First Nirankari Service at Interfaith Community Church, Seattle

On November 4th2007, saints from the Nirankari Mission were invited to preside over the Interfaith Community Church's Sunday congregation. Rev. Karen Lindquist, one of the three ministers of the church, requested Nirankari saints to conduct the spiritual service in the same format as is commonly done in Nirankari satsangs. The hour long service started with short speeches by youth from Seattle and Vancouver, followed by discourses by Rev. Daljit Sidhu (Secretary, Sant Nirankari Mission Canada) & Rev. Dr. I. S. Rai (Working President, Sant Nirankari Mission USA).

The speeches gave the attendees a very accurate insight into the mission, and introduced some of the mission's important philosophies such as the mission of Universal Brotherhood, equal vision, compassion, self realization, divine knowledge, prayer and how these concepts relate to the topic of the month – "Relationships". The heartfelt speeches made a deep impact on those who attended as the attendees showed their gratitude and support for the Mission's cause. Sister Sunita Ji from Vancouver captivated the audience by singing the Manglacharan (epilogue) and Dhuni (prayer) in its English translation.

Saints from Seattle had also prepared a community meal which was served after the congregation, where attendees participated in informal discussions about spirituality. On several occasions, those who attended joked, "Your Mission provides enrichment for the soul and for the body!".

It should be noted that although the service was only one and a half our long, more than twenty saints from Vancouver showed their support and enthusiasm by driving several hours to Seattle early that morning. Furthermore, Rev. Dr. I.S. Rai arrived from California the night before to preside over the congregation. Their exemplary dedication and blessings lead to the inaugural foundation of the Mission's message in Seattle, Washington.

The event served several purposes. The Mission's core message was being delivered to the interfaith community of Seattle through discussions during previous services, but the attendees saw the Mission in action during the event. This impressed many as they showered the Seattle youth with blessings. This also provided a good networking opportunity, where contact information was exchanged not only amongst saints from the Nirankari mission and the local community, but also amongst saints from Seattle and Vancouver. Most importantly, the devotional songs and speeches created a blissful atmosphere and uplifted everyone's spirit.

The church has requested the Mission to preside over another service very soon. With the blessings of His Holiness, this event will prove to be the first of many events that are dedicated to spreading His message of love and compassion amongst the local community.

Dhan Nirankar,
Seattle Youth

November 4th, 2007 – First Nirankari Congregation at Interfaith Community Church

The Sant Nirankari Mission has been invited to host a spiritual congregation at Interfaith Community Church, 1763 NW 62nd Street, Seattle, Washington 98107. The church is not affiliated with any one faith but is a community of people from different faith backgrounds.

During Sunday congregations, the church allows one faith community to present its views on the topic of the month. The topic for November is ‘Relationships’.

The tentative format decided for the Sangat is:

9.30 AM – 10.00 AM – Sangat Setup
10.00 AM – 11.00 AM – Sangat

Introduction to the mission and visitors
Simran and Avtar Bani reading
Speakers (5 minutes each)
Manglacharan in English
Discourses
Dhuni in English

11.00 AM – 11.15 AM – Discussion and Announcements
11.15 AM – 12.30 PM – Potlock and Discussion

3rd Seattle Congregation(Sangat)

Every effort is being made to have monthly congregations in Seattle proximities. September's congregation was held in Avalon, Redmond Hill Complex at a local saint's residence.

Date - 9/16/07

Timings - 6.00 PM - 7.30 PM.

Langar was served after Sangat.

May the Almighty bless us in establishing regular congregations. For any comments or suggestions on what can be done to spread H.H. Baba Ji's message of Universal Brotherhood in the local community, please e-mail at snmseattle@gmail.com

Report: Visit to Interfaith Community Church of Seattle

On 12th August, saints from Seattle were invited by the program coordinator (Rev Karen Lindquist) of the Interfaith Community Church (http://www.scn.org/icc/) to attend their Sunday services. The church hosts interfaith congregations that last one hour every Sunday, in a similar format as Nirankari congregations are held. During the hour, a few devotional songs were followed by a discourse on a predefined topic and a lunch social. During the congregation, a few minutes were taken to introduce the Mission, in which the philosophy of “Self realization through God realization” was explained. At the time of the lunch social, a discussion with the president of the church and other executives of the interfaith church lead to the following conclusions:

· The church offered the opportunity to host a Sunday service in a way that is suitable to the Mission. This opportunity might be available as early as Nov ’07, or sometime in March ’08 – depending on availability of the church space. This would be a great opportunity for the Mission to reach out to the local community, as on average about 60 people attend the Sunday service.

· The church hosts congregations for individual faith communities during the weekdays as well. They encouraged the idea of using the church space for regular Nirankari congregations if required.

· A world religions conference is being planned by the church in January ‘08. The Mission’s involvement in any way would be a great medium to present the Mission’s philosophy to the community.

· The church has a stall which displays literature from all religions worldwide. The church has requested for the Mission’s literature to be placed on the table as well.

· A suggestion was made to create a page on their website where articles from various individuals from different faiths could be posted – a concept similar to the one on www.nirankari.org > youth > articles. The guiding committee of the church was quite enthusiastic about this idea. If a commitment is made to provide this feature, it would provide the same benefit to the local community as it has to the Nirankari website. The Mission would also be able to post its own articles on the website.

· On several occasions, people have asked questions about the Mission, and they have often been pointed to the website. It was observed that having an email address such as seattle@nirankari.org would be a very useful communication tool, as it would make it much easier in following up with people who are interested in the Mission. It is easy to invoke interest in people’s minds regarding the Mission, but better communication tools can help take their interest to a level at which people become keen on receiving Divine Knowledge from an authorized saint.

Meeting with the Inter-Faith Council, Seattle

On 7th August ’07, a few saints from Eastern Washington sat in on a meeting organized by the Interfaith Council of Seattle (www.interfaithcouncil.com). The council was founded about 20 years ago and is an influential body that organizes and supports interfaith activities around the Washington region. The primary purpose of the two hour meeting was to discuss activities from the last year and plan for the next. The meeting was attended by 13 people from diverse faith backgrounds such as Judaism, Baha’i, Vedantic, Christian, Islamic, etc. Our primary intention of attending this meeting was threefold:

1. To learn about the council: A great deal was learned and noted about the various interfaith activities and groups involved in the region. Meeting with representatives from these groups proved to be a good networking opportunity as contacts were exchanged. Several upcoming events and dates were noted as potential opportunities for future involvement.

2. To represent the Mission: The ideology of the Mission was introduced to them and they were shown that the goals of the Sant Nirankari Mission align well with theirs. The council has a partner program by which various communities can post their events on the council’s website. They not only welcomed the idea of partnership, but also offered positions on their guiding committee to drive activities for the next year. Although no such commitment was made, the potential of active involvement in the council could be beneficial in the future.

3. To explore future possibilities: The Interfaith Council holds is meetings in the Interfaith Community Church (http://www.scn.org). This church holds weekly topic based congregations and several other activities that seem very similar to those organized by the Mission. A trip is currently being planned to this church. The potential in leveraging the Microsoft community, which involves a large part of the Eastern Washington population, was also discussed.

It is only with the guidance of those who have instigated Nirankari congregations all over the country can Satguru’s message of love and unity be brought to this region’s communities.

With your blessings,

Seattle Youth