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God’s Squad Planning An Interfaith Passover Seder

By Shannon Hicks

Residents of varying faiths have teamed up, dubbed themselves “God’s Squad,” and are scheduling an Interfaith Passover Seder to take place at Congregation Adath Israel on Sunday, April 10, beginning at 4 pm.

Donna Monteleone Randle is the coordinator of the event.

“When I lived in New Jersey, our clergy used to get together twice a month and there was always stuff going on between the different churches and synagogues. It was a really active group,” she said this week. “When I moved to Newtown I saw that people really did things on their own. Churches didn’t do stuff together.”

When Ms Monteleone Randle had the opportunity this past fall to address the town’s collected clergy on a different subject, she decided to at the same time suggest something new: an interfaith Seder.

“They couldn’t answer me at the time, it was just an idea thrown at them, but I had clergy approach me at different times since then showing an interest in that idea,” she said. The idea of the Seder has been rolling around in the back of her head since that meeting and subsequent run-ins with clergy, but it has been during the past eight weeks or so that momentum has picked up.

Now Ms Monteleone Randle, along with some friends and six clergy members, have begun to iron out the details. Congregation Adath Israel will host the Sunday afternoon event, and Rabbi Shaul Praver will be joined by a number of his colleagues for the special event that has space for at least 100 attendees.

Joining Rabbi Praver to lead the service will be the Reverend Kathleen Adams-Shepherd, pastor of Trinity Episcopal Church; Monsignor Robert Weiss, pastor of St Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church; Reverend Mel Kawakami, Newtown United Methodist Church; Reverend Matthew Crebbin, Newtown Congregational Church; and Reverend Leo McIlrath, coordinator of Corpus Christi: An Ecumenical Catholic Faith Community as well as the ecumenical chaplain at The Lutheran Home of Southbury.

A donation of $5 per person is being requested for the Seder, and reservations are requested by April 3. Once the costs of the event have been covered, all proceeds will be donated to FAITH Food Pantry in Sandy Hook. Volunteers have been securing donations from local grocery stores and other vendors, but there will be some costs involved with putting together a meal for such a large gathering.

Susan Rubin and Eliza Hoffman, both of Congregation Adath Israel, have been especially helpful.

“The two of them have been phenomenal. They know everything. They’ve pulled together a menu, all of the things we need to do, and they’ve reached out to people in the congregation to get additional help,” Ms Monteleone Randle said this week. “They’ve just been fantastic.”

The event will feature a nondenominational enactment of a religious and historical celebration by the Jewish and Christian faiths.

“You do not need to belong to have a religious home to attend, and all denominations are welcome,” said Ms Monteleone Randle, noting organizers of the event are hoping to attract celebrants of all ages and backgrounds.

“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. A lot of people will get to learn stuff, and there will be a lot of sharing between churches,” Ms Monteleone Randle said this week. “Religiously, people are going to learn about their faith, including the roots of their faith,” she said, mentioning how she was caught off guard when she started pitching the idea to friends and neighbors.

“The thing that really surprised me, Christians in particular, are how many Christians know so little about that basis of their faith,” she said. “This will be an educational service as well as an interfaith event. Bottom line, though, is it will be fun.”

Congregation Adath Israel is at 115 Huntingtown Road in Newtown. Call the synagogue at 203-426-5188 or Ms Monteleone Randle at 203-364-9772 for more information about the event. Anyone interested in volunteering is also encouraged to contact Ms Monteleone Randle at the above phone number or NDRandle@charter.net.