Muhlenberg Professor Heads New Interfaith Council
Peter A. Pettit, director of Muhlenberg College's Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding (IJCU) and assistant professor of religion, has been elected chair of the Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations.Thursday, October 31, 2002 01:38 PM
Peter A. Pettit, director of Muhlenberg College's Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding (IJCU) and assistant professor of religion, has been elected chair of the Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations. The leaders of 24 centers of Jewish-Christian cooperation came together in a historic first meeting of the Council in Baltimore, Md., at the beginning of this week. The Council will promote networking and cooperation among the centers, advance research and publication in Jewish-Christian relations, and connect the United States centers formally to the International Conference of Christians and Jews (ICCJ). Pettit will serve a three-year term heading the council's board of directors.
Pettit's inaugural presentation to the group noted that the council will be characterized by collegiality, global awareness, shared concerns and responsiveness to the "gaps that still remain in the fabric of Jewish-Christian relations." Muhlenberg's IJCU recently launched a new project to cover one of those gaps, a journal for Christian preachers to use in portraying Judaism as a positive model and partner for Christianity. Other officers and board members of the council are: Vice-chair Barry Cytron, Minneapolis, Minn.; Secretary-Treasurer Philip Cunningham, Chestnut Hill, Mass.; Lois Sculco, Greensburg, Pa.; and Racelle Weiman, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Pettit has been at Muhlenberg College since 1999. Before that, he was a Lutheran pastor in Riverside, Calif., and previously served for five years as director of the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center in Claremont, Calif. A native of Wyomissing, Pa., Pettit holds an undergraduate degree from Princeton University. His seminary training was done at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, and his doctoral degree was earned at Claremont Graduate University. He serves on the Consultative Panel for Lutheran-Jewish Relations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is North American Coordinator of the Osher Center for Religious Pluralism at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, and is on the International Advisory Council of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel.
The council representatives identified the State of Israel, religious fundamentalism, the understanding of God and interfaith prayer as some of the continuing issues the council could address. They look forward to sharing program resources, coordinating the scheduling of interfaith events and developing a stronger network of collaboration both nationally and internationally. The council is headquartered at the Center for Catholic-Jewish Learning at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Mass.; it will meet annually in the fall.
For information about the new council, visit www.ccjr.us. Details about the Muhlenberg College Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding is available at www.ijcu.org.
