Living Interfaith Church

A faith, not a religion

The church views Interfaith as a faith that celebrates humanity's differing spiritual paths. It recognizes that a person's actions in this world are what count and that humanity is called to engage the world, both with compassion and with love.

Does Interfaith extinguish spiritual difference?

A stated tenet of the church is to respect all faith traditions and not to ignore their importance or their differences. Christianity is acknowledged as different from Buddhism. Islam is acknowledged as different from Humanism, and so forth. The claim of Interfaith as a faith is that what is the same within all of humanity’s spiritual paths is the call to compassion, to thinking beyond ourselves, and to recognizing that we are all connected. “Interfaith calls upon us not to ignore our differences, but to rather to respect them, and to realize that each of our paths, in their own special and different way, call us to love and to be loving.”

Joint Affirmation

At each service, a joint affirmation is read:

We come together in peace.

We sing together in joy and with love.

We worship together

In one house,

A house with names beyond number.

Our paths are many.

Our beliefs are as leaves.

And the tree that we cleave to

Is nourished by the light of

Compassion, justice, and mutual respect.

May our lives, our beliefs, and our actions

Help to bring about the world of love we all seek;

And let it begin here.

Church mission statement

"The purpose of the Living Interfaith Church is to provide a welcoming, respectful and nurturing religious community for people of goodwill from all spiritual paths. We share who we are and celebrate our diversity, not to convert or convince, but in realization of our common humanity. We aspire to offer a model of inclusive community that acts as an agent of good works in the local community and the world."

Theological foundations

The church's theological foundations are based on the book The Interfaith Alternative by Reverend Steven Greenebaum.

Theological essence

Interfaith recognizes that there are a multitude of ways to encounter the sacred and rejects a hierarchy of paths. "The key to Interfaith theology is the recognition that we each encounter the sacred in our own way, and that there is no one 'right' way to encounter the sacred. Moreover, an encounter with the sacred is in truth but half of the event. The other half is what we do about it."

"Interfaith, as a spiritual practice, he (Greenebaum) writes, can serve as a new model for how we deal with each other and a new vision for how we act on our religious beliefs to live compassionate lives and share the world in harmony."

"He (Greenebaum) posits a new creed, Interfaith, which is a faith rather than a religion with systematized beliefs. Of himself he says, 'My faith is Interfaith. My spiritual path is Judaism.'"

Rejection of "right belief"

Greenebaum asserts that while virtually all of our spiritual paths call us to act with compassion, love, and in community, a large impediment to achieving this universal goal is the idea that one spiritual path must be "right" and all the others wrong. He offers Mother Teresa and the Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition - both deeply devoted Roman Catholics - as examples that the same spiritual path can lead to very different lives. He asks us why - if belief is all that matters - were these two lives so different?

Tolerance is not enough

Tolerance is seen as a move forward, but insufficient for reconciling humanity's diverse spiritual paths. Living Interfaith embraces moving beyond tolerance to respect and understanding.

Examples of service titles

"Honoring Bodhi Day," "Science and Spirit," "Honoring Eid al-Adha," "Honoring Samhain and Departed Souls," "Declaration of the Báb/Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh," "Honoring Flower Communion in Unitarian Universalism," "Honoring Yom Kippur," "Honoring Christmas," "Must We Argue About God?," "The Call of Interfaith," "What is Prayer?"

About the founder

Reverend Steven Greenebaum, the founder of the Living Interfaith Church, grew up as a Reform Jew in suburban Los Angeles.

He has a Master's degree in Mythology, Music, and Pastoral Studies. His experiences directing Jewish, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Interfaith choirs have helped him to understand the profound wisdom of many spiritual traditions. He has dedicated his life to working for social and environmental justice through a multitude of forums. When asked about his entity, he explained: “My faith is Interfaith. My spiritual path is Judaism. My tribe is Humanity. I’m also a minister, choir director, and vegetarian.”

In 2012 he published his first book The Interfaith Alternative: Embracing Spiritual Diversity through New Society Publishers. His second book, Practical Interfaith, was published by Skylight Paths in 2014.