Following a meeting of Newtown Interfaith Council on January 23, the public is being invited to join what NIC members are calling a “Chain of Love.”

In a January 24 post to Facebook, Dr John Woodall said the council and its new project hopes to “not only counteract the plague of division and conflict all around us, but set in motion the best of our shared humanity.”

Building on experiences since 12/14, NIC members are looking toward the next six months. They are encouraging families and friends to host a “Chain of Love” gathering in their home, with the hope that events will begin to happen in successive weeks.

In a conversation with The Newtown Bee, Woodall offered additional thoughts on the new outreach. Woodall is a member of the Baha’i Community of Newtown, and has been active for years on the interfaith council.

“The interfaith council has been talking in earnest about finding ways to elevate the conversation in town since the tragedy,” he said via email. “The flood of division and ill will in the country needs to be countered by the best in us all. This is especially important here to be sure that the suffering of the community brings out the ‘best angels of our nature’ and not fan the flames of division.

“The various churches in town, the synagogue and mosque have all done and continue to provide incredible service in this regard,” he continued. “It is hard to imagine what Newtown would be like without the contributions of all the churches, the synagogue, the mosque, and the Baha’is to uplift, unite, inspire and comfort the community.”

The focus of Baha’i community life, Woodall explained, is not centered so much in churches, temples or mosques but in homes and neighborhoods.

“Due to the fewness of Baha’is here, we simply took the Baha’i models of community building and applied them here without labelling it ‘Baha’i’ as we haven’t been focused on building a Baha’i community so much as helping Newtown as a whole,” he said.

Instead, local Baha’i members have hosted “21st Century Conversations” in homes, Booth Library, and other venues. Launched in mid-August 2022, in the aftermath of the mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., and Uvalde, Texas, Woodall and others presented workshops meant to bring participants closer, “to think critically without bias, and to try something new instead of repeating the same patterns that continue to deepen the division and anger,” according to a press release issued ahead of the first program.

The new “Chain of Love” initiative is similar in fashion, Woodall said January 25, “but on a wider scale and without a specific religious community identification.”

According to Woodall, NIC during its January 23 meeting “decided it was time to try to launch a trial home-based effort to build links in the community as a whole, links that are based on higher principles and our ‘better angels.’

“Interfaith understanding is a key part of that as religious dogma is often the cause of needless conflict,” he continued. “We want to provide a venue to share the experience of the sincerity of those different from us in our common search for truth, reinforce our common devotion to higher principles and love for our common source and our common humanity from our diverse cultural and religious backgrounds.

“This, we strongly feel, is a formidable bulwark against the prejudice, division and hostility rampant in the country,” Woodall told The Newtown Bee. “More so, it is the foundation for real growth, prosperity and happiness in individuals, families and communities.”

Three-Part Gatherings

Newtown Interfaith Council is hoping to see a growing number of “Chain of Love” gatherings. Each event would have three parts, Woodall explained.

The first is a devotional that will explore “the positive elements of the world religions and stimulate the experience of the divine within and among the participants,” he wrote on NIC’s Facebook page. “The more we are educated about people and faiths different from our own, the less susceptible to prejudice we will be,” the post continued.

Second is an exercise and discussion around a theme of spiritual resilience to fortify participants against the negative forces that surround everyone.

The third element is food. Potlucks are suggested.

“Nothing says friends and neighbors better than a shared meal,” Woodall wrote.

An unofficial fourth element, according to Woodall, is beauty.

“Incorporate as much beauty as possible into the gathering: music, poetry, the way the food is prepared, crafts, painting/drawing, movement/dance,” he included in the Facebook post. “Whatever the problem, beauty makes any solution better.”

NIC is taking the lead on the initiative. It has scheduled its own Chain of Love gathering at Sticks and Stones Farm on February 6. Love Has A Home Here Founder and ordained interfaith minister Bill Donaldson will host.

“We are inviting individuals outside of the council from our various faith communities to join us and discuss how they might be able to help with this new effort,” Donaldson said January 25.

From there, NIC hopes additional links will be created and spread in multiple directions.

Woodall admits the initiative represents something brand new for Newtown Interfaith Council.

“We are venturing into uncharted territory trying to meet the needs of the times with the best we individually and collectively have to offer, recognizing that old models and venues are simply not enough,” he said.

“It is hoped that this can be an ongoing community building effort that develops more ‘spaces’ to hold not only the development of spiritual community, but venues that can launch principled action beyond demonstrations and single ‘spectator’ events,” he added. “Not just rescuing people from the flood, so to speak, but helping to rebuild the dam.”

To keep up with plans or to register a Chain of Love event, Woodall suggests readers monitor the Newtown Interfaith Council Facebook page.

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Managing Editor Shannon Hicks can be reached at shannon@thebee.com.