Interfaith Connections
An important part of Trinity’s history in the community revolves around reaching out and making ecumenical connections.
For several years Trinity has participated or led the Denton Interfaith National Day of Prayer, gathering with other faith groups in Denton to learn, share faith traditions and demonstrate strength in diversity.
Muslim-Christian Dialogue Group
The Muslim-Christian Dialogue Group meets monthly during the academic year to form relationships across our different faith traditions and to learn from each other. The group meets on the first Tuesday evening of the month, alternating the location between the Islamic Society of Denton and Trinity Presbyterian Church. The group shares a meal together, then spends time talking together about the topic of the day. Such topics have included comparing and contrasting verses from the Bible with suras from the Qur’an, talking about favorite religious holidays, discussing beliefs about heaven and hell, about marriage, about faith in the workplace, and much more. Participation in the group is limited to keep the atmosphere intimate.
Trinity’s first involvement in a Muslim-Christian was over 15 years ago, when Trinity members spent a year meeting in a small group with members of the Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation. The following year, Trinity shifted its partnership to the Islamic Society of Denton, and Trinity members and Denton Muslims met together for approximately five years, with membership in each group evolving over the years. After a hiatus of a few years, the newest (and current) Muslim-Christian dialogue group was formed, coordinated by Imam Mohamed and Pastor Craig, with Muslim members of the mosque meeting with Denton Christians from several different churches, including Trinity. Christian members of the group are recruited when space becomes available through their congregational pastors. For more information, contact Pastor Craig.
People for Justice in Palestine and Israel
This small group meets, mostly over Zoom, to plan various events over the year that educate the community and congregation about the situation in Palestine and Israel.
Our biggest event of the year is a Broken Lens Film Festival in January of every year, typically the weekend after Martin Luther King. Jr. weekend. This free film festival typically includes several movies as well as video chats with some of the producers or directors of those movies, free food, other exhibits, and more. We have held the film festival for over a decade, and have screened such films as The Wanted 18, Five Broken Cameras, Gaza Fights for Freedom, Israelism, Boycott, and more.
The group has also hosted several speakers, virtually or in person (for example, Mark Braverman, Haneen Zoabi, Sam Bahour, Jeff Halper, Mara Kronenfeld, Stephen Sizer, and many more), and has hosted a Nakba Remembrance event for several years to remember the Nakba, the Arabic word for the catastrophe of 1947 to 1949 by which Israel dispossessed the majority of Palestinians from their lands.
The group has sponsored various overtures to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the most notable of which was an overture introduced in 2020 and passed in 2022 that named Israel as practicing the crime of apartheid as defined in international law.
Since this overture was initially introduced, other groups such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, B’Tselem, came to similar conclusions.
The group seeks to stand in solidarity with those working for justice in that region, which entails human rights for Palestinians and an end to the Israeli system of apartheid.
Members of the group include both Trinity members and non-Trinity members, Denton residents as well as others around the metroplex, Christians and Muslims, Palestinians and non-Palestinians. If you are interested in joining the group and its work, please contact Pastor Craig.
