Latter-day Saint Youth Participate in Interfaith “Table Talk”

Recently, a local community organization, the Multicultural Alliance, coordinated a “Table Talk” event for youth of different faiths. The mission of the Multicultural Alliance is to promote inclusion, diversity, and understanding while working toward eliminating bias, bigotry, and oppression in our community.

Youth from mosques in Fort Worth, Colleyville and Southlake, Jewish students from all over the US who were attending the NFTY Convention in Grapevine, and high school students from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints participated in the event held at the Colleyville Masjid on February 17, 2019^h. “Table Talk” is a signature program of the Multicultural Alliance, whose mission is to build inclusive communities. Over one hundred students gathered to talk about life experiences and had an opportunity to build relationships and friendships.

A trained volunteer moderator led each group of 6-10 youth through a process of story-telling, questions and answers. As a result, the youth were able to connect and learn about each other, their faith traditions, and how their faith plays a role in their everyday life. “The energy and enthusiasm was contagious,” said Dr. Cheryl Kimberling, President of the Multicultural Alliance.

“The conversations are personal, rather than general or political,” says Adena Cytron-Walker, Vice President of Programming for MCA. “They spark empathy, insights and kinship. It’s our differences that brought us together and the students here can acknowledge these differences while realizing that we have much in common. You can imagine how all of us, including high schoolers, would benefit from a connection and better understanding to those with different life experiences.”

Questions and discussion starters got the teenagers talking. They were asked things like: “How does your religion encourage you to make a difference in the world?” “Speak about a time when you felt guided or directed by a higher power or something outside yourself,” and “How would you define a miracle? Describe a life experience that affirms your thoughts about miracles.”

Parker Horn, a 16-year-old member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from Keller, enjoyed the discussion at his table. “It was a really cool opportunity to be able to meet and talk with kids just like me about their beliefs and how faith influences their life and decisions. Even though we believe different things, we found that we had a lot in common.”

The Multicultural Alliance holds many events similar to this one, where people of different faith backgrounds come together to build relationships, eliminate discrimination, and have fun together. You can learn more by visiting their website here.