Shalom Quest
Interspirituality Circle

What is Shalom Quest’s Interspirituality Circle?

The ‘Shalom Quest Interspirituality Circle’ is a unique resource network we are creating, which people can engage with and draw upon. Which we hope will prove be a truly positive experience for everyone involved.

Our vision for the Interspirituality Circle is to be a leading space for interbelief dialogue and spiritual development, where participants can access an abundance of people from different walks of life to learn from and enrich their experience, answer questions and grow in the path of their choice. It is an important resource that will be mainstreamed alongside every area and aspect of Shalom Quest.

We are looking for representatives (including young adults) from as many different expressions of spirituality across the world as is possible, to be part of our ‘Interspirituality Circle’. Some of the spiritualities we hope will be involved would probably use the word ‘religion’ to describe themselves, while others are likely to dispute, they are even ‘spiritualities’ at all! However, our definition of the ‘spiritual’ (‘the flow of the experience of meaning and relationship’) embraces them all!

Here, are the main ‘spiritualities’ from whom we are inviting representatives to be part of the ‘Shalom Quest Interspirituality Circle’:

Animism
Buddhism
Christianity
Confucianism
Hinduism
Humanism

Indigenous
Islam
Jainism
Judaism
Nihilism
Paganism

Rastafarianism
Secularism
Shinto
Sikhism
Taoism
Zoroastrianism

Plus, any ‘spiritualties’ that are in a close orbit to any one of these points of spiritual focus or may make up a distinct aspect of one of them (like ‘denominations’ in Christianity or ‘branches’ in Islam). What is essential is that each representative recognises our ‘values approach’ to spirituality, and our commitment to help everyone find their own unique path, wherever that goes, and so will never attempt to convert them to their own particular beliefs.

Why is the Interspirituality Circle important?

All spiritual journeying raises, ideas, challenges and questions that have been wrestled with for millennia by people across all global cultures. Plus, today many new ones are also being added all the time. Grappling with this  aspect of spirituality can be very lonely, especially when you are looking to find your own unique path. So, having the opportunity (should you choose) to be able to freely share wisdom and reflections with others from different spiritual perspectives, we hope will be valuable. Especially knowing that the spaces you are sharing are shaped by the Shalom Quest ethos:

  • Every expression of spirituality, across all cultures, work (in some way) with universal ‘lifegiving values’ (e.g. love, wisdom, peace, freedom, truth, justice, and so very many more). They provide our ‘common ground’, our ‘shared language’, our ‘basis for behaviour,’ and of course define our humanity, and our relationship with each other and the more-than-human world. The Interspirituality Circle will bring important insights as to how particular values are seen and understood within different spiritualities.
  • Today, the huge challenges from climate, conflict and culture across the planet, present every spirituality with fresh questions, big issues, and the need for creative ‘value sensitive’ responses. The Interspirituality Circle can create spaces and opportunities to talk through these often ‘toxic topics’ in a way that changes the tone of the conversation, and ways of thinking. Diversity also brings enrichment to the struggle as we each explore our own paths.
  • Sadly, within and across many global spiritualities there are people still struggling to find their own unique path, one which is true for them personally. Often questioning whether they choose to remain within their current spiritual tradition, or to look elsewhere. We are here to support them, and we hope the Interspirituality Circle can help to play a role in that as well.
  • We have considerable experience of working in the interspirituality One of the many things it has revealed is how rarely members of different spiritualties truly engage with one another in significant conversations; and how powerful the impact such encounters can have. Some are part of inter-faith groups (which is good) but have told us that often these are rather more ‘formal’ than the settings we create. We hope our Interspirituality Circle will help to stimulate many more exciting, creative, and significant encounters over the years ahead.

What would joining the Interspirituality Circle involve?

We are wanting Interspirituality Circle members to provide a ‘portal’ to others into their chosen spirituality, should Shalom Quest participants feel that conversations with them might be helpful as they look to find their own path. Some may not want to have any such conversations, but we want everyone to at least have that opportunity as a possibility.

Being an Interspirituality Circle member is a role we are just beginning to develop:

  • It is one we invite you to be involved in, if you would like to be involved
  • Everyone is busy, so any involvement would only be on your availability, never our expectation
  • We are not looking to you to represent your spirituality in any ‘formal’ sense, just personally
  • Just bring your ‘lived experience’, we are not expecting you to be an expert on everything
  • It is our hope that members of the Interspirituality Circle will find it a very worthwhile experience

There are five areas that we would ideally like each spirituality ‘portal’ to cover. We are not expecting each member to feel able to fulfil all five areas, rather a team of three to five members being able to address them between them. The five areas are:

  • Companions of Shalom Quest, someone who is happy to identify with us and our values-based ethos and approach. Willing to support what we are doing – perhaps even hosting SQ safe spaces, and/or encouraging others in their community to do so.
  • Conversation-partner among Shalom Quest, someone who is confident to converse about their own spirituality with others in the context of everyone learning together.
  • Consultants for Shalom Quest, someone we can ask to review our current resources, plus new material as it is developed, from their particular spiritual perspective. To come up with ideas and suggest ways we can improve what we do.
  • Chaplains with Shalom Quest, someone participants can contact in their spiritual seeking if they particularly want to know more about this group member’s particular spiritual tradition, or simply learn from their wisdom, within the spirit of our distinct ethos.
  • Contributors to Shalom Quest Living Values Project, Interspirituality participants bringing their spiritual, cultural insight to deepen our understanding of each shared ‘universal lifegiving value’ (e.g. love, wisdom, peace, freedom, truth, justice, and so very many more), that we are identifying, compiling and curating.
  • If you are wanting to become a member of a ‘Shalom Quest Interspirituality Circle’ portal for your own specific spirituality … then:
  • If you are wanting to help ‘Shalom Quest’ by working to develop and maintain the whole ‘Interspirituality Circle’ portal concept … then:

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