diversity. 

Jayati Gohel, 19, is studying secondary education and math at the university. Born in Gujarat, India, she moved to Des Plaines when she was 8 years old.

"Pastor Jones' talk made me critically question if I am actually forgiving people," Gohel said. "It let me analyze when I say sorry, if I actually mean it, or is it going to burden my views." 

Interfaith in Chicago

For diverse communities like Morton Grove, the question of interfaith dialogue is important, said Hamid Akbari, a NEIU professor of management, who moderated the conference. The Iranian native serves as the director of the Development and Community Affairs for the College of Business and Management. 

"This is really valuable for the university and for communities to address the issues, challenges and opportunities related to increasing diversity among populations in the U.S. and Chicago in particular," Akbari said.

"The fact that Pastor Jones has an immense intellectual capacity as a pastor means he represents Morton Grove as an increasingly multicultural and multifaith community."

Interfaith in Morton Grove

Jones' lecture discussed forgiveness as a rebirth, and defined it as the "dynamic energy by which alientated persons, political groups and enemy factions are able to discover peaceful and transformative future together." 

After his talk, he sat down with Morton Grove Patch to discuss the realities of interfaith work in Morton Grove. 

"I don't think there's a whole lot being done at this point," he said. "There's a lot of potential to take it a step further to be involved community outreach together, but that's not being done beside this once-a-year interfaith dinner."

Jones referenced an annual tradition in Morton Grove at the Thanksgiving holiday when several different religious organizations - Christian, Jewish and Muslim - share worship services and a thanksgiving meal.

"If there were more instances like that, I think you'd find people building relationships, and it would be interesting to see because you have cultural mix in Morton Grove," said Jones.  "I think there's a real fear of Muslims and an antagonism to the Muslim faith that we need to address."