Dovetail Institute Conference Overview

Dovetail's annual conferences are designed to help interfaith families to:

1. Gain valuable tips and insights on intermarriage
2. Learn fresh approaches and a better understanding of interfaith relationships today
3. Hear real life stories from others who are challenged by interfaith family complications and have created solutions that work

Schedule

Friday

4:30-6:15 - Registration
6:30-7:15 - Dinner and welcome
7:30-8:10 - Shabbat Worship
8:15-9:45 - Workshop Session I
9:45-11:00 - Meet and Greet Session

Friday Workshops Plus Dinner:

• Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Another Religion but Didn't Know Whom to Ask
• Religious Education Options for the Interfaith Family
• Interfaith Marriage in the Bible
• Being a Successful Grandparent to your Interfaith Grandchildren
  

 

Saturday

8:30-9:00 - Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:00-10:00 - Plenary session: How Do They Do That? Jews and Christians Sharing the Same Space
10:15-11:45 - Workshop Session II (or optional Shabbat Morning Service 10-11:30.)
12:00-2:15 - Lunch & plenary: How Interfaith Families Can Thrive and Contribute in a Polarized World:
A Multi-faith Panel of Religious Leaders
2:30-4:00 - Workshop Session III
4:00-4:30 - Break and Refreshments
4:30-5:45 -Celebration of Catholic Mass
6:00-7:00 - Dinner at BHPC/BJC
7:00-7:20 - Community Sing
7:30-10:15 - Showing ofdocumentary Three Faiths, One God: Judaism, Christianity, Islam
10:15-11:00 - Meet and Greet Session

Saturday Workshops Plus Three Meals:

Plenary: "How Interfaith Families Can Thrive and Contribute in a Polarized World"
Rabbi Harold White, Georgetown University, Imam Faizul Khan, Islamic Society of the Washington Area, Rev. Michael J. Kelley, Pastor, St. Martin's Church, Rev. Heather Kirk-Davidoff, Kittamaqundi Community, an independent Christian congregation in Columbia, Maryland, and former Spiritual Director of Interfaith Families Project.

• Children of Abraham: Connecting Through Their Sacred Texts
• Hearing the Other: Listening in as Christians Discuss their Upbringing and Jews Discuss Theirs
• Dealing with Extremes: Fundamentalism in the Modern World
• Planning a Coming of Age Ceremony for Your Interfaith Child
• Dealing with End-of-Life Issues
• Dealing with Extended Family
• Intercultural, Interethnic, and Interracial Families

• Showing of "Three Faiths, One God: Judaism, Christianity, Islam" presented by Director Gerald Krell

 

Sunday

8:30-9:15 - Informal worship service at BHPC
9:15-9:45 - Fellowship & continental breakfast
9:45 - 10:45 - Workshop Session IV
11:00-12:15 - Formal Worship service at BHPC; Simultaneous Interfaith Families Project of Greater Washington Worship and Q & A
12:30-2:15 - Lunch & Plenary: Presentation of Father Dan Montalbano Award for Promoting Interfaith Understanding to Dr. Eugene Fisher, Associate Director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB)
2:30-4:00 - Workshop Session V
4:15-5:00 - Closing Ceremony

Sunday Workshops and Two Meals:

• Developing Your Own Spirituality Within Interfaith Marriage
• Choosing Your Child's Religious Identity
• Planning Inclusive Wedding Ceremonies
• Welcoming Your Interfaith Baby (Ceremonies)
• Study of Relevant Biblical Texts from Hebrew and Christian Scripture
• Adult Children of Interfaith Marriage Reflect
• Starting a Local Interfaith Group, led by founders of interfaith groups
• Interfaith Teens and Young Adults Look Forward

 

 

Among presenters of workshops: Rev. Dr. Herbert Valentine, Founder, Interfaith Alliance; Michael Goggin, Interfaith Conference; Hazzan Sunny Schnitzer, Bethesda Jewish Congregation Imam Karim Abu Zaid, Prince George`s Muslim Association; Mary Rosenbaum, Director, Dovetail Institute & Dr. Stanley Ned Rosenbaum, Teacher of Jewish Studies at the University of Kentucky, authors of "Celebrating Our Differences: Living Two Faiths in One Marriage"; Ellen Jennings, Director of Religious Education, IFFP; Sheila Gordon, Founder Interfaith Community; Rev. Susan Andrews, Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church; Dr. Arthur Blecher, Rabbi and counselor of interfaith couples; Rabbi Allen Secher, counselor of interfaith couples.

Registration for Friday night, Saturday and Sunday, including all meals:
$250/couple, $140/person (non-members); $225/couple, $120 (Dovetail members)
(Couples may register for one person and take turns attending)

Registration for Individual Days including all meals:
$55/person for Saturday or Sunday; $30 for Friday night

 

The Dovetail Institute for Interfaith Family Resources (DI-IFR) is a non-profit, non-denominational organization. Respecting the right and need of Jewish and Christian partners to explore-without pressure or judgment-the spiritual and religious dimensions of an interfaith household. Dovetail provides these couples, their families and friends, and the professionals who serve them, with educational and networking venues and opportunities. "We agree to DI-IFR."

All full time journalists are invited to attend. Journalists wishing to attend must request a media pass. To request a pass, please email DI-IFR@Bardstown.com.

 

Register Online Now!

 

Location & Contact Information:

Airports:
Reagan, Dulles, BWI

Host: Bethesda Jewish Congregation (BJC) is a liberal Jewish congregation; Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church (BHPC) is a member of the Presbyterian Church, USA. They are two distinct congregations that share space and friendship. There is no blending of faiths and Bethesda Jewish Congregation has no Christian affiliation. We wish to acknowledge and celebrate commonalities and differences. We see this relationship as a living example of understanding and respect among people of different heritage.

Conference Planning Participants:
The Interfaith Families Project of Greater Washington (IFFP) is an independent community of interfaith families and others committed to sharing, learning about, and celebrating their Jewish and Christian traditions. The Jewish-Catholic Family Network is a group of dating, married, and otherwise interested couples in the DC metro area who share a common interest in celebrating both Judaism and Catholicism in their relationships and famillies.

Contacts:
Mary Rosenbaum, Director, 1-800-530-1596 (email: DI-IFR@Bardstown.com) or Maran Gluckstein, Chair, 301-984-0948.

Are Interfaith Issues Clouding Your Otherwise Happy Relationship?

You and your partner may be in love, but your religious differences are causing stress in your relationship. You may be asking yourself, “How are interfaith weddings planned?” “Can our families ever accept us?” “How are we going to raise our children?” “Will one of us need to convert?”

You are not alone!  Intermarriage is becoming more frequent today, yet there are still many more questions than easy answers. It can be very difficult finding your way without support, resources and ideas from others facing similar challenges. 

Discover techniques to turn your interfaith challenges into enduring, satisfying solutions.

"As usual with Dovetail, the best part was the sense of community and the opportunity to speak comfortably about difficult issues." --Beth & Sam Falk, 1998 & 2000 conference attendees 

"Meeting other couples [was] like finding a natural spring in the midst of a desert. " --Jodie Fink 1998 conference attendee 

"The wonderful mission of an organization like Dovetail: to tell people...so frightened of the unknown, so unsure of where their place would be, that it is possible." --Steven Roberts (Steve & Cokie Roberts' keynote speech, 1998 conference. 

"This conference was great for us...WE HAVE A 'TOOL KIT' FOR OUR LIFE"---Thanks.--anonymous 2000 conference attendees  

Dovetail’s Fifth National Conference will help you find common ground.

The Dovetail Institute for Interfaith Family Resources is a non-profit, non-denominational organization, respecting the right and need of Jewish and Christian partners to explore--without pressure or judgment--the spiritual and religious dimensions of an interfaith household. Dovetail provides these couples, their families and friends, and the professionals who serve them, with educational and networking venues and opportunities. 

Our conferences are designed to help you: 

• Gain valuable tips and insights on intermarriage
• Learn fresh approaches and a better understanding of interfaith relationships today
• Hear real life stories from others who are challenged by interfaith family complications and have created solutions that work

Prior conferences in Carlisle, PA, Louisville, KY, Chicago, IL, and Berkeley, CA have enriched participants of all ages and phases of their interfaith journey. Attendees rave about the stimulating speakers, invigorating discussions, and eye-opening realizations.

"It was fabulous. The spirit and energy were phenomenal. The level of dialogue was very high." --Sheila Gordon, interfaith group founder and director; 1998 & 2000 conference presenter 

"Truly, for the first time, we felt like we really belonged somewhere and that, maybe, we weren't awful, selfish people who were trying to scar their kids." --Jennifer Zindler, 2000 conference attendee 

"A fantastic experience...we were just overwhelmed by the sense of community..." ---Jan Kaplan, interfaith group founder; 1998 conference attendee, 2000 conference presenter 

"How full and gratified I feel at the end of the Dovetail conference. Let me say that I have been soul-stretched, have learned and grown and been awed, tearful, chafing, mystified, uncomfortable...many things, all of which I am grateful for." --Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, 2000 conference keynote speaker. 

Hear firsthand from intermarried families about their decisions and successes.

Learn from religious experts in interfaith and intermarriage studies. 

Meet other couples in new and mature phases of their interfaith life.   

Come to learn, to be stimulated, to encounter others facing the same challenges, to find common ground.  

This conference is right for you:

• Whether you are Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, or of another faith
• If you are practicing or non-practicing in your religion today
• If you want to get married and need more information on interfaith weddings
• If you have young or older children now or are planning for them in the future
• If you are a grandparent, sibling or extended member of an interfaith family
• If you're involved with interfaith families as a religious or secular counselor

You are certain to find others to network with and draw inspiration from. And, as always, there will be books and tapes for sale, free handouts of ceremonies and other resources, and networking lists to keep you in touch.

When you register, also consider becoming a member of Dovetail. Dovetail membership entitles you to valuable information throughout the year, including a bi-monthly subscription to Dovetail: A Journal by and for Jewish / Christian Families.

If you're not already a member, send your dues along with your donation to ensure a 10% discount on conference registration fees and all tapes and transcripts. 

Register Online Now!