What do you get when you mix together teenagers from eight different faith groups, many shades of paint, lots of glue, various objects from their religious traditions, a shared and heartfelt desire for peace, and one large wall? You get an Interfaith Peace Wall!

That’s exactly what we got at our Interfaith Peace Wall retreat on March 28, 2004, at St. Matthias Church. We got symbols and images and words and pictures and objects representing these eight religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Sikh, Unitarian Universalist, Baha’I and Hinduism. And we left with a comforting sense of peace among the faith groups.

But we didn’t just meet to paint. First we met to listen and learn. Each faith group did a short presentation of the basics of their religious traditions. We were amazed with both the diversity and the unity in the room. The different ways faith is practiced and celebrated were intriguing and fascinating to hear about; yet the spirit of strong faith in general, and the striking similarities among us – our desire for peace, mercy, forgiveness, compassion and justice – were just overwhelming.

So we met to listen and learn from each other. We also met to enjoy and play together. So there were fun games and activities in between all the presentations. And of course we met to eat and celebrate. There was a lot of great food – foods some of us had never eaten before.

But yes, we did meet to draw and glue and paint – we met to create an “Interfaith Peace Wall,” a wall to stand as a symbol of symbols. Our hope was that others might gather at that same wall, and they might then experience the same things we experienced at our retreat...there might be listening and learning, enjoyment and play, eating and celebrating – and most of all, peace...comforting, overwhelming peace.

Would you like to come to that wall? You don’t have to! The wall will come to you! The wall is a portable wall, with hinges, that can fold up into three sections and travel by van. In fact, it already has. The wall was “unveiled” at St. James Church in Mequon and at St. Richard’s in Racine, but its tour is just beginning!

If you are interested in having the wall visit your school, congregation, or organization, contact Judi Longdin, the director of the Office for Ecumenical and Interfaith Concerns at 414-769-3483 or longdinj@archmil.org. Getting together to create the wall was a wonderful idea. In fact, it was an idea suggested by a group of teenagers. Another wonderful idea would be for you to contact Judi and have that wonderful wall come to your community. And while you have it, don’t forget to invite some teenagers. As well as some children, and some adults, of all ages. Peace is for everyone!