An Imam, a Reverend, a Rabbi and a Community Organizer Walk Into a Plane: The Leaders

Let me introduce you to the leaders of this World Pilgrims pilgrimage. Who better to be Pursuing Wisdom with than my fellow leaders, Jan Swanson, Imam Plemon El-Amin and Rev. Dr. Gerald Durley?! Their collective wisdom has strengthened our city and has reverberated globally.  

With a full generation of experience and trailblazing on me, I am as humbled to be co-leading this amazing adventure as I was when I met them--perhaps more so as I even more aware of how much I can learn from them. 

I met Jan and Imam Plemon early in my rabbinate. Shortly after 9/11, the faith community in Atlanta woke up to the realization that we must know each other better and build strong alliances.  Together we met working together on the founding board to create the Faith of Alliance of Metro Atlanta.

We grew close as we brought great intentionality and integrity as we planned a heart-rending and heart-opening service commemorating the first anniversary of 9/11 at the city's behest.  Hosted at the historic center of civil and human rights, Ebenezer Baptist Church, as a city we grieved, prayed for hope and issued a call for greater understanding.

 Throughout this time, as a new rabbi, I learned so much from Jan and Plemon. Despite many differences, we grew to respect, trust and rely on one another.  I am grateful for their influence on me, they helped shape the rabbi I am today like the many other teachers in my stead.

A little over a month after that service, I would join Plemon, Jan and Gerald on the inaugural pilgrimage to Turkey.

While I know Rev. Gerald was involved in forming important interfaith alliances, it was not until my experience traveling with him that I saw how his warmth and humor created am opportunity to connect with a man who had a legendary reputation preceeding him as a civil rights leader and charismatic preacher. Perhaps more than anyone, I have laughed with him as much as I have learned from. Teaching about the importance of sacred time, Gerald combines prophetic vision with pastoral presence. 

To be leading with these three teachers is the first piece of gold to be treasured as we explore the mythic Golden Age of Spain.  Whether the legendary openness of Andalus proves to be truly a Golden time, I know we will working together diligently to foster a time to treasure and to continue to build a growing stewardship of an Atlanta that shines in its example of coexistence and mutual understanding.

Here are their bios:

Jan Swanson was the Outreach Director of the Christian Council of Metropolitan Atlanta until 2002, an organization supported by the Archdiocese of Greater Atlanta. Because of her position, Jan was invited to important multi-faith dinners as the "Christian representative. Invitations came from Muslims, Jews , Hindus, and Buddhists. After 9/11, she was called on by the city of Atlanta and the Christian religious community to bring the world faiths together for a worship service. She agreed to convene the group if all the groups had an equal say in the worship service.

Rev. Wayne Smith, now deceased, asked Jan to organize a group of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian leaders to go on a spiritual pilgrimage to Turkey.

Jan currently is the program director of World Pilgrims. She and Interfaith Community Initiatives Chair and President Imam Plemon El-Amin have led ten World Pilgrimages to places of spiritual significance for groups of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Jan also assists in Dr. Ben Johnson in conducting interfaith Immersion weekends where participants experience the sacred spaces and people from five major world religions.

Jan is a founding board member of the FAMA , the Faith Alliance of Metro Atlanta.

The Community Organizer: Jan Swanson

Imam Plemon El-Amin serves on various religious and civic councils, including the Boards of the Faith Alliance of Metro Atlanta, the Atlanta Majlis Ash Shura, the Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters, the World Pilgrims, and the Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority.

As part of the World Pilgrims, he has led 10 Pilgrimages with over 300 Muslims, Christians and Jews through the religious and cultural landscapes of Turkey, Morocco and Spain, Jerusalem and Palestine, a Istanbul, Athens and the Greek Isles, and Jordan --to deepen their intimate personal friendships and working relationships with one another.He performed the greater Pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca in 1978 and in 2006, and has enjoyed 5 minor pilgrimages (Umra).

The Imam: Plemon El-Amin

The Rev. Dr. Gerald L. Durley is the former Pastor of the historic Providence Missionary Baptist Church of Atlanta, where he has served for nearly 25 years. At Providence, Rev. Durley worked to ensure that people with disabilities in the congregation are able to share their gifts, skills and abilities, resulting in a new system of supports for persons with autism and their families in the congregation and in the community.

Rev. Durley’s previous roles include Executive Director of the Head Start Program for Fulton and Douglas Counties, Director of the Health Promotion Resource Center at the Morehouse School of Medicine, and founder of Perspectives, International, a consortium of historically black colleges and universities. In 2011, Rev. Durley was inducted into the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame for his contributions during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Rev. Durley continues to serve as an outspoken advocate on a number of social justice issues and works diligently to understand the differences and similarities among people, cultures and beliefs.

The Reverend: Gerald Durley

And here is me:

Rabbi Joshua Lesser leads Congregation Bet Haverim. Together he and the members have fostered a warm environment balancing the needs of a diverse community.

His adventurous spirit has propelled him to be a groundbreaker. He founded SOJOURN, the Southern Jewish Resource Network, a Jewish communal response to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. He was a founding board member of the Faith Alliance and served as its first Jewish president. Taking a lead in interfaith partnership, he was the only rabbi on Atlanta’s first World Pilgrims pilgrimage to Turkey. He later led a pilgrimage to Egypt, Jordan and Israel.

The Rabbi: Joshua Lesser

Pursuing Wisdom: An Interfaith Pilgrimage to Morocco and Spain

Who Are World Pilgrims?

Judaism, Christianity, Islam as well as other world religions hold many values and traditions in common but rarely do members of these faiths have meaningful contact with one another.  At times their interactions are often marked by distrust and hostility, rather than respect for differences and awareness of common values. World Pilgrims are committed to making a difference.

The ICI World Pilgrims program is based on the principle that before people of different religions can constructively discuss their differences they need to develop meaningful personal relationships with one another.  When friendship and trust must is established, honest and productive dialogue can take places even about areas of difference and disagreement.  Our goals are are to increase empathy and understanding, build trust, reduce conflict, and ultimately create opportunities for collaborative action.

The hope is that each  Pilgrim will:

• Deepen their personal faith by visiting some of the most sacred sites of their religious tradition.

• Gain an appreciation of the shared elements of all three Abrahamic religious traditions, as well as an understanding and respect for the differences

• Establish personal friendships with fellow pilgrims from Christian, Muslim and Jewish traditions even in the midst of the complexities of relationships between these three faiths around the world.

A pilgrimage is a sacred journey, not a travel seminar or a tourist venture. This means taking time for personal and group reflection, devotional time and  personal sharing.  Participants are asked to see these times as essential elements of the pilgrimage. Each location is of sacred importance, a place where spiritual enrichment can take place.

Each journey has a formal and very intentional structure designed to ensure that all the participants achieve the goals of the pilgrimage.  The theme of this pilgrimage to Morocco and Spain is Pursuing Wisdom.  Each participant is asked to commit to this structure so that the shared goals of the journey can be obtained. 

We focus on understanding and acceptance of each other’s faith traditions; discussion rather than debate, respect rather than judgment, empathy rather than criticism.   As pilgrims traveling on a common and sacred journey, the participants are expected to share their personal experiences and faith journeys with one another, and to make a commitment to continue their common experience after returning home.  Traveling makes us vulnerable in the best ways and creates opportunities for empathy, relatability and support.

As a result, we are building a stronger faith community in Atlanta. With close to 400 pilgrims, we support one another’s communities and keep connected once we return. It is such a meaningful experience that many people seek to join another pilgrimage.  We are transforming the faith landscape to better our city and ourselves.

Follow this blog for an inside view of our 20th pilgrimage to Morocco and Spain as we are Pursuing Wisdom.

*This post was taken from the Interfaith Community Institute's webpage and edited by me.  All edits reflect my perspective and not of the ICI at a whole.  

World Pilgrim in the Dead Sea: 2010  Pilgrimage to Egypt, Jordan and Israel