A group of four College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University students had a chance to meet with their peers from around the country and discuss bringing people of all faiths together in an effort to make religious pluralism a social norm at the 2025 Interfaith Leadership Summit last month.
The event – sponsored by Interfaith America, an organization founded in 2002 based on “the idea that religious difference should serve as a bridge of cooperation rather than a barrier of division” – was held Aug. 8-10, at the Chicago Marriott in downtown Chicago.
The group was led by CSB junior Grace Dresser, the student lead for the CSB Campus Ministry Interfaith Leadership team, and also included fellow CSB Campus Ministry members Sebastian Guzman and Clare Freid, as well as fellow student Nasir Mirza.
“In the world of interfaith work, the Interfaith America Summit is the single largest gathering of people doing the same work,” Dresser said. “Needless to say, it’s been a dream of mine to attend and meet with students and leaders in the same professional space.”
To make it happen, Dresser last spring got a group of interested students together, then approached Chris Conway, an associate professor in the department of theology at CSB and SJU and the Saint John’s University School of Theology and Seminary. Conway is also the director of the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning at SJU and agreed to help sponsor the trip.
“The theme of the conference this year was ‘Chords of Democracy,’ which I find very fitting,” Dresser said. “We discussed how we are all bandmates, composing new music in America. My cohort played music each time we met. One of the most memorable moments was singing (the Beatles song) ‘Here Comes the Sun’ with instruments and feeling a spiritual presence.
“It was a subtle reminder that everything will be alright and we truly are all in this together. This work is homing into appreciative, cooperative and personal knowledge. It’s active work. It’s continuous curiosity. The goal? To make religious pluralism a social norm.”
Guzman – also senior at SJU – was among the other students making the trip. He too found the experience valuable to the work he is engaged in on campus.
“My favorite part was just getting the chance to sit down and talk to people about the challenges they face working in the same spaces at different schools,” he said. “It helps a lot to see you’re not alone. That a lot of other people are dealing with the same issues you are. Being able to sit down and talk with other people helped me come up with better ideas when it comes to promoting inclusivity.”
Cindy Gonzalez, the director of CSB Campus Ministry, echoed those sentiments.
“For our students, I think attending a conference like this – and getting the chance to talk with students across the country engaged in similar efforts – is really valuable when it comes to sustaining their passion for the work we do,” Gonzalez said.
“That’s really important.”