Jason A. Smith | The Valdosta Daily TimesBennie Calloway takes notes as Jane Osborn listens to an attendee talk at the Valdosta Area Ministerial Association meeting Saturday morning. 

VALDOSTA, Ga. — Several residents of different faiths congregated Friday and Saturday to talk about how to bridge the gap between Christians and Muslims.

The meeting was hosted by the Valdosta Area Ministerial Association. It is a collaborative ministry of various churches and faith groups in Valdosta/Lowndes County that are interested in collaborative ministry, said Fred Howard, minster at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Valdosta.

Friday night was an interfaith coffee house that featured several musicians and food. There were representatives from the Christian and Muslim community.

The coffee house was a springboard event to Saturday morning, Howard said.

Saturday was an educational event where members of VAMA worked on collaborative prospective interfaith projects to do in the community.

Howard said interfaith work is important because it can lead to a more peaceful, connected world.

“Christianity and Islam, those two faiths, represent over half the world’s population,” he said. “If those two groups cannot find a way to get to know one another, to have conversations, to love each other, there is no hope for peace in the world. So, here we are trying to begin in Lowndes County, in Valdosta, to have conversations to get to know one another.”

Jane Osborn attended the meeting and is a member of the church where the event was held: First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), 1905 N. Patterson St.

She has a history in social work, and would like to see Valdosta become less divided.

“As a social worker, it’s always been an issue of mine that people are so divided about what they believe, where they are — Sunday morning is the most divided morning in the county,” Osborn said. “People go off to their own little cubicles, and we don’t interact very much. If any place needs interaction so that people are working to solve problems, South Georgia may be it.”

Richard Hart, pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church, is committed to conversations and interactions with other faiths.

“My interest is in how do we foster opportunities to interact with and get to know folks who practice faith in a different way then we do, so that we can understand their perspective on life and faith,” Hart said.

“In my faith tradition, we are called upon to love our neighbors as ourselves. It’s important that we know who our neighbors are, and that we learn how to love our neighbors that meet them where they are, and not where we want them to be.”

For those looking to join the group, Howard recommends residents to “just show up.”

For more information, email fredhoward3622@gmail.com. 

Jason Smith is a reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be contacted at 229-244-3400 ext.1257.