Cincinnati Festival of Faiths
Building Community and the One Common Faith

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We're in a strong, diverse, apolitical interfaith coalition in Southwest Ohio which is a prime
example of the One Common Faith.

An ancillary program to the Festival, called Sacred Connections, provides opportunities for
everyone to attend worship services in different Faith community places of worship where they
can learn about their teachings as well as socialize with congregants. In this way we've created bonds of friendship complimented by socializing at picnics and potlucks. The Festival’s website, Equasion.org, provides information about upcoming events.
 

Cincinnati Baháís were one of the first communities to host a Sacred Connections Festival in
2018 during the Twin Holy Days. This year, at our observance of the Birth of the Báb Holy Day,
two couples we know from a local interfaith collaboration read the opening devotions which
included prayers of the Báb, and talks of ‘Abdul-Bahá which support peace. One of the readers
has said how much she loves the Baháí prayers. Having readers from other Faiths was an
innovation this year.

We've become good friends with these couples as well as individuals from many Faiths since
meeting each other in an outward-looking interfaith community-building effort comprising
several counties in southwest Ohio where Baháís are sparse and the Baháí Faith rather
unknown. Our interfaith model is proof that such groups can avoid being politically oriented,
nor do we feature speakers, which other US interfaith groups do. Indeed, visitors from other
states have come to observe what we're doing.

Following this year's devotions, we provided an overview of Bábi history, discussed how His
dispensation shocked Iran with such revolutionary concepts as religious and sexual equality,
and in the open-minded spirit of our interfaith meetings, announced how the Báb and later
Bahá’u’lláh fulfilled prophecies. We provided a question and answer session for our visitors
followed by a catered dinner, at which we encouraged guests and Bahá’ís to intermingle and
learn about each other’s Faiths.

The project of visiting worship services in each other's places of worship began as an ancillaryprogram to the annual Cincinnati Festival of Faiths to keep our spirit of unity alive. Held in a local university's convention center since 2018 (going on Zoom during Covid), the event
continues to attract several thousand visitors each year who bask in its powerful spirit of love,
unity and joy. This year we had visitors from as far away as Phoenix, AZ. The worship services
we attend at different congregations and are always followed by fellowship where we learn about
each other's teachings, and socialize which often results in new interfaith friendships. The 2025
Festival of Faiths is scheduled for June 22 at noon.

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