Our Shared Sacred Story is a groundbreaking project that brings together teams of scholars and practitioners from diverse religious and spiritual traditions to collaboratively retell their traditions' sacred narratives in ways that speak to contemporary global challenges. Sponsored by the Fetzer Institute, this initiative has engaged contributors from Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Indigenous Spiritualities, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, and Interspirituality. Each tradition assembled a team of academics and practitioners, modeling the scholarly-practitioner dynamic that defines the field of interreligious studies. These teams worked together to reinterpret their foundational stories, articulating a larger, collective narrative that acknowledges difference while fostering shared wisdom and connection. The result is a forthcoming volume that presents these sacred retellings alongside reflections on the challenges and opportunities of interreligious storytelling in a pluralistic world.
This 90-minute panel will feature six contributors to the forthcoming Our Shared Sacred Story volume (Orbis, 2025) who have authored sections of the volume. Selected to represent diverse traditions and perspectives, they bring expertise in religious studies, theology, interfaith dialogue, and cultural analysis. A facilitator with experience in academic and interreligious engagement will moderate the discussion. This panel offers a unique opportunity to engage with leading scholars who have reimagined sacred narratives for a pluralistic world, illuminating both the challenges and possibilities of interfaith storytelling in academic, pedagogical, and civic contexts. Panelists will explore how sacred narratives can be reinterpreted to foster dialogue, build community, and address pressing contemporary issues while highlighting the nuanced lived internal and external religious diversity of intersecting identities, traditions, and cultures. Aligned with the Interreligious and Interfaith Studies Unit’s commitment to analyzing religious pluralism, interreligious engagement, and evolving sacred narratives, the panel will examine the Our Shared Sacred Story project through an interdisciplinary lens, incorporating comparative (inter)religious studies, lived theology, history, philosophy, and others.
This panel is not only an opportunity to present the research and findings of Our Shared Sacred Story but, more importantly, to critically engage its methodology, insights, limitations, and blind spots. By interrogating the challenges and complexities of constructing a shared sacred narrative, panelists and attendees will contribute to a deeper understanding of interreligious relations and dynamics. This critical dialogue aims to refine approaches to interfaith storytelling, identify areas for further exploration, and advance scholarship in the field of interreligious studies.
This contribution explores Our Shared Sacred Story, a groundbreaking project that brings together scholars and practitioners from diverse traditions to reinterpret sacred narratives for contemporary global challenges. Sponsored by the Fetzer Institute, the initiative engages contributors from Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Indigenous Spiritualities, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, and Interspirituality, modeling the scholarly-practitioner dynamic in interreligious studies. Six panelists will discuss their contributions to the forthcoming Our Shared Sacred Story volume (Orbis, 2025), critically engaging the project’s methodology, insights, and limitations. This session will highlight the complexities of constructing shared narratives, theological and philosophical tensions, and lessons for interfaith engagement in academic and civic contexts. Attendees will gain insights into how sacred narratives can foster dialogue, build community, and address contemporary issues. By interrogating both the possibilities and blind spots of interreligious storytelling, this panel advances scholarship on religious diversity, secularism, and shared ethical visions.