I was raised in the American Midwest in a Protestant family. We never faced any problems sharing our faith and worshiping in the manner we chose. We were in the majority. Ecumenism had a growing influence -- Catholics were being accepted in our towns as Christians and we began having conversations with Orthodox Christians.

We were somewhat sensitive to our Jewish sisters and brothers, but in my youth I felt that much of this was due to the horror they had experienced in the Holocaust. There were few Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, living near us, as far as I knew.

We've come a long way since those days even though for the overwhelming majority of American Protestants, religious liberty is not a front-burner issue -- despite claims that Starbucks is anti-Christmas even though they are selling Advent calendars.

However, in countless places around the world people of various faiths are not free to practice their religion. It happens for numerous reasons including the intolerance of people of other faiths, or because of government repression.

Recently, the Washington National Cathedral hosted "Beyond Tolerance: A Call to Religious Freedom and Hopeful Action." This was preceded by a gathering of Muslims and evangelical Christians, an almost unheard of notion when I was younger.

At the Cathedral, we affirmed our desire for unity, pledged to uphold and defend freedom of conscience and the religion of all individuals and to reject and speak out against bigotry, discrimination, harassment, and violence based on religion or belief.

A few days later, I participated in a protest outside of the Myanmar Embassy due to the repression of Rohingya Muslims in that country. Had I been a speaker I would also have noted that Myanmar Christians face discrimination, too.

As long as a presidential candidate says a Muslim should not be president of the United States, Christians and Muslims kill and attack one another in Nigeria and the Central African Republic, and respect and tolerance for the religious choices of others is lacking, then we will continue to struggle for religious liberty.

The Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh puts it this way: "The situation of the world is like this. People completely identify with one side, one ideology....Reconciliation is to understand both sides, to go to one side and describe the suffering being endured by the other side, and then go to the other side and describe the suffering being endured by the first side. Doing only that will be a great help for peace."

North American conference convenes to “Reclaim Evangelism!”

Nearly 60 participants gathered to reflect on the theme “Reclaim Evangelism!” at the North American 2015 Conference on Evangelism, held 29 October - 2 November in Nashville, Tennessee (U.S.). The conference was organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the National Council of Churches – USA (NCCUSA), in consultation with the Canadian Council of Churches (CC Canada), and it was hosted by the Discipleship Ministries of the United Methodist Church (UMC).

The ecumenical conversation was a moment to celebrate Christian hope in God’s work on making disciples, said Kyriaki Avtzi, WCC programme executive on evangelism. “Planning and organizing this event with NCCUSA, CC Canada and the Discipleship Ministries of UMC was a uniquely enriching experience of mutual learning and collaboration,” said Avtzi. “The commitment and enthusiasm with which participants engaged in group and plenary discussions on new effective ways of reclaiming evangelism in the context of North America is a promising and deeply encouraging sign toward a renewed understanding of evangelism that celebrates diversity, change and collaboration.”

The conference was indeed groundbreaking, said Heather Heinzman Lear, UMC director of Evangelism in Discipleship Ministries. “It was a joy to witness denominational and theological differences melt away as participants engaged in dialogue and dreaming about how to collaborate in sharing the gospel in North America. I am excited to see what God can and will do through these new friends and colleagues in ministry,” she said.