Rovin Karuna spoke on "Islam in a contemporary Christian society." Rovin began by reminding us that of the some 700 million adherents to Islam, only the negative actions of handfuls of individuals from five or so countries ever come to our attention. The rest are ordinary folks in so many ways. The fear that Muslims will eventually take over Europe is unfounded because the religion seems to spread like most other religions, primarily through birth. Rovin then suggested a number of areas in which the faiths of Muslims and Christians will never find common ground (one God vs Trinity, Jesus is a prophet vs Jesus is one with God, differing concepts of life after death, etc.) That said, the primary wall separating Christians and Muslims is most likely economic rather than creedal. Taken as a whole, too many Muslims unfortunately tend to be members of the world's poorest and least well-educated groups (though certain countries with relatively small populations are oil-rich for the moment). Rovin asks that we learn to look beyond media portrayals of Islam and Islamic politics, and that we set aside fears promoted by people claiming Islam will eventually overcome Christianity. God is in charge. And if Sri Lanka tells us anything, it is that Christians and Muslims can enjoy close contact for centuries, in relative peace. [JEK] No audio recording is available.

Passage: Gen 21:8-21
Communion: No
Ecumenical or Event: 4th Sunday of Easter
Potluck Lunch: No
Congregational Meeting: No

Speaker: Rovin Karuna
Worship Leader: Karl Brown
Song Leader: Eric Hannan
Pianist: Kathryn Schmidt
Usher: Erna Friesen
Zoom Coordinator:
Children's Feature Leader:

Bring Flowers: MARK & SUE GREENSTREET
Coffee Helper:
Sound Helper:

Child Care Volunteer: