An interfaith gathering centered on prayer, fasting, and conversation will return Friday as Faith Fest Spring brings Christian and Muslim leaders together at the Islamic Center of Owensboro.
The event is hosted by Owensboro-Daviess County Ministerial Association and the Owensboro Interfaith Center. It will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Friday at the Islamic Center, 3131 Alvey Park Drive West.
Held in conjunction with Jummah — the weekly Muslim congregational prayer — the event will focus on fasting, a spiritual discipline observed in both Islam and Christianity as Ramadan and Lent begin this week.
For the Rev. Dr. Claudia Ramisch, president of the ministerial association, the gathering reflects years of intentional relationship-building across faith lines in Owensboro.
“We just completed our 15th year in the fall,” Ramisch said of Faith Fest’s broader history. “It was also our 18th year for the Thanksgiving service, and that was how Faith Fest began. It began with an interfaith Thanksgiving service, and then we grew it into other events to introduce people to all of the religions of the area.”
What started as a single annual service has expanded into additional public events designed to keep interfaith engagement active year-round.
“We wanted to make sure that it didn’t become just a thing that we did in the fall — that we were actually working on interfaith relationships at other times,” she said. “We wanted to do something that was public, that people would see that this wasn’t just something that you think about in November.”
This year’s spring program will feature Dr. Aseedu Kalik, president of the Islamic Center, and Father John Thomas, pastor of St. Stephen Cathedral. The two faith leaders will discuss fasting within their respective traditions before opening the floor for questions.
The format is designed to be accessible and welcoming. Attendees will gather in the masjid, or prayer room, where shoes are removed. Ramisch noted that the mosque provides accommodations for visitors who may need assistance.
The Islamic community will offer its call to prayer and communal prayer, followed by reflections from Dr. Kalik and Father Thomas.
“Then they’ll both entertain questions,” Ramisch said. “Sometimes they get questions and sometimes they don’t.”
Often, she added, the most meaningful conversations happen afterward.
“Sometimes what happens is that people won’t ask them while they’re in the prayer room, but when we get out in the lobby, the conversation will go on for quite a while,” she said. “There was a long period of conversation out in the gathering room.”
Ramisch said organizers hope attendees leave with a deeper appreciation for shared spiritual practices, even when theological foundations differ.
“We hope, first and foremost, that they take away understanding of how practices overlap — that we may be doing some very similar things, possibly for different reasons,” she said. “Yet there will always be one or two things where we are doing it for the same reason.”
She described Ramadan as a time to shape a person to be aware of their need for God, to empty themselves out and be available to God, and also to be aware of their neighbors who are hungry. Lent, she said, developed within Christianity as a season modeled on Jesus’ 40 days of preparation in the desert.
“There are similar attitudes, even though the stories are different,” Ramisch said.
Ultimately, she hopes the event models respectful dialogue in a divided world.
“We hope people understand that we can sit down and talk about this and pray together, and it doesn’t have to be a big deal,” she said. “It can just be a normal thing that we do. And that’s the beginning of friendship. We always hope that that respect builds into a relationship. It means that when there are difficult times, we know how to talk to each other, rather than throw stones at each other.”
