'“God can’t be owned or contained in one religion,' speaker tells prayer breakfast crowd

GIRARD

“Love and forgiveness ... that is our call in this world today,” the Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell told the diverse audience of Christians, Jews and Muslims at the 29th annual Mayors’ Prayer Breakfast.

The Rev. Dr. Campbell was the keynote speaker Tuesday morning at Mahoning Country Club, 710 E. Liberty St., where Mahoning Valley Association of Churches hosted its annual pre-Thanksgiving event for nearly 200. The retired director of the department of religion at Chautauqua Institution addressed “What the World Needs Now, Leadership in the Time of Tumult.”

Her topic coincided with current events as she spoke after the grand jury’s decision in Ferguson, Mo. Whether one supports the decision or not, Dr. Campbell said, “We have the freedom to make ourselves known and we can fight for justice.”

Dr. Campbell, a peace and social justice activist, related a story from the aftermath of Sept. 11. She was working in New York at the time of the terrorist attacks. A pastor friend told her about a young man in his 30s who ran down 47 flights of stairs in one of the towers and survived. The young man told the pastor that he couldn’t get the scene of “everyone praying to one God” out of his mind. Dr. Campbell said the young man told the pastor he had been tempted to believe that his religion was the only one. “In the midst of tragedy, his life changed,” Dr. Campbell said, noting he realized that people of different faiths prayed to the “God of all people.”

Dr. Campbell said the young man realized one could wholeheartedly “embrace their faith” and still “respect the faith of others.”

“God can’t be owned or contained in one religion,” Dr. Campbell said. “If we are passionate believers, we will recognize the same passion in others.”

Read more of what she had to say in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.