ELCA Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod Bishop Patricia A. Davenport was one of five conversationalists who participated in Interfaith Philadelphia’s “Conversation on Race and Faith” at WHYY January 17.

The bishop joined the Rev. Steven Lawrence, president of NewCORE (A New Conversation on Race and Ethnicity), Rabbi David Strauss of Main Line Reform Temple, Sheikh Anwar Muhaimin of Masjid Quba, and the Rev. Bonnie Camarda, director of partnerships for the Salvation Army, in modeling listening to people with different experiences and having civil conversation about difficult issues.

“Should we be simply embarrassed or deeply troubled that, after thousands of years of language and trillions of dollars spent on media and communications technology, that we are losing the art of conversation?” asked Lawrence in his introduction. Noting that race and faith are “two topics that are banned from the Thanksgiving table,” he emphasized that the evening was “about conversation, not problem solving.”

Read the full story about the event.  Click here to watch video of the event.