-Michael Sullivan

Pope Francis has told Catholics that the first step towards finding fraternity with people of other faiths is to “sit down together and listen to each other.” [Fratelli Tutti, #48] The Faithful Neighbors Ministry was formed in May 2023 at the Church of Saint Luke in downtown Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania in accord with the vision of Pope Francis. The pastoral goal is to form meaningful relationships with fellow Christians, Jews and Muslims, Unitarian Universalists, Hindus and Buddhists in the Pocono Mountains.

Led by the pastoral wisdom of the parish’s pastor, Father Michael Quinnan, this ministry has found a partner with the Pocono Interfaith Council. Professor Emeritus Anthony Stevens-Arroyo represents the parish in the organization that fosters ecumenical and interfaith dialogue.

The Faithful Neighbors Ministry is based on the Dialogue in Truth and Charity, a 2014 instruction from the Vatican.

The first dialogue, the dialogue of life, in which people strive to live in an open and neighborly spirit, to share their joys and sorrows, as well as their human problems and preoccupations, became the basis of the name of the Faithful Neighbors Ministry. We have sought to achieve this dialogue with in-person 6 on 6 meetings with other faith communities. With these small groups we can sit down with their congregation members to listen and engage in a friendly dialogue about what we already share in common, what we can learn from each other, tour their church and invite them to tour our Church. These friendly discussions easily lead us to the second dialogue, the dialogue of action.

The dialogue of action is where we discuss how we apply our particular religious insights to working to help others in need through collaborative ministries of social justice. We had great success in accomplishing this through the traditional Thanksgiving interfaith service and donated sweat pants to the homeless shelter run by the Stroudsburg Wesleyan Church during the Pocono winter month. In the “Paint the Town Red” effort, we deepened the collaboration between the local food pantries and homeless shelters and decorated Main Street with red ribbon bows. Individually, our churches and shelters feed and help many hundreds of people each month, but, collectively, we can service many more. Our dialogue with our neighbors has furthered our Christian duty to service the poor.

The third dialogue, the dialogue of theological exchange, can be the most challenging, and, if done properly, the most rewarding. Bishop Bambera along with Fr. Quinnan and Professor Stevens-Arroyo met with the leadership of the Islamic Hizmet Movement at the Chestnut Retreat Center in Saylorsburg in June of 2023. With the outbreak of war in the Holy Land on October 7th and the humanitarian suffering that accompanied the Israeli campaign in Gaza, we heeded the calls for peace by our Holy Father, Pope Francis. We reached out to both the Muslim and Jewish communities in our area to discuss the impact of the war on their families and their own lives. All three Abramhabic religions have competing claims to the Holy Land and navigating this theological issue can be rife with emotions. Our friendly and human relations with both the Palestinian Muslims in Stroudsburg and the Rabbi from Temple Israel have allowed us to explore this sensitive topic. We invited both parties, at separate times, to explain how the war has impacted their communities, and their testimony has furthered our own understanding of the conflict.

The final dialogue proposed by the Vatican is the dialogue of religious experience. It opens the door for “persons, grounded in and convinced of their own religious traditions,” to share “their spiritual riches of prayer and worship”. The National Day of Prayer at the Monroe County Courthouse Square in Stroudsburg on May 3rd of 2024was a magnificent example of this dialogue. Father Quinnan, gathered with representatives from other faiths, Rabbi Daniel Zucker, Sri Swami Swatmananda, a Hindu monk, Imam Erol Dincer, and various Christian pastors and ministers, to prove that doctrinal and religious differences can be put aside to honor God and pray for America. People from each worship community led a Prayer of the Faithful citing the words of past US presidents seeking God’s blessings on the nation while the Knights of Columbus and the Columbiettes from the parish stood in formation.

The next task for the Church of Saint Luke in Stroudsburg will be to help unite the Christian world during these troubling times. Following the lead of Pope Francis, Father Michael Quinnan of Saint Luke’s Parish has announced an ecumenical prayer event on Sunday evening, January 19th, 2025, during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. As Father Quinnan explained, “In a time when faith is often overlooked and our Christian faith is often sidelined, ecumenical prayer is an opportunity for us to pull together and remember our shared belief in Christ. This prayer is a graced opportunity for the Christian community to stand together in solidarity - remembering Christ our savior.”

The Faithful Neighbors Ministry at St. Luke’s is visible proof of the wisdom of the Holy Father in outreach to people of all faiths. This ministry is witness to the leadership of Bishop Bambera who has been entrusted by his fellow bishops with guiding the church of the nation towards better ecumenical and interfaith relations. Our hope is that the prayer in the Poconos for Christian Unity will find echo everywhere.

The Faithful Neighbors Ministry of Saint Luke’s

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