July PoWR Member Spotlight: Rev. Dr. Margaret Somerville

Rev. Dr. Margaret Somerville is a pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA), a Quaker educator, and Interfaith leader. She is the director of Alignment: Interfaith Contemplative Practices, which brings together leaders of different traditions in an alternative worship experience. She describes her interfaith work through Alignment as “ways to bridge the gap between faith traditions in order for people to share moments of connection through their different contemplative practices.”

Margaret has been an active member of the Parliament and has been to multiple Parliament Convenings, including the 2021 Virtual, 2018 Toronto, and Salt Lake City 2015. She will be attending the 2023 Convening in Chicago, and she is leading the session “When Prayer Doesn’t Work: Interfaith Contemplative Practices” on Monday, August 14th. Search for her session in the program here.

What does being a member of the Parliament of the World’s Religions mean to you?

“I am an ordained Presbyterian minister and a Quaker educator. I grew up as the child of a Presbyterian minister whose work focused on ecumenical and interfaith connections. Exploring traditions other than my own, therefore, was always a part of my faith journey, although my practices were Christian based. I attended church services and Quaker meetings every week, and my service work was done primarily with people of my own tradition. When I went to seminary, I learned the freedom to incorporate the practices of other faith traditions into my own, to step beyond the fear that this would in some way weaken my relationship with my own tradition. One of the greatest learnings for me from my seminary studies came from a professor who himself practiced Christianity and Hinduism. He said that in every interfaith encounter we have, we should be prepared to be changed. How liberating! I was able to step beyond my initial boundary-pushing of engaging in practices beyond my own tradition to the realization that I was not threatening my Christianity. I was instead enriching it. Being changed was expected and hoped for; transformation was the intentional gift sought through interfaith dialogue and engagement. Being a member of the Parliament has been foundational to this experience. At the PoWR, I have made connections that have enriched my life, my practice, and my spiritual journey.”

Why is interfaith work important to you?

“I have found in my work, both as an educator and as a pastor, that people are in need of connection. Having endured the historic time of isolating due to the pandemic, my work in both sectors has been focused on delivering ways to stay connected. In my school I work in a setting that is multi-religious, a Quaker school in which there are students of four or five different traditions in one classroom at any given time. But in my faith setting, we are siloed. Most congregations worship as people of one tradition. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, Sunday at 11 am is the most segregated time in our nation. I am seeking ways to bridge the gap between faith traditions in order for people to share moments of connection through their different contemplative practices. This serves the purpose of building bridges between people of different traditions but in a way that is not centered on the differences or commonalities in what they believe. Instead, it is centered on how they can find peace and well-being individually while at the same time coming to value the practices of another tradition, to incorporate the practices of another tradition into their own. The outcome of creating these bridges and building these relationships is a community of people who can address issues of social concern in their physical locations, working together with people with whom they have become connected through their practices of wellbeing.”

How do you try to advance the Parliament’s mission: of interfaith cooperation and creating a more just, peaceful, and sustainable world?

“One of the areas of programming that I have developed is an alternative worship service which I have held since 2020. It began right before the pandemic hit and then continued online. I found that there were unique advantages to it being online. I was able to gather faith leaders from around the country who joined my Zoom worship service on Sunday evenings and led the gathered group in their particular contemplative practice. People engaged from their own homes which not only gave them the opportunity to have a connection to others during their quarantine, but also allowed them to explore the tradition of others in a non-threatening way, from the safety of their own homes. Sessions included Hindu mantra chanting, Islamic nasheeds, Buddhist meditations, Tibetan bowl-ringing, dance meditation, art therapy sessions, and prayer through exploring poetry writing. Each week explored a different practice. After the shooting of George Floyd, people who had gathered for this weekly service decided to meet in person to stand in interfaith vigils for racial justice. Many of us met for the first time in person at the vigils, already connected deeply because of the times we had shared in worship together.”

What would you consider to be a best practice, resource, or knowledge you would like to share?

“Alignment: Interfaith Contemplative Practices intends to create a community of understanding among people of faith and those who seek spiritual meaning in their lives by teaching and providing experiences of and resources for contemplative spiritual practices from different faith and spiritual traditions (including Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Baha’i, Native American). Alignment accomplishes this by providing a palette of programs, experiences, and resources, both online and in person, including seasonal daily online calendars of spiritual practices for individuals; weekly half-hour sessions sharing contemplative experiences using music, poetry, prayer, meditation, art, the natural world, and faith practices both ancient and contemporary; quarterly in-person contemplative retreats led by diverse faith leaders; and original articles about interfaith contemplative practices published in religious journals.”

Include any resources you’d like to share

Alignment: mission and vision – Margaret Somerville