Buddhism in Battle Creek has been growing, thanks to the influence of BC native Kyoun Sokuzan, abbot of SokukuJi Buddhist Temple. SokukuJi is building a Community Mindfulness Center to serve residents interested in mindfulness and meditation.
“We don’t push religion at all. We have magazines, art books, whatever they need. Our job is to serve and to love."
"We are praying to open an African restaurant, plant a garden, open a barber shop," says Pastor Johsua Kibezi, director of the African Community Kalamazoo. "Our future goal is to offer 55 jobs for refugees. I cannot give up on this work or my people will suffer. In my heart, I know I must help.”
Kalamazoo's First Presbyterian Church borders Bronson Park and its weekly Red Door Dinners provide homecooked meals and hospitality for the unhoused and others in need. “Our congregation seeks to live faith as a sanctuary in the city, with the city, for the city, and others far beyond." This story is part of our Faith in Action series, sponsored by the Fetzer Institute.
Just minutes from Kalamazoo sits a picturesque farm with grazing animals and several outbuildings — a woolery, coffee shop, thrift store, wood shop, and sugar shack. This is SHALOM, a unique Christian caring community that provides housing, and social and educational opportunities for adults and some youths who have physical, developmental, emotional, and mental disabilities.
“Westernized culture increases the fear of death,” says Debbie Eisenbise, a Kalamazoo death doula. “We outsource death. Doulas are trying to make a change in that culture by bringing about an acceptance of death. Death is natural. My goal is to keep people living until they die. This is about quality of life.”
Pastors on Patrol, a partnership between Kalamazoo police and pastors, has been helping increase trust between residents and police, diffuse tense situations, and 'cushion the blows of calamity.' Since the pandemic, both police and pastors involved say they have seen the need for the program grow.
While church attendance is shrinking worldwide and ethnic conflicts abound, Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, the little church in Vine, is growing by the week. At some masses, the Lord's Prayer is recited in up to seven languages. “The world isn’t always about love and peace,” says Father Bryce Vasilios Buffenbarger. “But we hope people that come to this church will find it here."
While faith-based groups may disagree about the science of climate change, they typically agree on the importance of caring for creation. Using the approach of shared morality, Hope for Creation, an interfaith group, aims to "galvanize the faith community" to promote earth-friendly actions within a climate action framework, says organizer Joan Hawxhurst.
Folk musician Bob Rowe was in the midst of a demanding music career when a transformational moment opened a pathway to combine music, ministry, and the elderly. For over four decades and as a culmination of what he holds sacred, Rowe has been performing at nursing homes in Southwest Michigan, often with his band, Green Valley Boys. "I have the heart of a priest and the soul of a musician — that is how I have lived my life.”
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